HP OpenVMS Version 8.4 New Features and Documentation Overview

This document, "HP OpenVMS Version 8.4 New Features and Documentation Overview" (June 2010), details the significant updates to the OpenVMS operating system for both Integrity servers and Alpha systems, along with an overview of its supporting documentation.

Key new features in OpenVMS Version 8.4 include:

• General User Enhancements: Expanded DCL command capabilities (e.g., DELETE /TREE, BACKUP compression, increased command procedure parameters), enhanced lexical functions (F$CUNITS, F$GETDVI), support for disk volumes up to 2 TiB, dynamic enabling/disabling of XFC data cache, increased MALLOC memory to 4 GB, Mail utility improvements (larger headers, increased forwarding limit), and High Precision Time ($GETTIM_PREC).
• Virtualization: OpenVMS 8.4 can now run as a Guest Operating System on HP Integrity Virtual Machines (Integrity VM) and supports the ID-VSE suite of multi-platform products.
• Performance: Introduces Resource Affinity Domain (RAD) support for cell-based Integrity server systems, along with various system-level performance optimizations.
• Disaster Tolerance & Clusters: Adds "Cluster over IP" functionality for communication beyond local networks and enhances Volume Shadowing (e.g., support for six-member shadow sets, fast minicopy/minimerge).
• Storage Devices & I/O: Supports 8 Gb Fibre Channel PCIe adapters, limited HP AD317A PCI sound card support, and qualifies numerous new storage devices and I/O controllers.
• Security: Updates to HP SSL Version 1.4 (based on OpenSSL 0.9.8h with latest security fixes) and introduces global and local mapping for LDAP users.
• System Management: Features provisioning enhancements with HP SIM (deployment, TCP/IP configuration), vKVM capability for Integrated Remote Console (Integrity servers only), CPU Component Indictment (Dynamic Processor Resilience), Power Management (processor p-states), new system parameters (NISCS_UDP_PKTSZ, ZERO_LIST_HI, PAGED_LAL_SIZE), and significant enhancements to System Analysis Tools (SDA), including partial crash dump copies and new SHOW commands. It also supports Memory Disk booting from InfoServer and Availability Manager for Cluster over IP.
• Programming: Enhancements to callable Mail, C Run-Time Library (including Unicode UTF-8 encoding for filenames, improved strcmp()/memcmp() performance, semaphore support), Linker utility, a new $POWER_CONTROL system service, and new item codes for $GETDVI and $MOUNT.
• Associated Products: Updates for HP TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS Version 5.7, secure DECnet-Plus over IP, and DECwindows audible warnings.

The document also provides an overview of the comprehensive OpenVMS Version 8.4 documentation set, listing revised and new manuals, and explaining their availability in both printed (media kits, base, full, and OE Extension sets) and online formats (CD, website, and online help).