Installing VMS V2.0 on SIMH

The aim of this tutorial is to show how to install VMS V2.0 on the SIMH VAX-11/750 simulator.

Preparations

SIMH vax750 simulator

You have the choice between the SIMH vax780 and the SIMH vax750 simulators in principle, because both the VAX-11/780 and VAX-11/750 are supported by VMS V2.0.

I choose the VAX-11/750 for this tutorial, because it's the "new" model (and I've got a real one ;-)).

VMS V2.0

Get VMS V2.0 disk images from here, unzip and put it in into the directory where the SIMH vax750 simulator resides.

vax750.ini for a typical medium 16-user VAX-11/750 system

Use the following vax750.ini file for a typical medium 16-user VAX-11/750 system (order no.: SV-BXTAA).

Medium VAX-11/750 system with one RM03 disk drives, a TS11 tape drive, and an LA38 console printer terminal

; ================================================
; vax750.ini
; ================================================
;
; Medium size 16 user system made of:
; - 1M bytes of memory
; - 16 DZ11 terminal lines
; - 2 RM03 disk drives
; - line printer
; - TE16 magnetic tape unit

SET QUIET

SET CPU 1M
SET THROTTLE 700K
;SET CPU IDLE=VMS

SET CONSOLE LOG=VMS020-01.LOG

SET DZ LINES=16
ATT DZ 6666

SET LPT ENA
ATT LPT printer.txt

SET RP ENA
SET RP0 RM03             ; DRA0:
ATT RP0 VMS020.RM3

SET RP1 RM03             ; DRA1:
ATT RP1 DATA.RM3

SET RP2 DIS
SET RP3 DIS
SET RP4 DIS
SET RP5 DIS
SET RP6 DIS
SET RP7 DIS

SET RL DIS

SET HK DIS

SET RQ DIS
SET RY DIS
SET TQ DIS
SET TS DIS

SET TU ENA
SET TU0 TE16             ; MTA0:

SET TU1 DIS
SET TU2 DIS
SET TU3 DIS
SET TU4 DIS
SET TU5 DIS
SET TU6 DIS
SET TU7 DIS


BOOT RP0/R5:1
;BOOT RP0

Installation

First boot

Start the simh vax750 simulator:

Windows:

run vax750.exe

Linux:

./vax750

Be aware that Linux is case sensitive!

---

SIMH tells you it will write a log:

Logging to file "VMS020-01.LOG"

VMS boots to the SYSBOOT> prompt. Enter the following two commands and confirm each with <Enter>:

SYSBOOT>  USE 16USER.PAR

SYSBOOT>  CONTINUE

This way you do:

- Choose the parameter file for a medium 16-user VAX-11/750 system

- Continue booting

VMS finishes booting:

  VAX/VMS Version V2.0 5-APR-1980 21:11

  Opcom,  3-JUN-1980 11:57:54.86, logfile initialized, operator=_OPA0:

  Login quotas - Interactive limit=64, Current interactive value=0
  SYSTEM       job terminated at  3-JUN-1980 11:57:58.69

Press <Enter> to get to the login prompt.

Log in with username SYSTEM and password MANAGER.

The password is NOT echoed.

Username: SYSTEM

Password: 
 
        Welcome to VAX/VMS Version V2.0    

$ 

You're in!

Try DIR as a first VMS command to show the files in your login directory:

$ DIR

Directory _DRA0:[SYSMGR]

ACCOUNTNG.DAT;1     CHARTYPE.DAT;1      ERFSTART.COM;1      FORMSTYPE.DAT;1
LPA11STRT.COM;1     OPERATOR.LOG;1      RTTLOAD.COM;1       SYSHUTDWN.COM;1
SYSTARTUP.COM;1     

Total of 9 files.

$

A first look around

Let's have a first look at our installed VMS V2.0!

For the users completely new to VMS

Try the following commands.

You can abreviate all commands to the extend that they do not get ambiguous, e.g. SH instead of SHOW

VMS is not case-sensitive, but it is common practice to enter commands in UPPERCASE.

---

SHOW SYS shows you what's going on your system:

$ SH SYS

    VAX/VMS  Processes on         3-JUN-1980 11:59:11.71      Uptime  0 00:01:19
    Pid    Process Name     UIC  State Pri Dir. I/O    CPU     Page flts Ph.Mem
  00010000 NULL           000,000 COM    0        0 00:01:13.77        0    0 
  00010001 SWAPPER        000,000 HIB   16        0 00:00:00.11        0    0 
  00010017 ERRFMT         001,006 HIB    9        2 00:00:00.05       30   27 
  00010018 OPCOM          001,004 LEF    7        2 00:00:00.05       32   36 
  00010019 JOB_CONTROL    001,004 HIB    9        2 00:00:00.12       34   80 
  0001001A DRA0ACP        001,003 HIB    8       88 00:00:00.86       66  111 
  0002001B SYSTEM         001,004 CUR    4        8 00:00:00.34       82  109 

$

- Pid = Process ID

- Process Name (self-explaining)

- UIC = Process owner (User ID)

- State = Process state

- Pri = Process priority

- Dir. I/O = Process direct I/O count

- CPU = Process CPU time used

- Page flts = Process page faults

- Ph.Mem = Process physical memory

---

SHOW DEV shows the devices on your VAX:

$ SH DEV

  List of Devices               on       3-JUN-1980 11:59:20.81
  Device   Device      Device       Err.    Volume         Free  Trans Mount
  Name     Status  Characteristics Count     Label        Blocks Count Count
  DRA0:    on line mnt                 0  VAXVMSRL2        99033    23     1
  DRA1:    on line                     0 
  OPA0:    on line                     0 
  MTA0:    on line                     0 
  LPA0:    on line                     0 
  TTA0:    on line                     0 
  TTA1:    on line                     0 
  TTA2:    on line                     0 
  TTA3:    on line                     0 
  TTA4:    on line                     0 
  TTA5:    on line                     0 
  TTA6:    on line                     0 
  TTA7:    on line                     0 
  TTB0:    on line                     0 
  TTB1:    on line                     0 
  TTB2:    on line                     0 
  TTB3:    on line                     0 
  TTB4:    on line                     0 
  TTB5:    on line                     0 
  TTB6:    on line                     0 
  TTB7:    on line                     0 

$

- DRA0 is the first RM03 disk drive (the VMS system drive)

- DRA1 is the second RM03 disk drive (the data drive, still empty)

- OPA0 is the operator terminal (from which you boot the system)

- LPA0 is the system line printer

- TTA0 - TTB7 are the sixteen user terminals

- MTA0 is the TE16 magtape drive

---

HELP shows the available help topic and brief instructions for using HELP:

$ HELP

  HELP

    Help can be obtained on a particular topic by typing :
        HELP  topic  subtopic  subsubtopic  ...
    A topic can have the following format :
       1) an alphanumeric string (e.g. a command name, option, etc...)
       2) same  preceded by a "/" (=interpreted as a qualifier)
       3) the match-all symbol "*"
       4) any of the above followed by "..." (on first topic only)
    Examples:
        HELP ASSIGN PARAMETERS
        HELP SET TERMINAL /LOWERCASE
        HELP SHOW...
    Abbreviations result in all matches being displayed.

    Additional information available:

    ALLOCATE   ANALYZE    APPEND     ASSIGN     BASIC      BLISS      CANCEL     CLOSE      COBOL      CONTINUE   COPY       CORAL
    CREATE     DEALLOCATE DEASSIGN   DEBUG      DECK       DEFINE     DELETE     DEPOSIT    DIFFERENCES           DIRECTORY
    DISMOUNT   DUMP       EDIT       EOD        EOJ        ERRORS     EXAMINE    EXIT       FORTRAN    GOTO       HELP       IF
    INITIALIZE INQUIRE    JOB        LEXICAL    LIBRARY    LINK       LOGIN      LOGOUT     MACRO      MAIL       MCR
    MESSAGE    MOUNT      ON         OPEN       PASCAL     PASSWORD   PATCH      PRINT      PROCEDURE  PURGE      READ       RENAME
    REPLY      REQUEST    RMS        RUN        SET        SHOW       SORT       SPECIFY    START      STOP       SUBMIT
    SYMBOLS    SYNCHRONIZE           SYSTEM     TECO       TYPE       UNLOCK     VTEDIT     WAIT       WRITE

$ 

---

Be careful not to destroy the newly installed system; you are logged in as SYSTEM who can e.g. easily delete crucial system files.

The use of SHOW commands cannot do any harm.

For users who already know "newer" VMS versions (V4.x and later)

You will probably miss some of the commands you know from "newer" VMS versions ...

Some utilities have different names, others are not yet existing.

- BACKUP is DSC in VMS V2.0

- MONITOR is DISPLAY in VMS V2.0 (needs to be called MCR DISPLAY)

- SHOW USERS is MCR USERS in VMS V2.0 (User SYSTEM sees all users; others only non-privileged ones)

- SHOW MEMORY is not yet implemented in VMS V2.0

- ...

Orderly shutdown

VMS needs an orderly shutdown.

Don't just break out of the simulation using <Strg + e> and tell simh to exit.

You might loose data not yet written to disk and (if Murphy comes around) destroy the file structures on your disk.

Use the following command to perform an orderly shutdown:

@SYS$SYSTEM:SHUTDOWN

You will be asked for the shutdown delay in minutes (you can specify 0 minutes for an immediate shutdown), and you can give an optional reason for the shutdown to be displayed at the terminals of the users on your system (just press <Enter> to skip).

Furthermore you can specify if you want to spin the disks down (not really relevant with SIMH ...).

$ @SYS$SYSTEM:SHUTDOWN

        System shutdown command procedure.
   3-JUN-1980 11:59:51

How many minutes until shutdown?: 0

Reason?: REBOOT

Do you want to spin down the disks?: NO

   Opcom, 12:00:05.13, Operator terminal status, _OPA0:
   CENTRAL, PRINTER, TAPES, DISKS, DEVICES, CARDS, NETWORK, 
   OPER(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12)

  Login quotas - Interactive limit=0, Current interactive value=1
        Non-operator logins are disabled.

_OPA0:,SYSTEM       12:00:06.12
"BATCH AND DEVICE QUEUES HAVE BEEN STOPPED"


_OPA0:,SYSTEM       12:00:06.81
"SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IN 0 MINUTES.  LOGINS ARE DISABLED, PLEASE LOGOFF.

_OPA0:,SYSTEM       12:00:07.05
"REBOOT

        Invoke installation dependent shutdown procedure.
        Stop all user processes.
        Dismount all mounted volumes.
   Opcom, 12:00:08.83, SYSTEM       Accnt=SYSTEM  
   Opcom, _OPA0:, "OPERATOR REQUESTED SHUTDOWN"


   Opcom,  3-JUN-1980 12:00:08.99, logfile closed, operator=_OPA0:

	SYSTEM SHUTDOWN COMPLETE - USE CONSOLE TO HALT SYSTEM


Infinite loop, PC: 80007300 (BRB 80007300)
sim> exit
Goodbye
Log file closed

When you get the simh prompt (sim>) you can safely exit the simulator using the exit command.

Subsequent boots

Now that you have sucessfully installed VMS V2.0 you no longer need to boot into SYSBOOT>.

Make a comment out of the command BOOT RP0/R5:1 in the vax750.ini file by putting a semicolon in front of it.

Remove the semicolon from the ;BOOT RP0 line to make it a command.

From now on you'll boot directly into VMS V2.0!

Congratulations!

"Connecting" User Terminals

I recommend using a Telnet client such as PuTTY to connect to the 16 terminal lines.

I use the following PuTTY settings:

• Host Name: 127.0.0.1 (or your PCs IP address)
• Connection type: Telnet
• Port: 6666
• Terminal/Keyboard/The Backspace key/: Control-?
• Terminal/Keyboard/The function keys and keypad: VT100+

Connected to the VAX 11/780 simulator DZ device, line 0


Username: SYSTEM

Password: 
 
        Welcome to VAX/VMS Version V2.0    

$

Recommended Reading

• AA-D021C-TE Software Installation Guide

• AA-D030B-TE VAX/VMS Primer