Getting Started with Alpha Virtualization Presented at HP Technology Forum 2006

2. HP Technology Forum 2006
Getting Started
w Alpha
ith
Virtualization
Stanley F. Quayle
President, Quayle Consulting Inc.
GET CONNECTED
People. Training. Technology.
© 2006 Hew lett-Packard Developm Com
ent pany, L.P.
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice

3. Session Goals
• Understand virtualization
• Learn about issues raised by virtualization
• Experience migration with:
−M agnetic tape
− Disk
− DECnet
− OpenVM Cluster
S
− CD-ROM
− FTP
3 July 14, 2006

4. Required Experience
•Working knowledge of HP OpenVM system
S
administration
• If you brought your application, experience in
your application
4 July 14, 2006

5. Can It Be Ported?
• Do you have the design documentation?
• Do you have all the source code?
− W about DECm
hat igrate?
• Operating system dependency?
−Middleware? (COM Advanced Server, Rally)
,
• Hardware dependency?
• Target platform
− Can your code re ally be reused?
− W about stability?
hat
• Can you validate the result?
5 July 14, 2006

6. W Virtualize?
hy
• Alpha last order date: October 25, 2006
• Smaller boxes
• Use modern hardware
• Reduce pow consum
er ption
• Reduce hardware maintenance costs
•“
Encapsulate”applications
6 July 14, 2006

7. Virtualization Overview
Application Application
Layered softw are Layered softw are
System libraries System libraries
Operating System Operating System
CHARN-Alpha
Alpha Emulato r
Alpha
Ho s t OS
Host OS
Hardware
Ho s t CPU(s )
CPU(s)
7 July 14, 2006

8. Alpha Emulator
SCSI disk
Memory
Ethernet
SCSI Tape
Disk controller
Alpha CPU
Host system disk
Emulator Tape controller
Serial ports Virtual disk
System bus
interface
Tape image
System
Alpha
Console
8 July 14, 2006

9. Virtualize to What?
• Open Source
−Working on it, but nothing yet
• CHARON-AXP
− Com ercial product
m
− Support available from VARs
− Current platform 64-bit W
: indows
9 July 14, 2006

10. OpenVM Licensing
S
• HP will transfer existing licenses to CHARON-AXP
http://h71000.w w
w 7.hp.com/openvms/sri-charon-vax-emulator.html
− $ 2,000 total
10 July 14, 2006

11. MultiNet & TCPw Licensing
are
• Process Software will
transfer existing M ultiNet
and TCPw licenses to virtual solutions
are
• Fee depends on emulated system
− $ 350 for workgroup-size systems
− M for enterprise-size system
ore s
11 July 14, 2006

12. Missing In Action
• Som softw
e are vendors no longer exist
• Licensing methods:
− LM license PAK
F
− M address of Ethernet card
AC
− Hardw values of Alpha
are
• CPU
• HW_M ODEL
• SID
• XCPU
12 July 14, 2006

13. Softw Support
are
• HP software support (OpenVM layered products)
S,
is available for CHARON-AXP on HP hardware
http://h71000.w w
w 7.hp.com/openvms/sri-charon-vax-emulator.html
• Oracle software support available for CHARON-
AXP
w w
w .oracle.com/technology/products/rdb/htdocs/rdb7/charon_vax.html
• Other ISV’ support virtual
s system less form
s ally
13 July 14, 2006

14. Security Concerns
• Howto secure your host
− Keep host patch-current
− Shut dow unnecessary services
n
− Rem ove unnecessary softw are
− Don’connect to the netw
t ork
• Howto secure your virtual Alpha
− All the old Alpha tools and tricks still apply
− HP OpenVM Guide to System Security
S
14 July 14, 2006

15. Let’ Get Started!
s
• You have the following items:
− PC
− USB dongle
− Install CD
−A“ bootstrap” S system im
VM age
• Do no t insert the dongle into the USB port yet!
15 July 14, 2006

16. Softw Installation
are
• Insert CD
• Run install.exe, followprompts
16 July 14, 2006

17. Softw Configuration
are
• Create a directory C:DISKS
• Copy DISKS*.* from the CD to C:DISKS
• Remove the “
read only”property from the files in
C:DISKS
• Open the configuration file in Notepad
• Change the network interface nam (near the end
e
of the file) to the device which is to be used for the
em ulated Alpha
• Save the changes, and exit Notepad
17 July 14, 2006

18. Virtual Alpha Startup
• From the Start button, select CHARON-AXP, then
CHARON-AXP Launcher
• Brow to your configuration file
se
• Run it
• A Hyperterminal windoww appear, w
ill hich is the
Alpha console
• You nowhave a Alpha on your computer!
• At the >>> prom type “ DUA0”
pt, B/1
18 July 14, 2006

19. Student Configuration
S ys te m DECne t IP
LAB1 1.101 192.168.1.101
LAB2 1.102 192.168.1.102
LAB3 1.103 192.168.1.103
LAB4 1.104 192.168.1.104
LAB5 1.105 192.168.1.105
LAB6 1.106 192.168.1.106
LAB7 1.107 192.168.1.107
LAB8 ... 1.108 ... 192.168.1.108 ...
19 July 14, 2006

20. Our Source Alpha Today
•Workgroup-size Alpha
− VM V7.3-2
S
− VM SCLUSTER, 1 vote
− No SYSTEM passw ord
− 1 RZ-29 disk, device nam DKA0
e
− 8 m tape drive, device nam M
m e KA300
− RRD42 CD drive, device nam M
e KA400
• DECnet address 1.573
• TCP/IP address 192.168.1.5
20 July 14, 2006

21. Tape Migration
• Tape has the following advantages
− Tried-and-true technology
− M Alpha system have tape backup
ost s
− Doesn’require a netw adapter
t ork
− Very fam iliar system managem tasks
ent
• There are disadvantages
− Tape is slow
− Reliable tapes for older form (TK-70, etc.) are hard to
ats
find
− Reading the tape on the virtual system requires a SCSI
tape drive
21 July 14, 2006

22. Tape Migration –Procedure
• On the Alpha, do backups of all disks
− The system disk requires /IMAGE
• Once the backups are done, move the tape drive
to the virtual system
− The configuration file has to change to use the tape drive
• Do an image restore to newcontainer files on the
virtual Alpha
22 July 14, 2006

23. Disk Migration
• Disk has the following advantages
− Very fast
− Doesn’require a netw adapter
t ork
• There are disadvantages
− Only SCSI disks can be migrated this way
• DSSI and CI disks have no equivalent hardw today
are
− Handling a disk, especially a very old one, can cause it
to fail
• If there’ an external
s disk array, it could be
connected to the virtual Alpha perm anently
− Not highest-performance solution, but migration is almost
zero tim and lowrisk
e
23 July 14, 2006

24. Disk Migration –Procedure
• Shut dow the Alpha cleanly
n
• Connect the disk drives to the virtual system
− The configuration file has to change to use the drives
• Do a /IMAGE backup from the physical disks to the
container files
24 July 14, 2006

25. DECnet Migration
• DECnet migration has the follow advantages
ing
− Pretty fast (faster than tape)
− Alm every Alpha has DECnet installed
ost
− BACKUP can w savesets to DECnet nodes
rite
• There are disadvantages
− Som Alpha system don’have a netw adapter
e s t ork
25 July 14, 2006

26. DECnet Migration –Procedure
• For each physical disk
− BAC/IM <p>: <vn>”
G system ::<vd>:[000000]A.BCK/save
”
• <p> is physical disk nam e
• <vn> is virtual system DECnet address
• <vd> is virtual system “
scratch”container file
• Then, on virtual system
−M OUNT/FOREIGN <vt>:
− BAC/IM <vd>:[000000]A.BCK/save <vt>:
G
• <vt> is the virtual disk to which to restore
• For multiple disks, these steps can be overlapped
if the “
<vd>”container file is big enough
26 July 14, 2006

27. Cluster Migration
• Cluster migration has the follow advantages
ing
− Pretty fast (faster than tape)
− All disks to be m igrated appear to be local
−M igration can be increm ental, w m
ith ixed physical and
virtual cluster m bers
em
• There are disadvantages
− Virtual system m be able to join cluster as NI m ber
ust em
− The cluster m M
ust SCP-serve all needed disks
− Frequently, no one rem bers the cluster passw
em ord
27 July 14, 2006

28. Cluster Migration –Procedure
• On the virtual system for each physical disk
,
−M OUNT/FOREIGN <vt>:
− BACKUP/IMAGE <p>: <vt>:
• <p> is physical disk nam e
• <vt> is the virtual disk to which to restore
28 July 14, 2006

29. CD Migration
• CD has the following advantages
− Usually faster than tape
− CD drives on virtual Alpha are lots faster than RRD-
series Alpha drives
• There are disadvantages
− Creating ODS CD-ROMs on VM w not generally
’ S as
possible until V7.x
− CD’ have a lim
s ited size (700 M m
B ax)
• It’ possible to install
s VM from scratch using
S
CONDIST disks
29 July 14, 2006

30. CD Migration –Procedure
• If the CD is not in ODS-2 or ODS-5 form follow
at,
FTP procedure
• Change virtualAlpha configuration file to use PC’
s
CD drive as a VM CD drive
S
− Note: W indow m be rebooted if any W
s ust indow s-format
CD w inserted in drive before starting virtual Alpha
as
• Use COPY or BACKUP to copy files as necessary
30 July 14, 2006

31. FTP Migration
• FTP migration has the follow advantages
ing
− No use of “ DEC proprietary”protocols
− Pretty fast
− You can FTP files from the host system w
, hich is always
present
• There are disadvantages
− Som Alpha system do not have a TCP/IP stack
e s
− Som Alpha system don’have a netw adapter
e s t ork
− FTP doesn’preserve VM file characteristics or boot
t S
blocks
31 July 14, 2006

32. FTP Migration –Procedure
• Configure and start FTP Server on virtual Alpha
• Using FTP, transfer files to appropriate locations
on virtual Alpha
• Be sure to use binary transfers for all but text files
• BACKUP savesets require a fix before restore:
− http://w w
w .stanq.com/reset-backup.txt
• Use Info-ZIP w the “ option
ith -V”
− http://vms.process.com/ftp/vms-freeware/
32 July 14, 2006

33. Post-Migration Tasks
• Before booting the virtual Alpha
−M ake copies of disks as migrated, just in case
− Disconnect from netw to prevent conflicts w
ork ith
physical Alpha
• Analyze boot messages
− Com plex cases m need a m
ay inim boot first to sort
um
out problem s
− Logical nam in SYLOGICALS.COM m
es ight be needed
for som hard-coded disk references
e
−M ount com ands m be incorrect in startup files
m ay
• Re-configure DECnet and TCP/IP
33 July 14, 2006

34. M Post-M
ore igration Tasks
• Regression-test application(s) completely!
• Re-evaluate backup strategy –tape might not be
necessary anymore
• Is there a tape archive to be converted?
• License transfers
• Update service contracts
• Shut dow Alpha and sell
n on eBay
− Or donate to a local VM Hobbyist
S
34 July 14, 2006