VSI-I64VMS-GEARMAN-V0101-17-1-RNOTES.PDF

This document introduces the Gearman for OpenVMS I64 (BETA) release, a port of the open-source Gearman 1.1.17 application framework, dated April 2018.

Gearman is described as a generic, BSD-licensed framework for distributed and parallel task execution, load balancing, and inter-language function calls. It is designed to be flexible, scalable, fast, and fault-tolerant. The OpenVMS port includes all standard Gearman features, plus a language-agnostic API to enable client and worker applications written in 3GL languages such as COBOL and FORTRAN.

Key requirements for this release include OpenVMS 8.4-1H1/8.4-2L1 Alpha, HP TCP/IP Services V5.7, and the HP C V7.3-018 compiler. Installation is performed using a PCSI kit (PRODUCT INSTALL), with post-installation steps involving integrating startup/shutdown scripts into SYSTARTUP_VMS.COM and SYSHUTDWN.COM, and configuring specific system privileges and quotas for optimal operation.

The document notes that while the OpenVMS port includes all standard functionality, the language-agnostic API is currently incomplete (though deemed sufficient for most purposes). Additionally, the generic client program (GEARMAN.EXE) has limitations, specifically not working correctly with DCL scripts or commands and being restricted to 3GL programs reading from SYS$INPUT and writing to SYS$OUTPUT, with future releases expected to address these issues.