CHARON-VAX VDisk creation question

[Navipa]

Hi All,

we have Charon-VAX 4000 model 108 and VMS v6.1 and MKDISK v1.2. There are few vdisk already created and I see the entry for those vdisks in the configuration file as....

...

#Configure DSSI  disk, vax4108 comes with 2  DSSI controllers.

# not necessary to load any dirver

set paa mscp_allocation_class [0]=2 scs_node_name[0]="DISK0"

set paa container [0]=”d:\vms61_vdisks\dia0.vdisk”

...

 As need additional vdisks and we have free disk space in the charon-vax win2003R2, I like to create a vdisk of 12GB size and need you suggestions.

Just running MKDisk utility is enough?, or do we need modify configuration also after running MKDisk utility? 

In the MKDisk utility, I see only 8.5GB is the max size if I choose RZ59 disk type. But I want a vdisk of 12GB size. I don't know what is our disk type to choose, also I see rz27 (1.5GB), rz28 (2GB), rz29 (4GB), rz59 (8.5GB), etc in the disk type list box, all other disk types are less in size. OR can I create 16GB disk size, using "Custom" option?. Also I don't see "creat disk metadata" option in the MKDISK utility, is it compulsory to "create disk metadata"?

Also in my previous posting, you have asked me to restart the charon-vax service to probe new vdisk in the 1st time, but in google, some one asked to use "$ MCR SYSMAN IO AUTO/LOG" to probe the new vdisk. Which is one correct. in what name the vdisk will appear? The $init newvdisk and $mount newvdisk commands would be helpful to probe the new vdisk?

Also Volker suggests to reboot, if the new vdisk not visible, please suggest me any workaround to probe the disk? I have a big question on "selecting the disk type" in the MKDisk utility.

Thanks

Navipa

[Volker Halle]

Navipa,

you need to run MKDisk and create a new .vdisk. Specify Custom and enter the no. of blocks desired (e.g. 24000000 for 12 GB), there is no need to create disk metadata.

Then you need to update your CHARON-VAX config file (using the CHARON-VAX Launcher utility and 'Edit'). Add a line like:

set paa container [0]=”d:\vms61_vdisks\big_12gb_disk.vdisk”

If you're running your CHARON-VAX as a Windows Service, you need to update that service with the modified config data. Consider to shut down OpenVMS first and stop the CHARON emulator.

 In the CHARON-VAX Launcher, select Install/Update service and update the existing CHARON-VAX service. Then start your CHARON emulator service again.

Once you've booted your OpenVMS system, the new disk will show up and you can INIT and MOUNT the new disk.

Volker.

[Navipa]

Thanks Volker.

Let me confirm the order of execution...create new vdisk using MKDISK utility -->  update config file using CHARON-VAX Launcher and 'edit' --> next do I need to shutdown and Stop CHARON-VAX emulator service ? --> again invoke CHARON-VAX Launcher and Update the existing CHARON-VAX service --> then Start CHARON-VAX emulator service?

In Charon-VAX Launcher, after selecting the config file, I see there is a "Run Selected configuration" button, do we need click this button after "Edit the config" file ?. 

In our environment, I see there are 2 more vdisks (vdisk7, vdisk8) entries in the config file, but it does not list in $SH DEV D command and I don't see any $MOUNT command in the startup procedure. I have no idea whether the previous lab engineer tried to create thes vdisk or not, and no idea if they already used MKDISK utilitu and given the file size details? OR they just edited and entered those entries in the config file? I guess they may not have "updated the existing service" using Charon-VAX Launcher. I don't know what block size they have given, Can I try click "Run Selected configuration" and update the existing service to probe those vdisk7 and 8? OR can go ahead delet those two entries from the config file? Is there a way to remove/delete the vdisk?

Sorry, I have asked too many questions...

Thanks

Navipa

[Volker Halle]

Navipa,

I don't really know, whether you're running CHARON-VAX as a Windows service, but that would be the normal way to run the emulator. You can confirm this by running the CHARON Service Manager and verify, that a CHARON service shows up.

If you see additional .vdisk entries in the CHARON config file and those do not show up under OpenVMS, this would be another indication, that you're running the CHARON-VAX emulator as a service and the previous lab engineer did forget to update the existing service after making changes to the config file.

You could use "Run Selected Configuration" to start CHARON-VAX just once after your modifications, to verify, that your edit of the config file did not cause any syntax errors. But you MUST update the CHARON-VAX service to make these changes permanent and for that, you need to stop OpenVMS and the emulator again. This would be the normal procedure to verify the changes, you've done to the config file.

To include the new .vdisk into your CHARON-VAX configuration, you must update the existing service and you must restart the CHARON-VAX service. So you need to shutdown OpenVMS and stop the CHARON-VAX service. It would be the normal step to do this, before you Edit the config and update the service using CHARON-VAX Launcher. If you do not need vdisk7 and vdisk8, just remove or comment out (#) those entries in the config file. You can see the size of those .vdisk files from Windows.

Hope this answers your questions,

Volker.

[Navipa]

Thank you very much Volker.

I understand we should Shutdown VMS and STOP the Charon service before modify the config file. Does MKDisk utility also require VMS Shutdown and Stop the CharonService ?

Click on either "Install/Update services" or "run selected configuration" buttons will boot VMS automatically ?, or should we boot VMS manually?

Thanks

Navipa

[Volker Halle · Accepted solution]

Navipa,

you can run the MKDisk utility independently at any time to create a new .vdisk file.

Once you've shut down OpenVMS and stopped the emulator, run the CHARON Launcher and edit the config file. Then click on Update/Install Service to update the existing CHARON-service.

Once you've updated the service start CHARON-VAX using the CHARON Icon or the CHARON Service Manager.

Whether OpenVMS boots automatically when you start the emulator, depends on the HALT setting on the console prompt:

>>> SHOW HALT

...

>>> SET HALT RESTART_REBOOT        ! this will cause OpenVMS to boot when starting the emulator.

Volker.

[Navipa]

Hi Volker,

The steps you provided helped me to create virtual disk successfully, This details could be included in Stromasys-HP Knowledge Base as a solution for others.

Thanks so much Volker.

Navipa.