Document revision date: 9 May 2001

This chapter provides information for all users of the OpenVMS operating system. It includes information about commonly used commands and utilities.

For information about new features included in this version of the software, refer to the OpenVMS Version 7.3 New Features and Documentation Overview.

4.1 AlphaServer GS Series Systems

This section contains release notes of general interest to most users of the AlphaServer GS Series Systems.

4.1.1 AlphaServer GS Series Systems Supported in OpenVMS Version 7.3

V7.3

OpenVMS Version 7.3 includes support for Compaq AlphaServer GS80, GS160, and GS320 systems. This support includes:

• OpenVMS support for hard and soft (Galaxy) partitions on AlphaServer GS80, GS160, and GS320 systems
• OpenVMS Resource Affinity Domain (RAD) support for applications
• OpenVMS support for CPU online replace

For complete information about using hard partitions, OpenVMS Galaxy, or the OpenVMS RAD features to manage OpenVMS workloads on the new Alpha Server GS Series systems, refer to the OpenVMS Alpha Partitioning and Galaxy Guide.

4.1.2 OpenVMS Galaxy License Enforcement

V7.3

In an OpenVMS Galaxy computing environment, the OPENVMS-GALAXY license units are checked during system startup and whenever a CPU reassignment between instances occurs.

If you attempt to start a CPU and there are insufficient OPENVMS-GALAXY license units to support it, the CPU will remain in the instance's configured set but it will be stopped. You can subsequently load the appropriate license units and start the stopped CPU while the system is running. This is true of one or more CPUs.

4.1.3 V5.9B Console Firmware Required for OpenVMS on AlphaServer GS80/160/320 Systems

V7.3

If you are running OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3 on AlphaServer GS80/160/320 systems, you must download console firmware V5.9B or later from the following location:

Note that you need the V5.9B console firmware to use the new CPU online replace feature.

4.1.4 Device Restriction on AlphaServer GS80/160/320 Systems

V7.3

Only one set of the following devices found on the legacy bus adapter is configured and supported per partition in OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3. These devices include:

• Serial ports COM1 and COM2
• Parallel port
• Keyboard
• Mouse

If multiple legacy bus adapters exist, only the adapter that includes the console port is configured and supported.

4.1.5 Booting an AlphaServer GS140

V7.3

If you are booting an AlphaServer GS140 system with a Fibre Channel HSG80 system disk using Alpha Firmware Version 5.7, the system fails to reboot when the system is set to boot automatically. Enter the following command to show whether the system has been set to boot automatically:

SHOW AUTO_ACTION

Compaq recommends the following workaround:

After a failed power-cycle or INIT boot startup, enter a BOOT command at the console and press Return.

OpenVMS shutdown and reboot commands will perform as expected.

This automatic boot failure is due to a timing problem and will be corrected in a future release of the Alpha firmware.

4.2 COM for OpenVMS (Alpha Only) Not Supported in a Mixed-Version Cluster

V7.3

Because of changes to the OpenVMS Registry protocol, you cannot run COM for OpenVMS software on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3 systems and non-Version 7.3 systems in the same cluster.

If you have a mixed-version OpenVMS Cluster system, you can run COM for OpenVMS only on the OpenVMS Alpha system that is running the OpenVMS Registry server or on other OpenVMS Alpha systems running the same version of OpenVMS as the system running the Registry Server.

For more information about the OpenVMS Registry protocol change, see Section 5.10.

For information about installing and configuring COM for OpenVMS, see the OpenVMS Connectivity Developer Guide.

4.3 Online Help New and Changed Topics

V7.3

With Version 7.3, a number of new Help topics have been added and the names of some old Help topics have been changed.

Online Help now includes all the OpenVMS utility routines that are described in the OpenVMS Utility Routines Manual, as follows:

ACL_Editor
BACKUP_API
CLI_Routines
CONV$_Routines
CQUAL_Routines
DCX_Routines
DECTPU
EDT_Routines
FDL_Routines
LBR_Routines
LGI_Routines
MAIL_Routines
NCS_Routines
PSM_Routines
SMB_Routines
SOR_Routines

Some of these utility names begin with strings that match the names of previously existing Help topics, so the names of the following older Help topics have been changed to make them unique when you enter a sufficient number of characters:

Old Topic Name	New Topic Name
BACKUP	BACKUP_Command
FDL	FDL_Files
MAIL	MAIL_Command
NCS	NCS_Command

A few more changes and additions have been made to Help topics:

• Help for the MIME utility has been added to both Alpha and VAX systems.
• DECthreads Help has been replaced with the POSIX_Threads Help topic. This change reflects a product name change.
• Help formerly located under DPML on Alpha systems is now found under CPML to reflect the product name change to Compaq Portable Mathematics Library routines.
• On Alpha systems, Help has been added for WWPPS (World-Wide PostScript Printing Subsystem).
• The CDA messages that used to be included under the CONVERT Help topic can now be accessed using the Help Message facility.
• The DVR$ messages that used to be included under the VIEW Help topic can now be accessed using the Help Message facility.

V7.3

The OpenVMS Version 7.3 CD-ROM package includes the Alpha Systems Firmware Update Version 5.9 CD-ROM and Release Notes. Read the Release Notes before installing the firmware.

Note:

• If you are running OpenVMS Version 7.3 on AlphaServer GS80/160/320 systems, you need console firmware V5.9B, which you can download from the following location:
  http://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/
  
• If you are running OpenVMS Version 7.3 on AlphaServer GS80/160/320 systems, you need the V5.9B console firmware to use the new CPU online replace feature.
• If you are running OpenVMS Version 7.3 on AlphaServer GS60E/140 systems, do not use Version 5.9-2 firmware. Access the following web site for firmware V5.9B and the most current information on firmware:
  http://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/firmware/

V7.3

Included in the OpenVMS Version 7.3 CD-ROM kit are the OpenVMS Freeware Version 5.0 CD-ROMs. The Freeware CD-ROMs contain free software tools and utilities for creating applications and managing OpenVMS systems.

To mount the Freeware CD-ROMs, insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive and enter the following commands appropriate to the freeware volume being mounted. For additional information on the freeware, refer to the FREEWARE_README.TXT files.

Freeware CD-ROM 1

$ MOUNT ddcu:FREEWARE50_1 $ TYPE DISK$FREEWARE50_1:[000000]$FREEWARE_README.TXT

Freeware CD-ROM 2

$ MOUNT ddcu:FREEWARE50_2 $ TYPE DISK$FREEWARE50_2:[000000]$FREEWARE_README.TXT

In the previous commands, the u in ddcu is the unit number of the CD-ROM device on your system. If you do not know the name of the CD-ROM drive on your system, use the following command:

$ PIPE SHOW DEV DK/FULL | SEARCH SYS$INPUT RRD

Once the appropriate CD-ROM disk is mounted, use the following command to invoke the menu:

@DISK$FREEWARE:[FREEWARE]FREEWARE_MENU

4.6 Booting OpenVMS Version 7.3 on a Personal Workstation with IDE Controllers

If you are using the Compaq Personal Workstation 433au, 500au, and 600au series systems, you can boot OpenVMS Version 7.3 from an IDE CD-ROM if the controller chip is a Cypress PCI Peripheral Controller. You cannot boot OpenVMS on an Compaq Personal Workstation au series system from an IDE CD-ROM with an Intel Saturn I/O (SIO) 82378 chip in your configuration. You must use a SCSI CD-ROM if the Intel SIO chip is present.

To determine which IDE chip you have in your configuration, enter the following SRM console command:

SHOW CONFIGURATION

If you see Cypress PCI Peripheral Controller, you can boot OpenVMS.

If you see Intel SIO 82378, you will need to use and boot from a SCSI CD-ROM.

This chapter contains information that applies to system maintenance and management, performance management, and networking.

For information about new features included in this version of the software, refer to the OpenVMS Version 7.3 New Features and Documentation Overview.

V7.3

This note pertains to ACMS users, possibly Rdb users, and anyone else running a user-written application that calls DECdtm to participate in a distributed transaction with a remote system having these characteristics:

• The network connection is Compaq DECnet-Plus for OpenVMS over TCP/IP.
• The nodes are connected using only an IP router.

Users may see the following error, which is returned by DECnet:

IPC-E-BCKTRNSFAIL, failure on the back translate address request

This error is displayed upon a logical connection failure when the remote node name cannot be translated by DECnet-Plus. The error can be triggered when the DECnet-Plus node name for the remote system is not defined in the local DECnet-Plus database and is defined only as ALIAS in the TCP/IP name server for the remote node. For example, node XXYZZY may be defined as follows:

20.43.136.54 XXYZZY.ABC.DEF.COM, XXYZZY

To avoid this situation, either define the node name in the local DECnet-Plus database or define the logical SYS$DECDTM_NODE_NAME to be equivalent to one of the following:

• The value of the SYSGEN parameter SCSNODE
• The DECnet-Plus simple name
• The TCP/IP alias (that is, a six-character node name string such as XXYZZY, as shown in the preceding example)

For other requirements and restrictions, refer to the section about managing DECdtm Services in the OpenVMS System Manager's Manual.

5.1 ECP Data Collector and ECP Performance Analyzer V5.4 Available with V7.3

V7.3

Starting with the shipment of OpenVMS Version 7.3, the Enterprise Capacity and Performance (ECP) Data Collector Version 5.4 for OpenVMS and the Enterprise Capacity and Performance (ECP) Analyzer Version 5.4 for OpenVMS will be provided to users with a valid operating system license at no additional cost. Both the Data Collector and the Performance Analyzer are also backward compatible with V6.2 (or later) of the OpenVMS operating system at no additional charge. It supports both OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS VAX platforms.

The Enterprise Capacity and Performance Data Collector provides data collecting capabilities for input to the Version 5.4 Enterprise Capacity and Performance (ECP) Analyzer for OpenVMS. The Data Collector metrics include CPU, disk I/O, memory, process, network, lock, cluster, and diskset configuration information. The ECP Analyzer provides both graphic (MOTIF-based) and tabular reports for the data assembled by the collector(s), including metrics for CPU, disk I/O, memory, paging, processes, locks, SCS, and TCP/IP.

The Data Collector and the Performance Analyzer are available as down-line loadable kits from the Compaq OpenVMS System Management web page at:

For more information about the new features of the ECP Data Collector and the ECP Performance Analyzer, see the OpenVMS Version 7.3 New Features and Documentation Overview.

Software Support Service for these products is sold separately and is available on an incremental basis. Please contact your Compaq Services representative for further details.

5.2 Extended File Specifications

V7.3

Mixed UNIX and OpenVMS Style File Names Not Supported

This release note pertains to Extended File Specifications. For more information about Extended File Specifications, see the OpenVMS Guide to Extended File Specifications.

The ODS-5 volume structure supports long file names, allows the use of a wider range of characters within file names and preserves case within file names.

However, the C RTL shipped with OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3 does not provide full support for extended file names on ODS-5 devices. This lack of full support imposes certain restrictions on users running Netscape FastTrack Server or Apache Web Server for OpenVMS Alpha, or deploying Java applications on an ODS-5 device.

In general, users running Netscape FastTrack Server or Apache Server, or deploying Java applications on OpenVMS can input either UNIX style file names or OpenVMS style file names. (FastTrack and Apache Server usually output UNIX style file names.) With these products, file names are often constructed by the FastTrack server, the Apache server, or the Java Virtual Machine.

Because mixed UNIX and OpenVMS style extended file names are not yet supported by the Compaq C RTL, you may be required to use UNIX style syntax when interacting with Java applications or FastTrack or Apache Server. For example, you may want to modify a root to which you append additional directories or a file name.

The following example illustrates sample mixed UNIX and OpenVMS style file names that are not supported on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3:

doc/foo.bar.bar ./tmp/foo.bar.b^_ar ~foo^.bar

However, you can modify the last example so that it will work as an OpenVMS extended file name that has a tilde (~) as the first character. Precede the leading tilde (~) with the extended file specifications escape character (^). For example:

^~foo^.bar

See the OpenVMS Guide to Extended File Specifications for more information about using the tilde (~) in OpenVMS extended file names.

In addition, C RTL functions that return file names do not work correctly if any of the following conditions are true:

• The VMS file specification contains ODS-5 characters.
• The VMS file specification contains a directory name in Directory ID (DID) format.
• The VMS file specification contains a file name in File ID (FID) format.
• The file specification is larger than the receiving buffer.

If any of the above conditions is true, the following C RTL routines will fail:

getname()
fgetname()
getcwd()
decc$from_vms()
decc$translate_vms()

Files meeting any of the above conditions will be skipped by the following C RTL routines:

ftw()
readdir()

These mixed UNIX and OpenVMS style file names will be supported in a future release of Compaq C RTL for OpenVMS.

5.3 External Authentication

This section contains release notes pertaining to external authentication. External authentication is an optional feature introduced in OpenVMS Version 7.1 that enables OpenVMS systems to authenticate designated users using their external user IDs and passwords.

Starting with OpenVMS Version 7.2, if you are running DECwindows and you want a DECwindows user to be externally authenticated, you must be running DECwindows Version 1.2-4 or later and Advanced Server for OpenVMS, and meet any requirements outlined in the Advanced Server for OpenVMS Server Installation and Configuration Guide. See this manual and the OpenVMS Guide to System Security for detailed information about using external authentication.

5.3.1 FTP Server Uses External Authentication

V7.2

With the release of Compaq TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS Version 5.0, the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server uses external authentication to authenticate connections on the OpenVMS system.

5.3.2 DCL Command Interface to Control External Authentication

V7.2

Chapter 7 of the OpenVMS Guide to System Security describes the SYS$SINGLE_SIGNON and SYS$ACME_MODULE logical names currently used for external authentication. Note that in a future release, the current interface for enabling and controlling external authentication will be replaced by a DCL command interface.

5.3.3 Failed Connection Attempts on POP Server

V7.2

The Post Office Protocol (POP) server does not use external authentication to authenticate connection attempts on the OpenVMS system. This causes connection attempts to fail if either of the following conditions exist:

• The external user ID is different from the OpenVMS user name.
• The OpenVMS password is not synchronized with the external user password.

V7.2

A DECterm terminal session does not have access to the external user name used for login and must prompt for one during SET PASSWORD operations. The external user name defaults to the process's OpenVMS user name. If the default is not appropriate (that is, if the external user name and mapped OpenVMS user name are different), you must enter the correct external user name.

The following example shows a SET PASSWORD operation initiated by a user with the external user name JOHN_DOE. The mapped OpenVMS user name is JOHNDOE and is the default used by the SET PASSWORD operation. In this case, the default is incorrect and the actual external user name was specified by the user.

$ set password External user name not known; Specify one (Y/N)[Y]? Y External user name [JOHNDOE]: JOHN_DOE Old password: New password: Verification: %SET-I-SNDEXTAUTH, Sending password request to external authenticator %SET-I-TRYPWDSYNCH, Attempting password synchronization $

5.3.5 Compaq DECnet-Plus Requirement

V7.2-1

Users with the EXTAUTH bit set in their SYSUAF account record cannot use explicit access control strings with systems running Compaq DECnet-Plus unless their externally authenticated password is all uppercase characters.

For example, if you enter the following command:

$ DIRECTORY nodename"username password"::

where nodename is a system running DECnet-Plus and username is an EXTAUTH account, DECnet-Plus converts the string supplied in the password to uppercase characters before it is passed to the external authentication agent (a PATHWORKS or NT domain controller).

There are two workarounds:

• If you are using DECnet-Plus and you want to use explicit access control strings, define an uppercase NT password.
• Set up a proxy account on your DECnet-Plus nodes so that you do not have to use explicit access control strings to perform functions.

V7.1

The DECwindows pause screen unlock mechanism does not use the external authentication service for password validation. It continues to use the password in the SYSUAF file, even if you have external authentication enabled on your system.

Password synchronization is enabled by default. If you have disabled password synchronization, be sure to keep the LAN Manager and SYSUAF passwords synchronized manually.

5.3.7 DECnet-Plus and NET_CALLOUTS Parameter

V7.3

To run DECnet-Plus for OpenVMS with external authentication enabled, set the system parameter NET_CALLOUTS to 255. This causes user verification and proxy lookups to be done in LOGINOUT rather than DECnet.

5.3.8 Impact on Layered Products and Applications

V7.1

Certain layered products and applications that use an authentication mechanism based on the traditional SYSUAF-based user name and password (for example, software that calls $HASH_PASSWORD or $GETUAI/$SETUAI to alter, fetch, or verify OpenVMS passwords) will encounter problems in either of the following cases:

• When external authentication is used in an environment where a given user's external user ID and OpenVMS user name are different
• Where the user's SYSUAF password is different from the external user password

In such cases, the problem symptom is a user authentication failure from the layered product or application.

For externally authenticated users, the normal system authorization database (SYSUAF.DAT) is used to construct the OpenVMS process profile (UIC, privileges, quotas, and so on) and to apply specific login restrictions. However, there are two key differences between externally authenticated users and normal OpenVMS users. The following is true for externally authenticated users:

• The password stored in the SYSUAF is not the password used to verify the user.
• The user name stored in the SYSUAF and used to identify the OpenVMS process is not necessarily the same as the external user ID used to authenticate the user during login.

OpenVMS attempts to keep a user's SYSUAF and external user password synchronized to minimize these problems. An up-to-date copy of the user's external password is kept in the SYSUAF, but this is not the case if, for example, the external password contains characters that are invalid in OpenVMS, or if SYSUAF password synchronization is disabled by the system manager. (Password synchronization is enabled by default.)

If you enable external authentication, Compaq recommends you do the following to minimize incompatibility with layered products or applications that use traditional SYSUAF-based authentication:

• Do not disable password synchronization.
• Limit external user passwords to those characters from the OpenVMS valid password character set (A--Z, 0--9, underscore (_), and dollar sign ($)).
• Assign users the same user name in both the external authentication service and OpenVMS.
• Do not assign the same user name or user ID to more than one user.

The $GETUAI and $SETUAI system services do not support external passwords. These services operate only on passwords stored in the SYSUAF, and updates are not sent to the external authentication service. Sites using software that makes calls to these services to check passwords or updates should not enable external authentication. Compaq expects to provide a new programming interface to support external passwords in a future release.

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