OpenVMS Technical Journal V13, July 2009

This edition of the OpenVMS Technical Journal presents several articles on enhancing, managing, and troubleshooting OpenVMS systems.

Topics covered include:

• TCP/IP Services Configuration: A method is introduced for configuring TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS across multiple systems using DCL command procedures, enabling consistent setup and easier hardware changes by mapping logical names to MAC addresses and utilizing ifconfig.
• OpenVMS I64 TIE Internals: An article delving into the Translated Image Environment (TIE) for OpenVMS I64, explaining how Alpha control instructions are emulated and translated for execution on Itanium, including details on register mapping and environment switching.
• iCAP (Instant Capacity) Troubleshooting: This white paper provides guidance on configuring and troubleshooting HP's utility pricing solutions like iCAP on OpenVMS HP Integrity servers, addressing common issues such as service startup failures and HTTP errors.
• VAX and Alpha Hardware Replacement Options: Details a new suite of software-based VAX and Alpha hardware emulators from Migration Specialties International, highlighting a flexible object-oriented architecture designed to support OpenVMS and other operating systems on modern server platforms.
• MultiNet Intrusion Prevention System: Describes the MultiNet IPS (Version 5.3, February 2009), a security feature for OpenVMS that automatically detects and blocks network intrusion attempts by dynamically updating packet filters for services like SSH, FTP, and TELNET.
• OpenVMS and Perl: Explores Perl as a powerful interpreted language for OpenVMS, demonstrating its utility for system administration tasks, file parsing, socket communications, and database access, providing practical code examples.
• Performance Management for OpenVMS Systems: Introduces SightLine Systems' solution for comprehensive performance and capacity management on mission-critical OpenVMS systems, detailing its real-time and historical monitoring capabilities across various metrics (CPU, Memory, I/O, Network, SYSGEN, Workload, etc.).
• Physical CD Support for SIMH VAX: Describes the process and challenges of adding direct physical CD-ROM drive support to the open-source SIMH VAX emulator, allowing OpenVMS guests to access host CD drives without needing image files.