OpenVMS 5.5-2 SPD

This document describes the OpenVMS VAX Operating System, Version 5.5-2, a general-purpose, multiuser operating system for Digital's VAX, Micro/VAX, VAXstation, and VAXserver computers. Tunable for various applications (compute-intensive, I/O-intensive, real-time), it emphasizes a strong commitment to national and international software standards, including:

• POSIX Compliance: Certified by NIST for POSIX 1003.1-1988 (FIPS 151-1), and supporting P1003.2 (shell and utilities) and P1003.4 (real-time programming) drafts.
• XPG3 BASE Branding: Achieved for the VMS V5.5-2 environment with VMS POSIX and VAX C, ensuring broad application portability and standards-based internationalization.
• Support for numerous other ANSI, FIPS, IEEE, and ISO standards.

Key features and capabilities of OpenVMS VAX include:

• User Environment: Digital Command Language (DCL), online Help, text processing (EVE), Mail, and command-level programming.
• Program Development: A comprehensive set of tools (editors, linker, librarian, debugger), VAX MACRO, a VMS Run-Time Library supporting various VAX languages with a common calling standard, and VAX Vector Instruction Emulation Facility (VVIEF).
• System Management: Utilities for backup, disk structure analysis, performance monitoring (Monitor), License Management Facility (LMF), SYSMAN, and robust security controls (privileges, quotas, password management, security alarms).
• Operating System Environment: Process and scheduling management (up to 8,192 concurrent processes with 32 priority levels), paging and swapping for memory management, and peripheral device control.
• Advanced Features: Optional Vector Processing, DECdtm Services for distributed transaction and database integrity with "two-phase commit," Interprocess Communication (mailboxes, shared memory, lock manager), and Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP).
• VAXcluster Support: A separately licensed System Integrated Product (SIP) providing a highly integrated distributed computing environment for up to 96 VAX CPUs, enabling shared resources and load balancing.
• Networking: Device drivers for Ethernet, DECnet-VAX (SIP), and VMS/ULTRIX Connection for TCP/IP, NFS, FTP, and TELNET. It also features Multi-Threading (DECthreads) based on POSIX 1003.4a and DCE Threads.
• Data Management: VMS Record Management Services (RMS) supporting various file organizations (sequential, relative, indexed, byte stream) and access modes. RMS Journaling (SIP) ensures data integrity through Before, After, and Recovery Unit journaling.
• Reliability: Transparent handling of hardware errors and automatic recovery from power failures.
• DECwindows: Integral support for the VMS DECwindows desktop environment (based on MIT's X Window System, including Display PostScript) and a separately orderable VMS DECwindows Motif layered product for an OSF/Motif and X User Interface.

The system is distributed on Compact Disc, 9-track magnetic tape, and CDROM, with extensive documentation available in both printed and online formats. It specifies disk block and memory requirements for various configurations and outlines software licensing categories and options.