HP OpenVMS Version 8.2 New Features and Documentation Overview

This document, "HP OpenVMS Version 8.2 New Features and Documentation Overview," published in January 2005 (Order Number: BA322-90003), describes the new features of the OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS I64 Version 8.2 operating systems and provides an overview of supporting documentation.

Key Highlights of OpenVMS Version 8.2:

• Platform Support: A major new platform release for HP Integrity servers, enhancing availability, scalability, flexibility, performance, and security. It includes all capabilities of OpenVMS Version 7.3-2 plus new features.

• General User Features:

  • Updates to DCL commands, qualifiers, and lexical functions.
  • Enhancements to the License Management Facility (LMF) to support operating environments (FOE, EOE, MCOE) and per-processor licensing on I64 systems.
  • Improvements to the Monitor utility for both Alpha and I64 systems.
  • Support for EV7 chip speedup on specific AlphaServer systems.

• System Management Features:

  • OpenVMS I64 Boot Manager (BOOT_OPTIONS.COM): A menu-based utility for managing EFI boot options.
  • Clustering: Provides similar features on I64 as Alpha/VAX, with mixed-architecture cluster support (Alpha and I64 systems).
  • Host-Based Minimerge (HBMM) in Volume Shadowing: Improves merge operations by tracking changed blocks with bitmaps, reducing comparison time. Includes new system parameters and prioritization for merge/copy operations.
  • Hardware Support: New Fibre Channel and Ultra SCSI Host-Based Adapters (HBAs) for I64 systems.
  • System Analysis Tools: Enhancements to System Dump Analyzer (SDA) commands and introduction of System Service Logging.
  • New System Parameters: Several new parameters for error logging, volume shadowing, and virtual hash page table size (VHPT_SIZE for I64).
  • Time Zones: Additional time zones added to the database.

• Programming Features:

  • Analyze Utility (I64 only): Enhanced to analyze Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) object and image files.
  • OpenVMS Calling Standard: Adapted for Intel Itanium processors on I64, maintaining VAX and Alpha compatibility.
  • C Run-Time Library (RTL) Enhancements: Improved UNIX portability, standard-compliant stat structure, new file-locking functions, UNIX-style pipe support, and 64-bit support for glob functions.
  • Librarian Utility and Library Routines (I64 only): Changes to support ELF object and shareable image libraries, new LBR routines for ELF objects.
  • DCE RPC: Now supports IEEE floating-point type on Alpha and I64 systems.
  • Extended Lock Value Block: Support for 64-byte lock value blocks in the OpenVMS Lock Manager.
  • HP OpenVMS Migration Software (OMSAI): Facilitates migrating Alpha applications to I64 systems via binary translation.
  • Patch Utility: Now available on OpenVMS Alpha and I64 systems.
  • POSIX Threads: Support for process-shared mutexes and condition variables, and enhanced SET/SHOW commands.
  • New System Services: Several new system services related to unwinding, floating-point modes, and time counters.
  • Traceback Facility (I64 only): New TBK$I64_SYMBOLIZE routine for processing exception conditions.
  • XDELTA: New commands and improved symbolization with Itanium register support.

• Associated Products Features:

  • CDSA 2.1: Supports Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
  • Kerberos 2.1: Updates based on MIT Kerberos V5 1.2.6, including the ktutil command.
  • HP SSL 1.2: Based on OpenSSL 0.9.7d, with new features like OCSP, AES, and Elliptic Curve cryptography.
  • HP TCP/IP Services 5.5: Supports I64, IPv6, Network Time Protocol (NTP) Version 4.2.0.
  • UNIX Portability Features and Open Source Tools CD for easier UNIX application porting.

Major Differences (Alpha vs. I64): OpenVMS I64 systems introduce differences in console management (EFI shell), bootable device partitions (FAT with vms_loader.efi), licensing (per-processor, no update licenses), relocation of PALcode functions, and adoption of the Intel Itanium calling standard and IEEE floating-point format.

Documentation Changes: The documentation set has been reorganized, with two new manuals ("Porting Applications from HP OpenVMS Alpha to HP OpenVMS Industry Standard 64 for Integrity Servers" and a revised "HP MACRO Compiler Porting and User’s Guide") and three manuals (VAX MACRO and Instruction Set Reference Manual, OpenVMS VAX RTL Mathematics, OpenVMS VAX System Dump Analyzer Utility Manual) moved to the archive. Documentation is available in printed, online (CD, web), and online help formats.