Network booting V4.7 from a V5.5 server

[Volker Halle]

Stanley,

re: V5.5-2H4 and V7.3 in same cluster:

I got a chance to try to boot our V5.5-2H4 CHARON-VAX into our mixed version and mixed architecture cluster (VAX V6.2 up to I64 E8.2) and it does not work...

The V5.5-2H4 node is being rejected by the first of the E8.2 systems and crashes with

CLUSWVER - Software version incompatible with existing VMScluster
(R0 = %SYSTEM-F-REJECT, R1=00008106 = CLMDRS$C_VERSION = version mismatch).

Beyond the cluster software version (CLU$GB_CLUVER), which is 6 for all those systems, there are also checks for the cluster protocol version (stored in CSB$B_ECOLVL+1, visible with SDA> SHOW CLUSTER in the CSB of each node:
...
Eco/Version 0/23 ! for V5.5-2H4
...

V7.3 (and higher) includes checks to allow everything up from V6.0 (Protocol version 24.), but won't allow the V5.5-2H4 system, which has 23.

Volker.

[Ian Miller.]

Volker,
its intersting to know V6.2, V7.3 and V8.2 will work in the same cluster as I may be doing that next month.

[Volker Halle]

Here is the V7.2 Release Notes text, which explains the cluster restrictions regarding V5.5-2 (and earlier):

4.14.2.1 Mixed-Version Incompatibilities
V7.2

A change to the OpenVMS Cluster Version 7.2 software prevents systems running OpenVMS Version 7.2 from participating in a cluster in which one or more nodes are running any of the following software versions:

OpenVMS VAX Version 5.5-2 or earlier versions
OpenVMS Alpha Version 1.5 or OpenVMS Alpha Version 1.0

If you attempt to boot a Version 7.2 node into a cluster containing a node with any of these older versions, the Version 7.2 node cannot join the cluster, and it crashes with a CLUSWVER bugcheck.

Similarly, if you attempt to boot a node running one of these older versions into a cluster in which one or more nodes are running Version 7.2, the older version node cannot join the cluster, and it crashes with the same CLUSWVER bugcheck.

Volker.