                                         ?                    The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)                             ABSTRACT   J                    This document contains answers to many common questionsG                    on the OpenVMS operating system, and covers OpenVMS, A                    and OpenVMS running on Itanium, Alpha, and VAX                     hardware.  H                    While this document is available in multiple formats,H                    the text-format version is far and away generally the,                    easiest format to search.        =                    Revision/Update Information   OpenVMS V8.3   H                    Revision/Update Information:  Revision Date/July 2006                                          FAQ                                 J           ________________________________________________________________             Contents  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 PREFACE                                                  i  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 OPENVMS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)               iii  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 1  INTRODUCTION                                      1-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 1.1   WHAT CORE OPENVMS URLS DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?      1-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 1.2   WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS USENET NEWSGROUPS?          1-2>                 1.2.1     What is the scope of the comp.os.vmsJ                           newsgroup?                                   1-2;                 1.2.2     What newsgroups carry VMS-related1J                           information?                                 1-2J                 1.2.3     What newsgroup archives are available?       1-3J                 1.2.4     What is the INFO-VAX mailing list?           1-3F                 1.2.4.1      How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from+                              INFO-VAX?, 1-4   J                 __________________________________________________________J                 1.3   WHAT IS [N]ETIQUETTE?                            1-5  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 1.4   WHAT OPENVMS USER GROUP(S) ARE AVAILABLE?        1-8  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 1.5   OPENVMS SUPPORT, QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS?         1-9A                 1.5.1     Corporate contacts for OpenVMS Business J                           Issues?                                      1-9J                 1.5.2     OpenVMS Ambassadors?                        1-10B                 1.5.3     Contact for OpenVMS Marketing Issues andJ                           Questions?                                  1-10<                 1.5.4     Contact URLs for OpenVMS TechnicalJ                           Issues?                                     1-10      J                                                                        iii                                   Contents         J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 2  GENERAL INFORMATION                               2-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.1   WHAT IS OPENVMS? WHAT IS ITS HISTORY?            2-1  J                 __________________________________________________________<                 2.2   WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VMS ANDJ                       OPENVMS?                                         2-3  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.3   WHAT'S IN A NAME? TERMINOLOGY AND PRODUCTS?      2-4J                 2.3.1     How do I port from VMS to OpenVMS?           2-4  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.4   WHICH IS BETTER, OPENVMS OR UNIX?                2-4  J                 __________________________________________________________>                 2.5   IS HP CONTINUING FUNDING AND SUPPORT FORJ                       OPENVMS?                                         2-5  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.6   WHAT OPENVMS DISTRIBUTION KITS ARE AVAILABLE?    2-6B                 2.6.1     Where can I download OpenVMS and LayeredJ                           Product Kits?                                2-8  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.7   IN WHAT LANGUAGE IS OPENVMS WRITTEN?             2-9  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.8   OBTAINING AND TRANSFERING OPENVMS LICENSES?      2-9=                 2.8.1     Questions asked by Hobbyist OpenVMS J                           licensees?                                  2-10E                 2.8.1.1      Vendors offering Hobbyist Licenses, 2-11 J                 2.8.2     OpenVMS Educational and CSLG licenses?      2-11>                 2.8.3     What developer and partner licensingJ                           programs are available?                     2-12@                 2.8.4     How do I obtain or transfer an OpenVMSJ                           license?                                    2-12  J                 __________________________________________________________<                 2.9   DOES OPENVMS SUPPORT THE EURO CURRENCYJ                       SYMBOL?                                         2-12  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 2.10  OPENVMS PORTS? ITANIUM? PORTS TO IA-32, EM64T ORJ                       AMD64 SYSTEMS?                                  2-13                      ive ?                                 Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________>                 2.11  ARE THERE ANY NETWORK-ACCESSIBLE OPENVMSJ                       SYSTEMS?                                        2-16  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.12  WHAT VERSION OF OPENVMS DO I NEED?              2-18  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.13  HOW CAN I SUBMIT OPENVMS FREEWARE?              2-19  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.14  PORTING APPLICATIONS TO OPENVMS?                2-20  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 2.15  WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO OPENVMS SOFTWAREJ                       DEVELOPERS?                                     2-21  J                 __________________________________________________________E                 2.16  MEMORY MANAGEMENT, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROCESS J                       SCHEDULING, ETC?                                2-22  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 2.17  BASIC UNITS OF MEASUREMENT?                     2-23J                 2.17.1    How many bytes are in a disk block?         2-23J                 2.17.2    How many bytes are in a memory page?        2-25@                 2.17.3    How do I convert? Disk Blocks? KB, MB,J                           GB, TB?                                     2-25  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 3  DOCUMENTATION                                     3-1  J                 __________________________________________________________?                 3.1   WHERE CAN I FIND ONLINE COPIES OF OPENVMS J                       MANUALS?                                         3-1  J                 __________________________________________________________>                 3.2   WHAT ONLINE INFORMATION AND WEBSITES AREJ                       AVAILABLE?                                       3-2  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 3.3   HOW DO I EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF A HELP TOPIC TO AJ                       TEXT FILE?                                       3-5  J                 __________________________________________________________;                 3.4   DOES OPENVMS MARKETING HAVE AN E-MAIL_J                       ADDRESS?                                         3-5  J                                                                          v                                   Contents_        J                 __________________________________________________________?                 3.5   WHERE CAN I LEARN ABOUT OPENVMS EXECUTIVE J                       INTERNALS?                                       3-5  J                 __________________________________________________________I                 3.6   WHERE CAN NEW USERS FIND TUTORIAL INFORMATION ABOUT J                       OPENVMS?                                         3-6J                 3.6.1     Tutorial Websites?                           3-6J                 3.6.2     Books and Tutorials?                         3-8  J                 __________________________________________________________?                 3.7   WHAT OPENVMS MAILING LISTS AND FORUMS ARE J                       AVAILABLE?                                      3-10  J                 __________________________________________________________D                 3.8   WHAT IS THIS ASK THE WIZARD WEBSITE I'VE HEARDJ                       ABOUT?                                          3-12  J                 __________________________________________________________D                 3.9   WHERE CAN I FIND THE LATEST C RUN-TIME LIBRARYJ                       MANUALS?                                        3-13  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 4  TIME AND TIMEKEEPING                              4-1  J                 __________________________________________________________=                 4.1   A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENVMS TIMEKEEPING, J                       PLEASE?                                          4-17                 4.1.1     Details of the OpenVMS systemLJ                           time-keeping?                                4-3F                 4.1.1.1      VAX hardware time-keeping details..., 4-3,                 4.1.1.1.1     TOY clock, 4-31                 4.1.1.1.2     EXE$GQ_SYSTIME, 4-3 2                 4.1.1.1.3     EXE$GQ_TODCBASE, 4-3.                 4.1.1.1.4     EXE$GL_TODR, 4-4H                 4.1.1.2      Alpha hardware time-keeping details..., 4-5G                 4.1.1.2.1     Battery-Backed Watch (BB_WATCH) Chip, 4-5t1                 4.1.1.2.2     EXE$GQ_SYSTIME, 4-6k7                 4.1.1.2.3     EXE$GQ_SAVED_HWCLOCK, 4-6 I                 4.1.1.3      Why does VAX need a SET TIME at least once a.'                              year?, 4-7 >                 4.1.2     How does OpenVMS VAX maintain systemJ                           time?                                        4-7                      vi  p  h                              Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________J                 4.2   KEEPING THE OPENVMS SYSTEM TIME SYNCHRONIZED?    4-9  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 4.3   EXTERNAL TIME-BASE HARDWARE?                    4-11<                 4.3.1     Why do my cluster batch jobs startJ                           early?                                      4-11J                 4.3.2     Why does my OpenVMS system time drift?      4-12<                 4.3.3     Resetting the system time into theJ                           past?                                       4-13<                 4.3.4     How can I drift the OpenVMS systemJ                           time?                                       4-13A                 4.3.5     How can I configure TCP/IP Services NTP J                           as a time provider?                         4-14  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 4.4   MANAGING TIMEZONES, TIMEKEEPING, UTC, AND DAYLIGHTJ                       SAVING TIME?                                    4-16B                 4.4.1     Creating, Updating and Managing TimezoneJ                           Definitions?                                4-19H                 4.4.1.1      Customizing or Updating your TDF (Timezone)+                              Setting?, 4-20 >                 4.4.1.2      US Daylight Time Changes Starting.                              1-Mar-2007?, 4-22<                 4.4.2     Timezones and Time-related LogicalJ                           Names?                                      4-22=                 4.4.3     How to troubleshoot TDF problems onoJ                           OpenVMS?                                    4-23  J                 __________________________________________________________G                 4.5   WHY DOES THE SET TIME COMMAND FAIL? HELP MANAGING J                       DTSS?                                           4-25  J                 __________________________________________________________D                 4.6   SETTING TIME ON ALPHASERVER ES47, ES80, GS1280J                       CONSOLE?                                        4-27  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 4.7   UTC VS GMT VS VS UT1/UT1/UT2 TDF? WHAT ARE THESEJ                       ACRONYMS?                                       4-29  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 4.8   USING W32TIME OR AN SNTP AS A TIME PROVIDER?    4-31  J                                                                        vii O  L                              Contents         J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 5  SYSTEM MANAGEMENT INFORMATION                     5-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.1   WHAT IS AN INSTALLED IMAGE?                      5-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.2   ARE THERE ANY KNOWN VIRUSES FOR OPENVMS?         5-2  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.3   SOURCES OF OPENVMS SECURITY INFORMATION?         5-4  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.4   HOW DO I MOUNT AN ISO-9660 CD ON OPENVMS?        5-4  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.5   HOW DO I EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF A PCSI KIT?     5-6  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.6   EMERGENCY (CONVERSATIONAL) SYSTEM STARTUP?       5-7C                 5.6.1     I've forgotten the SYSTEM password - what J                           can I do?                                   5-11A                 5.6.2     My product licenses have expired - what J                           can I do?                                   5-11  J                 __________________________________________________________A                 5.7   HOW DO I CHANGE THE NODE NAME OF AN OPENVMS_J                       SYSTEM?                                         5-12  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 5.8   WHY DOESN'T OPENVMS SEE THE NEW MEMORY I JUST J                       ADDED?                                          5-14  J                 __________________________________________________________>                 5.9   HOW DO I CHANGE THE TEXT IN A USER'S UICJ                       IDENTIFIER?                                     5-15  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.10  WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS VERSION UPGRADE PATHS?     5-16J                 5.10.1    OpenVMS Alpha Upgrade (or Update) Paths     5-16J                 5.10.2    OpenVMS I64 Upgrade Paths                   5-19J                 5.10.3    OpenVMS VAX Release Upgrade Paths           5-20J                 5.10.4    OpenVMS Cluster Rolling Upgrade Paths       5-21J                 5.10.5    OpenVMS VAX Manual Organization             5-22=                 5.10.6    OpenVMS Product Version and Support J                           Information                                 5-227                 5.10.7    OpenVMS Alpha and I64 UpgradehJ                           Terminology                                 5-23                      viii  0                                 Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________E                 5.11  WHY DO I HAVE A NEGATIVE NUMBER IN THE PAGEFILE J                       RESERVABLE PAGES?                               5-25  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 5.12  DO I HAVE TO UPDATE LAYERED PRODUCTS WHEN UPDATINGJ                       OPENVMS?                                        5-26  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.13  HOW DO I CHANGE THE VOLUME LABEL OF A DISK?     5-27  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.14  HOW CAN I SET UP A SHARED DIRECTORY?            5-27  J                 __________________________________________________________=                 5.15  WHY DO I GET EXTRA BLANK PAGES ON MY HP J                       PRINTER?                                        5-29  J                 __________________________________________________________?                 5.16  DRIVERS AND CONFIGURATION OF NEW GRAPHICS J                       CONTROLLERS?                                    5-29J                 5.16.1    The ELSA GLoria Synergy                     5-29J                 5.16.2    PowerStorm 300, PowerStorm 350              5-31J                 5.16.3    PowerStorm 3D30, PowerStorm 4D20            5-31J                 5.16.4    Radeon 7500                                 5-32  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 5.17  HOW CAN I ACQUIRE OPENVMS PATCHES, FIXES, AND J                       ECOS?                                           5-32  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.18  HOW DO I MOVE THE QUEUE MANAGER DATABASE?       5-33  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 5.19  HOW DO I DELETE AN UNDELETABLE/UNSTOPPABLE (RWAST)J                       PROCESS?                                        5-34  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.20  HOW DO I RESET THE ERROR COUNT(S)?              5-35  J                 __________________________________________________________B                 5.21  HOW DO I FIND OUT IF THE TAPE DRIVE SUPPORTSJ                       COMPRESSION?                                    5-37  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 5.22  CAN I COPY SYSUAF TO ANOTHER VERSION? TO VAX? TOJ                       ALPHA?                                          5-37  J                                                                         ix    _                              Contents_        J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.23  HOW DO I DELETE (TIMEOUT) IDLE PROCESSES?       5-40  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 5.24  DO I NEED A PAK FOR THE DECEVENT (HP ANALYZE) J                       TOOL?                                           5-40  J                 __________________________________________________________;                 5.25  INITIALIZE ACCVIO AND ANSI TAPE LABEL J                       SUPPORT?                                        5-41  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.26  HOW DO I RECOVER FROM INSVIRMEM ERRORS?         5-41  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 5.27  HOW CAN I PREVENT A SERIAL TERMINAL LINE FROM J                       INITIATING A LOGIN?                             5-42  J                 __________________________________________________________=                 5.28  HOW DOES PCSI USE THE IMAGE BUILD_IDENT J                       FIELD?                                          5-42  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 5.29  HOW CAN I TELL WHAT SOFTWARE (AND VERSION) IS_J                       INSTALLED?                                      5-44  J                 __________________________________________________________@                 5.30  WHAT FILE CHECKSUM TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE FORJ                       OPENVMS?                                        5-45  J                 __________________________________________________________@                 5.31  WHAT (AND WHERE) IS THE OPENVMS MANAGEMENTJ                       STATION?                                        5-46  J                 __________________________________________________________A                 5.32  HOW TO DETERMINE CURRENT DISK FRAGMENTATION_J                       LEVEL?                                          5-46  J                 __________________________________________________________<                 5.33  SYSBOOT-I-FILENOTLOC, UNABLE TO LOCATEJ                       SYS$CPU_ROUTINES?                               5-47  J                 __________________________________________________________G                 5.34  HOW CAN I CUSTOMIZE THE DCPS DEVICE CONTROL FOR A_J                       NEW PRINTER?                                    5-47                      x                                   Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.35  WHY DO $GETDEV MOUNTCNT AND SHOW DEVICE MOUNT COUNTSJ                       DIFFER?                                         5-49  J                 __________________________________________________________<                 5.36  WHAT SOFTWARE IS NEEDED FOR POSTSCRIPTJ                       PRINTERS?                                       5-49  J                 __________________________________________________________B                 5.37  HOW DO I REMOVE A PCSI-INSTALLED PATCH (ECO)J                       KIT?                                            5-49  J                 __________________________________________________________>                 5.38  SYSINIT-E, ERROR MOUNTING SYSTEM DEVICE,J                       STATUS=0072832C                                 5-50  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.39  RESOLVING LICENSE PAK PROBLEMS?                 5-50  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.40  CHANGING THE OPENVMS VERSION NUMBER?            5-52  J                 __________________________________________________________@                 5.41  HOW TO PREVENT USERS FROM CHOOSING OBVIOUSJ                       PASSWORDS?                                      5-53  J                 __________________________________________________________<                 5.42  PLEASE HELP ME WITH THE OPENVMS BACKUPJ                       UTILITY?                                        5-55J                 5.42.1    Why isn't BACKUP/SINCE=BACKUP working?      5-55F                 5.42.1.1     Why has OpenVMS gone through the agony of/                              this change?, 5-55SA                 5.42.1.2     Can you get the old BACKUP behaviour (                              back?, 5-559                 5.42.2    What can I do to improve BACKUP_J                           performance?                                5-56J                 5.42.3    Why is BACKUP not working as expected?      5-57J                 5.42.4    How do I fix a corrupt BACKUP saveset?      5-59>                 5.42.5    How do I write a BACKUP saveset to aJ                           remote tape?                                5-60<                 5.42.6    How to perform a DoD security diskJ                           erasure?                                    5-61J                 5.42.7    How to enable telnet virtual terminals?     5-63J                 5.42.7.1     Volume Shadowing MiniCopy vs MiniMerge?, 5-64.                 5.42.7.1.1    Mini-Copy?, 5-64/                 5.42.7.1.2    Mini-Merge?, 5-65   J                                                                         xi e  p                              Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.43  PLEASE EXPLAIN DELETE/ERASE AND FILE LOCKS?     5-66  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.44  MANAGING FILE VERSIONS?                         5-66  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 5.45  HOST-BASED VOLUME SHADOWING AND RAID?           5-67  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 6  INFORMATION ON MAIL                               6-1  J                 __________________________________________________________I                 6.1   MAIL KEEPS SAYING I HAVE NEW MESSAGES, BUT I DON'T.AJ                       WHAT DO I DO?                                    6-1  J                 __________________________________________________________>                 6.2   HOW DO I SEND OR READ ATTACHMENTS IN VMSJ                       MAIL?                                            6-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 6.3   HOW CAN I BLOCK SMTP MAIL RELAY SPAM?            6-3  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 7  INFORMATION ON UTILITIES                          7-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 7.1   HOW DO I PLAY AN AUDIO CD ON MY WORKSTATION?     7-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 7.2   HOW DO I ACCESS A MICROSOFT WINDOWS FLOPPY DISK FROMJ                       OPENVMS?                                         7-2  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 7.3   HOW DO I PLAY SOUND FILES ON AN ALPHASTATION? J                       DECSOUND DOESN'T WORK.                           7-3  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 7.4   HOW DO I READ IBM EBCDIC TAPES ON OPENVMS?       7-3  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 7.5   HOW CAN I PATCH AN OPENVMS ALPHA IMAGE?          7-4                        xii _  _                              Contents         J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 8  DCL DETAILS                                       8-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 8.1   DCL SYMBOLS AND OPENVMS LOGICAL NAMES?           8-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 8.2   HOW DO I RUN A PROGRAM WITH ARGUMENTS?           8-3  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 8.3   HOW CAN I CLEAR THE SCREEN IN DCL?               8-5  J                 __________________________________________________________A                 8.4   USING REPLY/LOG FROM DCL? DISABLING CONSOLE J                       OPCOMS?                                          8-5  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 8.5   HOW DO I GENERATE A RANDOM NUMBER IN DCL?        8-6  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 8.6   WHAT DOES THE MCR COMMAND DO?                    8-7  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 8.7   HOW DO I CHANGE THE OPENVMS SYSTEM PROMPT?       8-7  J                 __________________________________________________________E                 8.8   CAN I DO DECNET TASK-TO-TASK COMMUNICATION WITH J                       DCL?                                             8-8  J                 __________________________________________________________:                 8.9   HOW CAN I GET THE WIDTH SETTING OF AJ                       TERMINAL?                                        8-9  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 8.10  WHY DOESN'T DCL SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION WORK?        8-9  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 8.11  HOW CAN I SUBSTITUTE SYMBOLS IN A PIPE?         8-10  J                 __________________________________________________________>                 8.12  USE OF RUN/DETACH, LOGINOUT, AND LOGICALJ                       NAMES?                                          8-10  J                 __________________________________________________________A                 8.13  HOW TO USE ESCAPE AND CONTROL CHARACTERS IN J                       DCL?                                            8-11  J                                                                       xiii                                   Contents_        J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 9  FILES                                             9-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 9.1   HOW CAN I UNDELETE A FILE?                       9-1  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 9.2   WHY DOES SHOW QUOTA GIVE A DIFFERENT ANSWER THANJ                       DIR/SIZE?                                        9-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 9.3   HOW DO I MAKE SURE THAT MY DATA IS SAFELY WRITTEN TOJ                       DISK?                                            9-2  J                 __________________________________________________________D                 9.4   WHAT ARE THE LIMITS ON FILE SPECIFICATIONS ANDJ                       DIRECTORIES?                                     9-3  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 9.5   WHAT IS THE LARGEST DISK VOLUME SIZE OPENVMS CANJ                       ACCESS?                                          9-4  J                 __________________________________________________________G                 9.6   WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM FILE SIZE, AND THE RMS RECORD J                       SIZE LIMIT?                                      9-7  J                 __________________________________________________________B                 9.7   HOW DO I WRITE CD-RECORDABLE OR DVD MEDIA ONJ                       OPENVMS?                                         9-8J                 9.7.1     CD and DVD notation, terminology?           9-116                 9.7.2     Use of RRD42 and other olderJ                           (embossed-media) CD drives?                 9-13A                 9.7.3     Creating Bootable OpenVMS I64 CD or DVD J                           Media? SYS$SETBOOT?                         9-14  J                 __________________________________________________________<                 9.8   WHAT I/O TRANSFER SIZE LIMITS EXIST INJ                       OPENVMS?                                        9-15  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 9.9   CAN I USE ODBC TO CONNECT TO OPENVMS DATABASE J                       FILES?                                          9-15  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 9.10  IF MY DISKS ARE SHOWN AS VIOC COMPATIBLE, AM I USINGJ                       XFC?                                            9-16                      xiv                                   Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________7                 9.11  RMS SEQUENTIAL FILES AND PLATFORM J                       PORTABILITY?                                    9-16  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 9.12  HOW TO READ LOCKED FILES?                       9-17  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 10  OPENVMS PROGRAMMING INFORMATION                 10-1  J                 __________________________________________________________G                 10.1  MODULAR PROGRAMMING, FACILITY PREFIXES AND SYMBOL J                       NAMING?                                         10-1  J                 __________________________________________________________9                 10.2  CAN I HAVE A SOURCE CODE EXAMPLE OF J                       CALLING...?                                     10-2  J                 __________________________________________________________A                 10.3  HOW DO I GET THE ARGUMENTS FROM THE COMMAND_J                       LINE?                                           10-4  J                 __________________________________________________________A                 10.4  HOW DO I GET A FORMATTED ERROR MESSAGE IN A_J                       VARIABLE?                                       10-5  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.5  HOW DO I LINK AGAINST SYS$SYSTEM:SYS.STB ON AN ALPHAJ                       SYSTEM?                                         10-5  J                 __________________________________________________________=                 10.6  HOW DO I DO A SET DEFAULT FROM INSIDE A J                       PROGRAM?                                        10-5  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 10.7  HOW DO I TURN MY FORTRAN COMMON INTO A SHAREABLEJ                       IMAGE ON ALPHA?                                 10-6  J                 __________________________________________________________D                 10.8  HOW DO I CONVERT BETWEEN IEEE AND VAX FLOATINGJ                       DATA?                                           10-6  J                 __________________________________________________________B                 10.9  HOW DO I GET THE ARGUMENT COUNT IN A FORTRANJ                       ROUTINE?                                        10-7  J                                                                         xv                                   Contents_        J                 __________________________________________________________C                 10.10 HOW DO I GET A UNIQUE SYSTEM ID FOR LICENSING J                       PURPOSES?                                       10-7  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 10.11 WHAT IS AN EXECUTABLE, SHAREABLE, SYSTEM OR UWSSJ                       IMAGE?                                          10-8  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.12 HOW DO I DO A FILE COPY FROM A PROGRAM?        10-10  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.13 WHAT IS A DESCRIPTOR?                          10-10  J                 __________________________________________________________=                 10.14 HOW DO I CREATE A PROCESS UNDER ANOTHER J                       USERNAME?                                      10-12  J                 __________________________________________________________G                 10.15 WHY DO LIB$SPAWN, LIB$SET_SYMBOL FAIL IN DETACHED J                       PROCESSES?                                     10-13  J                 __________________________________________________________E                 10.16 WHERE CAN I OBTAIN BLISS, AND THE LIBRARIES AND J                       SUPPORTING FILES?                              10-14  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.17 HOW CAN I OPEN A FILE FOR SHARED ACCESS?       10-16  J                 __________________________________________________________A                 10.18 HOW CAN I HAVE COMMON SOURCES FOR MESSAGES, J                       CONSTANTS?                                     10-16  J                 __________________________________________________________D                 10.19 HOW DO I ACTIVATE THE OPENVMS DEBUGGER FROM ANJ                       APPLICATION?                                   10-17  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.20 DEALING WITH ENDIAN-NESS?                      10-17  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.21 HOW TO RESOLVE LINK-I-DATMISCH ERRORS?         10-18  J                 __________________________________________________________:                 10.22 HP C AND OTHER OPENVMS C PROGRAMMINGJ                       CONSIDERATIONS?                                10-18J                 10.22.1   Other common C issues                      10-22J                 10.22.2   Other common C++ issues                    10-24                      xvi _  _                              Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.23 STATUS OF PROGRAMMING TOOLS ON OPENVMS VAX?    10-26  J                 __________________________________________________________?                 10.24 CHOOSING A VERSION NUMBER FOR APPLICATION J                       CODE?                                          10-27  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.25 SELECTING A PROCESS DUMP DIRECTORY?            10-28  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.26 ACCESS TO ITANIUM ASSEMBLER?                   10-29  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.27 KERNEL-MODE CODING RESTRICTIONS?               10-29  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.28 DECODING AN ACCESS VIOLATION (ACCVIO) ERROR?   10-30  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.29 GENERATING AN AUTODIN-II CRC32?                10-32  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 10.30 ENABLING BUILT-IN TRACING?                     10-32  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 11  DECWINDOWS                                      11-1  J                 __________________________________________________________G                 11.1  HOW DO I LET SOMEONE ELSE DISPLAY SOMETHING ON MY J                       WORKSTATION?                                    11-1  J                 __________________________________________________________:                 11.2  HOW DO I CREATE A DISPLAY ON ANOTHERJ                       WORKSTATION?                                    11-3  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.3  HOW CAN I GET THE INFORMATION FROM SHOW DISPLAY INTOJ                       A SYMBOL?                                       11-3  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.4  HOW DO I GET A LOG OF A DECTERM SESSION?        11-4  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.5  WHY IS DECWINDOWS MOTIF NOT STARTING?           11-4  J                                                                       xvii A                                 ContentsN        J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.6  HOW DO I SET THE TITLE ON A DECTERM WINDOW?     11-6  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 11.7  HOW DO I CUSTOMIZE DECWINDOWS, INCLUDING THE LOGINJ                       SCREEN?                                         11-77                 11.7.1    How do I customize DECwindows J                           keymapping?                                11-10@                 11.7.2    Why does the DELETE key delete forwardJ                           instead of backward?                       11-10  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.8  WHY DOESN'T XTAPPADDINPUT()  WORK ON OPENVMS?  11-12  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 11.9  WHY DO THE KEYBOARD ARROW KEYS MOVE THE DECWINDOWSJ                       CURSOR?                                        11-13  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.10 WHY DOES HALF MY DECWINDOWS DISPLAY BLANK?     11-13  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 11.11 %DECW-W-NODEVICE, NO GRAPHICS DEVICE FOUND ON THISJ                       SYSTEM?                                        11-14  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.12 HOW CAN I RESET THE WARNING BELL VOLUME?       11-16  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.13 HOW CAN I ALTER THE DECWINDOWS CDE BACKDROP?   11-17  J                 __________________________________________________________<                 11.14 HOW CAN I ENABLE THE DECWINDOWS TCP/IPJ                       TRANSPORT                                      11-17  J                 __________________________________________________________E                 11.15 CAN I USE DECWINDOWS 1.2-* ON OPENVMS V7.3-2 OR J                       LATER?                                         11-17  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 11.16 HOW TO ADD FONTS INTO DECWINDOWS?              11-18                          xviii T  D                              Contents         J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 12  MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION                       12-1  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 12.1  WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON ESCAPE AND CONTROLJ                       SEQUENCES?                                      12-1  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 12.2  DOES DECPRINT (DCPS) WORK WITH THE LRA0 PARALLELJ                       PORT?                                           12-3  J                 __________________________________________________________A                 12.3  HOW DO I CHECK FOR FREE SPACE ON A (BACKUP) J                       TAPE?                                           12-3  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 12.4  CORRECTLY USING LICENSE PAKS AND LMF?           12-4  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 13  FINDING AND USING SOFTWARE                      13-1  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 13.1  WHERE CAN I FIND FREEWARE/SHAREWARE/SOFTWARE FORJ                       OPENVMS?                                        13-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 13.2  WHERE CAN I FIND UNIX TOOLS FOR OPENVMS?       13-15J                 13.2.1    C system and library routines              13-15J                 13.2.2    X Windows utilities and routines           13-16J                 13.2.3    TCP/IP Tools and Utilities for OpenVMS?    13-16J                 13.2.4    The vi text editor                         13-17J                 13.2.5    The Emacs Text Editor                      13-17J                 13.2.6    GNV: Various GNU tools                     13-170                 13.2.6.1     GCC compiler, 13-18  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 13.3  WHAT IS THE STATUS OF PL/I ON OPENVMS?         13-19  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 13.4  WHERE CAN I GET THE MOZILLA WEB BROWSER?       13-19  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 13.5  WHERE CAN I GET JAVA FOR OPENVMS?              13-20  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 13.6  OBTAINING USER INPUT IN DCL CGI SCRIPT?        13-21  J                                                                        xix _  _                              Contents_        J                 __________________________________________________________A                 13.7  HOW CAN A BATCH JOB GET ITS OWN BATCH ENTRY_J                       NUMBER?                                        13-22  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 13.8  HOW DO I CONVERT TO NEW CMS OR DTM LIBRARIES?  13-22  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 13.9  WHERE CAN I GET PERL FOR OPENVMS?              13-23  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 13.10 OBTAINING THE DECMIGRATE (AEST OR VEST, AND TIE)J                       TRANSLATOR?                                    13-25  J                 __________________________________________________________F                 13.11 WHERE CAN I GET ZIP, UNZIP, SELF-EXTRACTING ZIP,J                       ETC?                                           13-26  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 13.12 ARE VAX HARDWARE EMULATORS AVAILABLE?          13-27  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 14  HARDWARE INFORMATION                            14-1  J                 __________________________________________________________H                 14.1  WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS DIFFERENCES AMONG VAX, ALPHA,J                       AND IA-64?                                      14-1  J                 __________________________________________________________I                 14.2  SEEKING PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR ALPHA (AND VAX)_J                       SYSTEMS?                                        14-3  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.3  CONSOLE COMMANDS, SERIAL LINES, AND CONTROLS?   14-3B                 14.3.1    What commands are available in the AlphaJ                           SRM console?                                14-4J                 14.3.2    What does SRM mean? What is PALcode?        14-4@                 14.3.3    Alpha COM ports and VAX console serialJ                           line information?                           14-5J                 14.3.3.1     Which terminal device name is assigned to the-                              COM ports?, 14-5LD                 14.3.3.2     Which serial port is the console on the1                              MicroVAX 3100?, 14-5 G                 14.3.3.3     How can I set up an alternate console on a .                              VAXstation?, 14-6                      xx3    h                              Contents         J                 14.3.3.4     Please explain the back panel of the MicroVAX%                              II, 14-6n<                 14.3.4    What are Alpha console environmentJ                           variables?                                  14-8J                 14.3.5    What are the boot control flag values?      14-9I                 14.3.5.1     What are the I64 IPB boot flag values?, 14-9 =                 14.3.5.2     What are the Alpha APB boot flag +                              values?, 14-10 J                 14.3.5.3     What are the VAX VMB boot flag values?, 14-12?                 14.3.6    How do I boot an AlphaStation withouthJ                           monitor or keyboard?                       14-15;                 14.3.7    Downloading and using SRM consolehJ                           Firmware?                                  14-16I                 14.3.7.1     Where can I get updated console firmware for 2                              Alpha systems?, 14-16I                 14.3.7.2     How do I reload SRM firmware on a half-flash 1                              Alpha system?, 14-176J                 14.3.7.3     How do I switch between AlphaBIOS/ARC and SRM-                              consoles?, 14-18 J                 14.3.8    Console Management Options                 14-21J                 14.3.9    Why do my EFI Boot Aliases Fail?           14-22A                 14.3.10   Can OpenVMS access the EFI console Boot J                           Aliases?                                   14-22;                 14.3.11   Downloading and using EFI Console J                           Firmware?                                  14-22  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.4  WHAT PLATFORMS WILL OPENVMS OPERATE ON?        14-24J                 14.4.1    on the Alpha Multia?                       14-26J                 14.4.2    on AlphaPC 164LX? AlphaPC 164SX?           14-28B                 14.4.2.1     on the NoName AXPpci33 system?, 14-28J                 14.4.3    on the Alpha XL series?                    14-29@                 14.4.4    OpenVMS on the Personal Workstation -aJ                           and -au series?                            14-29H                 14.4.4.1     OpenVMS on the Whitebox Windows-Only series*                              Alpha?, 14-31G                 14.4.4.2     OpenVMS and Personal Workstation ATA (IDE)4.                              bootstrap?, 14-32J                 14.4.5    On the Intel Itanium IA-64 platform?       14-32:                 14.4.5.1     Where can I get Intel Itanium0                              information?, 14-33      J                                                                        xxi 9                                 Contentsh        J                 __________________________________________________________F                 14.5  WHAT IS THE LEAST EXPENSIVE SYSTEM THAT WILL RUNJ                       OPENVMS?                                       14-34  J                 __________________________________________________________?                 14.6  WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ON ALPHA,J                       SYSTEMS?                                       14-35  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.7  DESCRIBE ALPHA INSTRUCTION EMULATION AND INSTRUCTIONJ                       SUBSETS?                                       14-36  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.8  SO HOW DO I OPEN UP THE DEC 3000 CHASSIS?      14-38  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.9  WHAT IS BYTE SWIZZLING?                        14-38  J                 __________________________________________________________B                 14.10 WHAT IS THE LAYOUT OF THE VAX FLOATING POINTJ                       FORMAT?                                        14-40  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.11 WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFO ABOUT VAX SYSTEMS?  14-41  J                 __________________________________________________________D                 14.12 WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON NETBSD FOR VAXJ                       SYSTEMS?                                       14-41  J                 __________________________________________________________E                 14.13 WHAT SYSTEM DISK SIZE LIMIT ON THE MICROVAX AND J                       VAXSTATION 3100?                               14-41  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.14 WHAT ARE THE VAX PROCESSOR (CPU) CODES?        14-43  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 14.15 WHERE CAN I GET SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SUPPORT J                       INFORMATION?                                   14-44  J                 __________________________________________________________G                 14.16 WHERE CAN I GET HARDWARE SELF-MAINTENANCE SUPPORT J                       ASSISTANCE?                                    14-45  J                 __________________________________________________________D                 14.17 WHY DOES MY SYSTEM HALT WHEN I POWER-CYCLE THEJ                       CONSOLE TERMINAL?                              14-45                      xxii                                    Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________I                 14.18 CAN I REUSE OLD KEYBOARDS, MICE AND MONITORS WITH A J                       PC?                                            14-46  J                 __________________________________________________________C                 14.19 WHICH VIDEO MONITOR WORKS WITH WHICH GRAPHICS J                       CONTROLLER?                                    14-48  J                 __________________________________________________________<                 14.20 WHERE CAN I GET INFORMATION ON STORAGEJ                       HARDWARE?                                      14-49  J                 __________________________________________________________=                 14.21 WHY DOES MY LK401 KEYBOARD UNEXPECTEDLY_J                       AUTOREPEAT?                                    14-50  J                 __________________________________________________________I                 14.22 PROBLEM - MY LK411 SENDS THE WRONG KEYCODES OR SOME_J                       KEYS ARE DEAD                                  14-51  J                 __________________________________________________________B                 14.23 WHICH DE500 VARIANT WORKS WITH WHICH OPENVMSJ                       VERSION?                                       14-51  J                 __________________________________________________________B                 14.24 HOW DO I SET THE SPEED AND DUPLEX ON OPENVMSJ                       I64?                                           14-53  J                 __________________________________________________________0                 14.25 THIRD-PARTY OR UNSUPPORTEDJ                       DISK/TAPE/CONTROLLERS/SCSI/WIDGETS?            14-539                 14.25.1   Lists of third-party widgets on J                           OpenVMS?                                   14-56A                 14.25.2   Are the 2X-KZPCA-AA and SN-KZPCA-AA LVDEJ                           Ultra2 SCSI?                               14-57J                 14.25.3   Resolving DRVERR fatal device error?       14-57  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.26 LOOKING FOR CONNECTOR WIRING PIN-OUTS?         14-57  J                 __________________________________________________________=                 14.27 WHAT CONNECTORS AND WIRING ADAPTERS ARE J                       AVAILABLE?                                     14-60  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.28 WHAT IS FLOW CONTROL AND HOW DOES IT WORK?     14-63  J                                                                      xxiii    2                              Contents?        J                 __________________________________________________________J                 14.29 CD AND DVD DEVICE REQUIREMENTS?                14-64  J                 __________________________________________________________@                 14.30 OFFICE-FRIENDLY (QUIETER) INTEGRITY RX2620J                       SERIES?                                        14-66  J                 __________________________________________________________@                 14.31 KVM SWITCHES FOR ALPHASERVER AND INTEGRITYJ                       SERVERS?                                       14-67  J           ________________________________________________________________J           CHAPTER 15  INFORMATION ON NETWORKS AND CLUSTERS            15-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 15.1  HOW TO CONNECT OPENVMS TO A MODEM?              15-1  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 15.2  OPENVMS AND IP NETWORKING?                      15-1J                 15.2.1    How to connect OpenVMS to the Internet?     15-1J                 15.2.2    Connecting to an IP Printer?                15-2C                 15.2.3    How do I connect a PostScript printer via J                           TCP/IP?                                     15-3<                 15.2.4    How do I set a default IP route orJ                           gateway on OpenVMS?                         15-4?                 15.2.5    How can I set up reverse telnet (like J                           reverse LAT)?                               15-4C                 15.2.6    Why can't I use PPP and RAS to connect to J                           OpenVMS Alpha?                              15-4  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 15.3  OPENVMS AND DECNET NETWORKING?                  15-5J                 15.3.1    Can DECnet-Plus operate over IP?            15-5>                 15.3.2    What does "failure on back translateJ                           address request" mean?                      15-5J                 15.3.3    Performing SET HOST/MOP in DECnet-Plus?     15-6>                 15.3.4    How to flush the DECnet-Plus sessionJ                           cache?                                      15-6                                xxivN E  T                              Contents         J                 __________________________________________________________;                 15.4  HOW TO DETERMINE THE NETWORK HARDWARE J                       ADDRESS?                                        15-7B                 15.4.1    How do I reset the LAN (DECnet-Plus NCL)J                           error counters?                             15-9A                 15.4.2    How do I install DECnet Phase IV on VMS J                           7.1?                                        15-9  J                 __________________________________________________________B                 15.5  HOW CAN I SEND (RADIO) PAGES FROM MY OPENVMSJ                       SYSTEM?                                        15-11  J                 __________________________________________________________J                 15.6  OPENVMS, CLUSTERS, VOLUME SHADOWING?           15-11A                 15.6.1    OpenVMS Cluster Communications Protocol J                           Details?                                   15-12D                 15.6.1.1     OpenVMS Cluster (SCS) over DECnet? Over'                              IP?, 15-12AB                 15.6.1.2     Configuring Cluster SCS for path load.                              balancing?, 15-139                 15.6.1.2.1    Cluster Terminology?, 15-13_D                 15.6.1.2.2    Cluster Communications Control?, 15-14F                 15.6.1.2.3    Cluster Communications Control Tools and/                               Utilities?, 15-15 J                 15.6.2    Cluster System Parameter Settings?         15-16I                 15.6.2.1     What is the correct value for EXPECTED_VOTES 4                              in a VMScluster?, 15-16H                 15.6.2.1.1    Why no shadowing for a Quorum Disk?, 15-19D                 15.6.2.2     Explain disk (or tape) allocation class-                              settings?, 15-19 E                 15.6.2.2.1    How to configure allocation classes and 5                               Multi-Path SCSI?, 15-20 <                 15.6.3    Tell me about SET HOST/DUP and SETJ                           HOST/HSC                                   15-21J                 15.6.4    How do I rename a DSSI disk (or tape?)     15-23?                 15.6.5    Where can I get Fibre Channel Storage J                           (SAN) information?                         15-24B                 15.6.6    Which files must be shared in an OpenVMSJ                           Cluster?                                   15-24J                 15.6.7    How can I split up an OpenVMS Cluster?     15-25J                 15.6.8    Details on Volume Shadowing?               15-27E                 15.6.8.1     Does volume shadowing require a non-zero-7                              allocation classes?, 15-27e  J                                                                        xxv 1  4                              Contents         J           ________________________________________________________________           INDEX-  J           ________________________________________________________________           TABLES  J                 1-1   Core Websites                                    1-1  J                 1-2   INFO-VAX Mail Server Commands                    1-4  J                 2-1   OpenVMS Alpha Media Kits                         2-6  J                 2-2   OpenVMS I64 Order Numbers                        2-7  J                 2-3   OpenVMS I64 Media Suffix                         2-7  J                 2-4   OpenVMS Source Listings Kits                     2-8  J                 2-5   OpenVMS Alpha Version Rule-Of-Thumb             2-18  J                 3-1   OpenVMS Websites                                 3-2  J                 3-2   OpenVMS Tutorial and Documentation Websites      3-6  J                 3-3   DP Books                                         3-8  J                 3-4   OpenVMS Mailing Lists                           3-10  J                 3-5   OpenVMS Discussion Forums                       3-11  J                 5-1   PCSI Generation Number                          5-44  J                 11-1  X Windows Display Commands                      11-1  J                 14-1  I64 Conversational Bootstrap Flags             14-10  J                 14-2  Alpha Conversational Bootstrap Flags           14-11  J                 14-3  VAX Conversational Bootstrap Flags             14-12  J                 14-4  DE500 Speed and Duplex Settings                14-52  J                 14-5  DEC MMJ Pin-out                                14-57  J                 14-6  PC DB9 Pin-out                                 14-59  J                 14-7  MicroVAX DB9 Pin-out                           14-59  J                 14-8  DECconnect MMJ Connectors and Adapters         14-61  J                 15-1  Cluster Common Shared Files                    15-24                      xxvi                        J           ________________________________________________________________             Preface                                                                                     J                                                                          i 9  n                  J           ________________________________________________________________  2           OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)    G                    This is the OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) F                    posting for the comp.os.vms and comp.sys.dec usenet                    newsgroups.  ?                                Suggestions and Updates Welcome!   ?                       Please send your suggestions for changes, F                       additions, or corrections directly to FAQ Editor1                       (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com)_  =                                  No Support Questions, Please(  C                       Please do not send technical questions to theiF                       FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) . The FAQD                       Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) is not in aB                       position to answer general questions, nor toE                       provide general product support. Rather, pleasenG                       post your questions to the appropriate newsgroup,iF                       or please contact your preferred hardware and/or@                       software support organization(s) directly.  B                       Your understanding in this matter is greatly"                       appreciated.  B                    If you believe any particular discussion worthyB                    of inclusion in a future edition of the FAQ andG                    particularly once you have or know both the question I                    and the answer, please then send the entire discussion J                    along to the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) for'                    potential inclusion..  J                    Do note that the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com)F                    takes URL link continuity seriously, and strives toD                    maintain current links. This is, however, a largeD                    task, and it is only becoming more difficult. URLA                    link continuity is also something that you caneD                    assist with, of course. If you should find a deadE                    link or a stale URL pointer, please notify the FAQlC                    Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) . If you haveaC                    or can find the current, correct or updated URL,rA                    of course, that greatly assists the FAQ EditorT  J                                                                        iii i  c          ;                    OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)         F                    (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) in maintaining the most(                    current set of links.                      Thank you!   =                                 Post to Newsgroups With Care!   @                       Please consider reading Section 1.3 before=                       posting to the comp.os.vms or any otherTG                       newsgroups. (What you post can come back to haunt                        you.)   '           _____________________________i           Contributors  E                    Many people have contributed to this FAQ, directly C                    and/or indirectly. In many cases, part or all of F                    an answer included in the FAQ has been adapted fromE                    one or more postings from the comp.os.vms or other J                    newsgroup-this though individual citations and specificE                    quotations are generally not included in this FAQ. H                    (The FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) wishes toF                    thank to all of those folks who post answers to theH                    newsgroups, and that have contributed to the contentsC                    of and to the general improvements of this FAQ.)r  H                    The following is an incomplete list of the folks thatJ                    have contributed directly or indirectly to the contentsJ                    of the OpenVMS FAQ. Additions, corrections, and updatesF                    to this list of contributors and to the contents ofD                    the FAQ itself are welcome, and all omissions andH                    misspellings are unintentional. Thanks to each of theG                    contributors here, and to all of the folks that have A                    participated in the FAQ and in the newsgroups.h  D                    Jim Agnew, Paul Anderson, Jason Armistead, ZoltanC                    Arpadffy, John AtoZ, Bailey, Gary Barclay, (The),E                    Beav, Jeremy Begg, Colin Blake, Fabrice Blanquart,eF                    Ken Blaylock, Kenneth Block, Bol, Craig Berry, MarkH                    Berryman, Jim Becker, Verell Boaen, Bol, Jim Brankin,H                    Richard Brodie, Colin Butcher, Robert Alan Byer, JeffC                    Campbell, Scott Campbell, Antonio Carlini, KeithsF                    Cayemberg, Ken Chaney, Cristy, John Croll, David J.I                    Dachtera, Robert Deininger, Dale Dellutri, Leo Demers,eG                    Sue Denham, Thomas Dickey, Eric Dittman, Mike Duffy,eJ                    Jim Dunham, Eric, Glenn Everhart, Ken Fairfield, Yaacov                      iv, m  c          ;                    OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ),        C                    Fenster, Gunther Froehlin, Harry Garonzik, DerekmF                    Garson, John Gillings, Andy Goldstein, Clair Grant,G                    Hunter Goatley, Ruth Goldenberg, Vance Haemmerle, KinJ                    Suk Hahn, SHarris, Rich Hearn, Fletcher Hearns, PhillipI                    Helbig, Hein van den Heuvel, Stephen Hoffman, EberhardEJ                    Heuser-Hofmann, Sue Holt, Mark Hopkins, Horn, Jaf, LeifG                    Jansson, Kevin Jenkins, Don R. Jones, Henry Juengst, C                    inazu_k, Geoff Kingsmill, Fred Kleinsorge, Felix I                    Kreisel, Veli Korkko, Ruslan R. Laishev, Peter "EPLAN" F                    Langstoeger, Norm Lastovica, p_lee, Jerry Leichter,C                    Richard Levitte, Tom Linden, Steve Lionel, Denis H                    Maillard, Kerry Main, John E. Malmberg, David Mathog,H                    Dale Miller, Ian Miller, Dick Munroe, Patrick Moreau,J                    Morrison, otis, George Pagliarulo, Keith Parris, Plass,F                    pvhp, David Rabahy, Stan Rabinowitz, Mike Raspuzzi,E                    Steve Reece, Neil Rieck, Ian Ring, Aaron Sakovich,NE                    Warren Sander, Mark Schafer, Brian Schenkenberger,eE                    Atlant Schmidt, Wayne Sewell, Steven Shamlian, Sue F                    Skonetski, Scott Snadow, Sue Sommer, Scott Squires,I                    stfp, Dave Sweeney, Mike Thompson, Arne Vajhj, Martin,H                    Vorlnder, Peter Weaver, William Webb, Williams, Paul(                    Winalski, Uwe Zinser.  D                    Again, any omission from this list and any errorsE                    or misspellings are entirely unintentional. PleasekG                    notify the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) ofeD                    any omissions, corrections, or updates that mightD                    be needed within this list. And thanks to each ofG                    these individuals for their assistance and for theireD                    contributions, and particularly for sharing their                    expertise.   D           __________________________________________________________(           FAQ Archives and FAQ Locations  J                    The OpenVMS FAQ is archived in (at least) the following                    locations:i  7                    o  http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq/   @                    o  ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.os.vms/  '                    o  news:comp.answers   '                    o  news:news.answerst  *                    o  http://www.faqs.org/  J                                                                          v _  _          ;                    OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)         ,                    o  http://www.google.com/  9                    o  http://eisner.decus.org/vms/faq.htmo  0                    o  http://www.hoffmanlabs.org  G                    Other internet FAQs are generally available in theseo                    locations:   )                    o  news://comp.answers   )                    o  news://news.answers   4                    o  ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/  *                    o  http://www.faqs.org/  ,                    o  http://www.google.com/  D           __________________________________________________________5           FAQ File Formats and Production Information   C                    This FAQ is available in ASCII text, Postscript, F                    Bookreader, and HTML, and potentially in other fileJ                    formats. Certain formats, such as the Adobe Acrobat PDFF                    conversion from the Postscript format, are providedC                    downstream from the FAQ text formatting, and are 5                    provided and maintained by others._  I                    As the HTML-format FAQ is not a single monolithic (andtI                    accordingly large) HTML file, it is the most difficult B                    format to search using the most common standardF                    (platform-local) tools. Accordingly, the FAQ EditorF                    (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) recommends downloading,A                    using and searching the ASCII text FAQ format.x  D                    The OpenVMS FAQ is maintained in DECdocument SDMLH                    format and all FAQ maintenance and the primary outputC                    file format conversions are performed on OpenVMSeG                    systems. For information on the DECdocument product,o5                    please contact Touch Technologies.A                          vi                ;                    OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)       D           __________________________________________________________6           Old FAQ Section Notations Available in Index  I                    For the folks that are familiar with older editions of H                    this FAQ and specifically for those folks looking forH                    the older section name keywords, please see the indexH                    entries located under FAQ Sections (Old). These olderE                    section names include the prefixes DCL, DECW, DOC,nI                    FILES, MISC, MGMT, INTRO, SOFT, VMS, etc., followed by_&                    the section number.  D           __________________________________________________________           The Fine Print  F                    Corrections and suggestions are welcome. Should youJ                    believe you can provide better stewardship of this FAQ,G                    or should you have strong feelings over the content,dH                    structure, organization or implementation of the FAQ,D                    do realize you may be offered the editorship. TheF                    editor maintains this document as a free service to)                    the OpenVMS community._  C                    While the information contained here is believedeG                    correct, the use of any and all information acquiredeD                    from this document is entirely at the risk of theD                    user(s). If your system should crash or your dataF                    should become corrupted or the answer(s) found hereJ                    should be found erroneous, that is solely your risk and'                    your responsibility.   B                    Though the editor of this FAQ is an employee ofE                    Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), this posting and the F                    information contained within this FAQ are is not anH                    official statement of HP, nor a commitment by HP. AllG                    information, comments or opinions included, cited oruG                    otherwise referenced here may or may not reflect thenH                    stated opinions of HP, of the editor, or of any other                    entity.  J                    All trademarks, registered trademarks, servicemarks andJ                    registered servicemarks used or referenced here are theF                    properties of their respective owner(s) or holders.D                    Please route any corrections, requests or relatedH                    updates to the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com)  J                                                                        vii P  f          ;                    OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)         J                    The redistribution, reposting and/or the web-serving ofH                    complete and unaltered copies of this FAQ document isD                    permitted. Other uses only with prior permission.  ;                    The master copy of this FAQ is posted at   6                    o  http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq  F                    Translations of this FAQ into various languages mayD                    be available, please contact the maintainer(s) ofE                    any translated document for assistance or feedbacksF                    involving the particular translated edition of this                    FAQ.m                                                                                  viii                          J                    _______________________________________________________             1        Introductiona      D           __________________________________________________________:           1.1  What core OpenVMS URLs do you need to know?  D                    If you have no other OpenVMS URLs bookmarked, youC                    will want to be familiar with the URLs listed in                     Table 1-1:   J           ________________________________________________________________"           Table 1-1  Core Websites  J           ________________________________________________________________J           URL_______Contents______________________________________________  B           Core OpenVMS Information, including roadmaps and release           schedules   1                     http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/   8           OpenVMS and Core Layered Product Documentation  5                     http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc/_  G           Core OpenVMS Support Search Engine URLs, the ITRC support and C           discussion forums, and the ITRC FTP-accessable Patch Area_  D                     http://www2.itrc.hp.com/service/james/CPQhome.doI                     (formerly the NLSA Natural Language Search Assistant,d'                     and formerly AskQ.)u  +                     http://www.itrc.hp.com/o  :                     ftp://ftp.itrc.hp.com/openvms_patches/             The OpenVMS Freeware  :                     http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/  .           The OpenVMS Hobbyist License Program  3                     http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/P  J                                                                        1-1 o                                 Introductionl      J           ________________________________________________________________*           Table 1-1 (Cont.)  Core Websites  J           ________________________________________________________________J           URL_______Contents______________________________________________  G                     http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/license_software_/J           __________programs/index.html___________________________________  D           __________________________________________________________6           1.2  What are the OpenVMS Usenet Newsgroups?  H                    There are a huge number of newsgroups available, someE                    of which discuss topics of interest to folks using_D                    OpenVMS operating system. Key among these are theF                    comp.os.vms newsgroup and the vmsnet.* heirarchy of                    newsgroups.  '           ______________________________@           1.2.1  What is the scope of the comp.os.vms newsgroup?  E                    The comp.os.vms newsgroup is the primary newsgroupgH                    for discussion of the HP OpenVMS operating system andI                    the computer systems on which it runs. Questions aboutsJ                    layered products which run on OpenVMS are also welcome,I                    though many of them (in particular, language compilers J                    and database systems) have more specific newsgroups. IfJ                    a question has some relationship to OpenVMS, it belongs#                    in comp.os.vms/.h  '           _____________________________r?           1.2.2  What newsgroups carry VMS-related information?   F                    The vmsnet.* hierarchy is operated by the EncompassF                    users group (formerly known as DECUS), and containsH                    various newsgroups of interest, including vmsnet.misc$                    and vmsnet.alpha.  I                    Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Besuchen Sie bitte den newsgroupo"                    de.comp.os.vms.  I                    The comp.sys.dec newsgroup carries general discussions F                    about various HP computer systems, and specificallyB                    systems that were acquired by HP as part of theF                    acquisition of Compaq, systems which had previouslyH                    been acquired by Compaq as part of the acquisition of;                    Digital Equipment Corporation (DIGITAL).c                      1-2    t                              Introductionp        J                    Also of interest are resources and conferencing systemsH                    including Encompasserve (formerly known as DECUServe)7                    and Ken Farmer's OpenVMS.Org forums:p  0                    o  telnet://eisner.decus.org/  -                    o  http://www.openvms.org/   '           _____________________________u7           1.2.3  What newsgroup archives are available?i  >                    Extensive archives of INFO-VAX mailings andI                    comp.os.vms postings are archived and available at SRI H                    International: http://mvb.saic.com/freeware/info-vax/  I                    Google also has extensive newsgroup archives availableM                    at   ,                    o  http://www.google.com/  '           _____________________________ 3           1.2.4  What is the INFO-VAX mailing list?   F                    INFO-VAX is a mailing list which is bidirectionallyJ                    gatewayed to the comp.os.vms newsgroup. This means thatJ                    postings to comp.os.vms get automatically sent to INFO-I                    VAX subscribers and messages sent to the INFO-VAX lists:                    are automatically posted to comp.os.vms  E                    INFO-VAX can be a useful way to participate in the_G                    newsgroup if you can't access the newsgroup directlytG                    through a newsreader. Note that INFO-VAX is a closedlF                    mailing list, which means that only subscribers mayI                    post to it. Please see Section 1.2.4.1 for informationoF                    on how to subscribe, and how you can subscribe suchF                    that you can post from multiple addresses but stillA                    receive no more than one copy of the mailings.   E                    Please remember that propogation delays can and docJ                    vary, meaning that mailings and postings may be delayedC                    or even lost. It is quite possible that postingssG                    may not be delivered for several days, and that somemB                    postings will appear out of the expected order.  D                    For details on the available archives, please see!                    Section 1.2.3.i  J                                                                        1-3 t                                 Introduction       '           _____________________________ F           1.2.4.1  How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from INFO-VAX?  E                    The address for subscription requests is Info-VAX-nE                    Request[at]Mvb.Saic.Com. Subscription requests areeD                    handled automatically by a mail server. This mailE                    server ignores the subject line and processes each 4                    line of the message as a command.  H                    The syntax for subscribing and unsubscribing, as wellF                    as setting various parameters on your subscription,                    is:  J           ________________________________________________________________2           Table 1-2  INFO-VAX Mail Server Commands  J                    _______________________________________________________J                    Command____________________Description_________________  I                    HELP                       Acquire information on mail 4                                               server  F                    SUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX         Join to the mailing list  D                    UNSUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX       Leave the mailing list  E                    SET INFO-VAX DIGEST        Select periodic omnibusoI                                               mail messages from the mail_J                                               server, rather than multipleJ                                               individual messages for each6                                               posting.  G                    SET INFO-VAX NODIGEST      Separate mail delivery ofnA                                               each message posteda  H                    SET INFO-VAX NOMAIL        Establish an email addressI                                               for posting, though not fort>                                               receiving, mail.  H                    SET INFO-VAX MAIL          Establish an email addressF                                               for both posting and forE                                               receiving mail from theiJ           ____________________________________mailing_list._______________  A                    The mail server is not case-sensitive; case isaE                    irrelevant. Settings and policies can be retrievedg>                    from the mail server, typically using HELP.  J                    The INFO-VAX moderator can be contacted directly at the?                    email address Mark.Berryman[at]Mvb.Saic.Com.p                      1-4                                   Introductionf      D           __________________________________________________________$           1.3  What is [n]etiquette?  D                    Before posting or emailing a question, please useE                    the available local resources, such as the OpenVMSaG                    manuals, the HELP, and the resources and informationaI                    in and referenced by this FAQ. Please use these first..F                    Also please specifically read the release notes andH                    (if appropriate) the cover letter for the product youH                    are using. (The release notes are generally placed inI                    SYS$HELP:.) Quite often, these simple steps will allow J                    you to quickly find the answer to your own question-andG                    more quickly than waiting for a response to question D                    posted to a newsgroup, too. These steps will saveF                    you time, and will also help ensure you have a goodF                    reputation with the folks that might be included toF                    answer one of your future questions, a question notI                    covered in these resources. Put another way, if you do G                    not want your questions to be ignored in the future-aG                    and please remember that the folks in the newsgroupsoF                    do not have to answer your questions-you won't wantG                    to "annoy the natives" by asking a question that has E                    already been answered far more times more than you E                    might have realized, or a question whose answer is A                    readily available had you made a small effort.y  >                    When posting, please consider the following                    suggestions:   F                    o  There is no particularly reliable way to recall,H                       erase, delete, or otherwise hide a message once itF                       is emailed or once posted. Once your message hasG                       reached an external email server or multiple newsmI                       servers, the entire text is effectively a permanentiE                       fixture of the network. And using the availableoF                       search engines, a fixture that is easy to locateH                       and to correlate. (Do not assume that all tools orF                       archives will honor the do-not-cache attributes,J                       either-postings marked as such can be among the most<                       interesting ones to cache, after all.)  I                       For details on some of the many available archives,m/                       please see Section 1.2.3.o    J                                                                        1-5 i