Outbound DECnet/OSI connections on OpenVMS 8.4

[tsgdavid2]

We have several VMS systems that communicate with devices on the network via OSI applications.  We have replaced several Alpha systems with Integrity systems and this works just fine on OpenVMS 8.3.

I am now trying to do the same thing on OpenVMS 8.4 and I am unable to make an outbound connection.  I have been comparing configuration settings between 8.3 and 8.4, and I have not found any explanation for why this is not working.  I am currently trying to use the OSIT$IVPINIT.COM procedure to verify if this is working.  When testing, I am simply using an address for my local system.

On OpenVMS 8.4, I get the message "%SYSTEM-F-UNREACHABLE, remote node is not currently reachable" after about 40 seconds when I try to initiate a connection.  Is there something different about OpenVMS 8.4 that I need to know?  Am I missing something in my configuration?

Below is an example that fails on OpenVMS 8.4 followed by a successful one on OpenVMS 8.3:

HMDEV> @sys$test:osit$ivpinit
 
 
              OSI Transport Installation Verification Procedure
              -------------------------------------------------
 
    This procedure  (the test initiator)  communicates with  the passive OSI
    Transport application  OSIT$IVP which invokes OSIT$IVPRESP.COM (the test
    responder)  on the target system.  The target system  may be either this
    system or some other system running DECnet-OSI for OpenVMS.
 
    Time is 14:44 24-FEB-2012.
 
 
_Press RETURN to continue:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    You will be required to supply the VOTS-address of the target system.
 
    A VOTS-address has the form <template>%<network address>
    where:
        <template>         - is the name of an OSI Transport template entity.
        <network address>  - depends on the network service specified by the
                             template as described in the table below.
 
       Network Service            Format of                Example
    specified by Template      Network Address         Network Address
 
       CONS                      X.25 DTE address      234273412345
       CLNS (Null Internet)      LAN address           AA00040001FC
       CLNS (Internet/ES-IS)     NSAP                  49004008002B56870121
       RFC1006                   IP address            16.20.136.9  or
                                                        tpfour.lkg.dec.com
 
    Note: Do not supply  CONS NSAP address. If you do so  the IVP will  fail.
 
    As  an  alternative  to specifying a  VOTS-address  explicitly,  you may
    specify a logical name defined in the table OSIT$NAMES.
 
 
    The VOTS configuration is being polled, please wait.
 
 
_Press RETURN to continue:
 
 
    The following have been configured
 
            There are no RFC1006 templates
 
            CONS OSI Transport templates
                OSIT$LOOP_CONS  (loopback)
 
            There are no CLNS (Null Internet) templates
 
            CLNS (Internet/ES-IS) OSI Transport templates
                DEFAULT
                OSIT$LOOP_CLNS  (loopback)
                OSIT$IEEE
 
 
            No Local NSAPs known on this system
 
    The logical  name  OSIT$LOOP_ADDRESS  has  been defined for testing in
    loopback on this system.
 
_Enter VOTS-address of target system [exit]: OSIT$IEEE%AA0004000344
-----------------------------------------
OSIT$IVP  ..Test Number - 1
-----------------------------------------
OSIT$IVP  ..Creating OSI device
OSIT$IVP  ..Initiating transport connection
%SYSTEM-F-UNREACHABLE, remote node is not currently reachable
%OSIT-F-TIMEOUT, retransmission limit reached
%TRACE-F-TRACEBACK, symbolic stack dump follows
image     module    routine               line      rel PC           abs PC
OSIT$IVP                                     0 00000000000222C0 00000000000222C0
OSIT$IVP                                     0 00000000000206A2 00000000000206A2
                                             0 FFFFFFFF809D0DD2 FFFFFFFF809D0DD2
DCL                                          0 000000000007D032 000000007AE45032
%TRACE-I-END, end of TRACE stack dump
 
    Test to VOTS address OSIT$IEEE%AA0004000344 Completed with error
 
_Enter VOTS-address of target system [exit]:
 
    OSI Transport Installation Verification Procedure
    Completed with error(s) at 15:01 (1 test performed)
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

$ @sys$test:osit$ivpinit
 
 
              OSI Transport Installation Verification Procedure
              -------------------------------------------------
 
    This procedure  (the test initiator)  communicates with  the passive OSI
    Transport application  OSIT$IVP which invokes OSIT$IVPRESP.COM (the test
    responder)  on the target system.  The target system  may be either this
    system or some other system running DECnet-OSI for OpenVMS.
 
    Time is 14:30 24-FEB-2012.
 
 
_Press RETURN to continue:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    You will be required to supply the VOTS-address of the target system.
 
    A VOTS-address has the form <template>%<network address>
    where:
        <template>         - is the name of an OSI Transport template entity.
        <network address>  - depends on the network service specified by the
                             template as described in the table below.
 
       Network Service            Format of                Example
    specified by Template      Network Address         Network Address
 
       CONS                      X.25 DTE address      234273412345
       CLNS (Null Internet)      LAN address           AA00040001FC
       CLNS (Internet/ES-IS)     NSAP                  49004008002B56870121
       RFC1006                   IP address            16.20.136.9  or
                                                        tpfour.lkg.dec.com
 
    Note: Do not supply  CONS NSAP address. If you do so  the IVP will  fail.
 
    As  an  alternative  to specifying a  VOTS-address  explicitly,  you may
    specify a logical name defined in the table OSIT$NAMES.
 
 
    The VOTS configuration is being polled, please wait.
 
 
_Press RETURN to continue:
 
 
    The following have been configured
 
            There are no RFC1006 templates
 
            CONS OSI Transport templates
                OSIT$LOOP_CONS  (loopback)
 
            There are no CLNS (Null Internet) templates
 
            CLNS (Internet/ES-IS) OSI Transport templates
                DEFAULT
                OSIT$LOOP_CLNS  (loopback)
                OSIT$IEEE
 
 
            No Local NSAPs known on this system
 
    The logical  name  OSIT$LOOP_ADDRESS  has  been defined for testing in
    loopback on this system.
 
_Enter VOTS-address of target system [exit]: OSIT$IEEE%AA000400BA05
-----------------------------------------
OSIT$IVP  ..Test Number - 1
-----------------------------------------
OSIT$IVP  ..Creating OSI device
OSIT$IVP  ..Initiating transport connection
OSIT$IVP  ..Established TC characteristics
 
     TC class:
                 - class 4
     TC options:
                 - extended format
                 - checksums on
                 - expedited data
                 - no explicit flow control
     TC id       - 104
 
OSIT$IVP  ..Transmitting 1600 bytes of expedited data
OSIT$IVP  ..Transmission of expedited data complete
OSIT$IVP  ..Transmitting 10000 bytes of normal data
OSIT$IVP  ..Transmission of normal data complete
OSIT$IVP  ..Transmitting end of data marker
OSIT$IVP  ..Reading counts from receiver task
OSIT$IVP  ..Recorded 1600 bytes of expedited data
OSIT$IVP  ..Recorded 10000 bytes of normal data
OSIT$IVP  ..Recorded end of data marker
OSIT$IVP  ..Disconnecting transport connection
 
    Test to VOTS address OSIT$IEEE%AA000400BA05 Completed
 
_Enter VOTS-address of target system [exit]:
 
    OSI Transport Installation Verification Procedure
    Completed at 14:30 (1 test performed)

[black_cat]

David,

1. Have you got the DECnetPlus ECO1 installed on the V8.4 system ?

2. What happens when you use the DEFAULT OSI Transport Template ie.

DEFAULT%AA0004000344

3. Can you repeat your test on the V8.3 system using the same address ie.

V8.3 => OSIT$IEEE%AA0004000344

or

V8.4 => OSIT$IEEE%AA000400BA05 or DEFAULT%AA000400BA05

4. Can you print out the details of your OSI Transport Template (just in case it is NULL-Internet)

mc ncl show osi transport template OSIT$IEEE all

John

[black_cat]

David,

excuse my first reply, but I'm a bit slow today.

From the fact that you were using the NSAP address of OSIT$IEEE%AA0004000344 already implies that it is NULL-Internet. OSIT$IVPINIT, as far as I can recollect used the VOTS V2 OSI Transport Interface that implied you could pass MAC as well X.25 addresses. The VOTS V3 interface allowed the passing of fully qualified NSAP addresses.  OSI Transport supports both Interfaces.

In your OSI Transport Template configuartion  you basically define whether communication is over CLNS or NULL-Internet. Look at the definitions on your V8.3 systems and copy these to your V8.4 systems. These must be defined in some NCL script (usually it involves defining the NSAP Prefix in the OSI Transport Template attribute 'CLNS Inactive Area Address' that will get stripped off prior to being sent over the LAN). Does your application happend to be based on BaseStar/DEComni/DECosap  ?

John

John

[tsgdavid2 · Accepted solution]

Problem solved.

I managed to get a fix from HP.  Apparently the VMS 8.4 upgrade corrupted the OSI software.  HP supplied me with a Backup saveset to replace four image files.   The name of the backup saveset is:

QXCM1001102473_4625087448_2011-02-02.BCK

An exceprt from the README file follows:

Design Description:
------------------
In DECnet v8.4 a new feature of SSH over DECnet/IP was introduced. o facilitate SSH over DECnet/IP, modifications were made
on Session layer to add port forward parameter to VCRP Itemlist. To do this the length of the itemlist was increased by 4
bytes. This apparently caused OSAK/FTAM IVPs to fail.
 
In this fix, SSH feature has been reverted to allow OSAK/FTAM IVPs to succeed.

[stephenbrayshaw]

Where can I find the download and install instructions?

[tsgdavid2]

I would think you could get it from HP if you have software update service.  The name of the saveset in my previous post (QXCM1001102473_4625087448_2011-02-02.BCK) should be a reference number that they could look up.  You could also try the current owners of OpenVMS at:

https://vmssoftware.com/

I have never been able to confirm that HP had ever provided an official patch or included this fix in any subsequent updates.  We are still running on version 8.4 of OpenVMS and have specifically avoided installing any updates that might restore the original 8.4 erroneous behavior.

Of course, if you install a new system, updates and support should be available under warranty service.  Obviously, this is an old bug and it should be fixed (but is it?)