Where are AXP install files?

[sword7]

I have Alpha community license, but I need install and iso files. Where are install packages that I can download?

Thanks,
Tim

[cct]

You should have received details on the initial mail sending you the license.

Otherwise you can download the training installation, which is a preinstalled system setup with FreeAXP - see https://training.vmssoftware.com/student-license/

Chris

[sword7]

No, I can't find any ISO files on VSIPUBLIC. I mean ACOMMUNITY ftp access that provides ISO files. Its password did not work anymore. I need new ACOMMUNITY access package.

[imiller]

The disk images are zipped so look for a file ALPHA0842L1.ZIP or similar name

[sms]

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> I have Alpha community license, but I need install and iso files.
> Where are install packages that I can download?

   Apparently not on the VSI Service Platform.  After the recent
x86-related reorg, I found that I can now choose among different
"Community" organizations, including:

      VMS Alpha Community - VAC
      VMS Integrity Community - VCI   (Internal consistency failure?)
      VMS X86 Community - VXC

   Only VXC shows any available Packages.


> You should have received details on the initial mail sending you the
> license.

   The last relevant e-mail message I can find was:

Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2022 16:00:06 -0400
Subject: Your new OpenVMS community licenses
[...]
PAKs valid until September 2023
[...]
Get  your Integrity license
(https://... )
[...]
Get your Alpha license
(https://... )
[...]

   I already had the software (fetched years ago from the now-defunct
FTP server, vsiftp.vmssoftware.com -- I _have_ instructions for _that_),
so I didn't worry about that part of the problem.  Now that I've looked,
I realize that I have no idea how a "Community" member is supposed to
fetch any relevant Alpha or IA64 kits.

   My VSI e-mail search did find this:

      [...] Any problems? Let us know at community@vmssoftware.com,
      we're happy to help! [...]

[reinhardtjh]

I found the credentials for the ACOMMUNITY and ICOMMUNITY FTP access on vsiftp.vmssoftware.com in an email titled "Your Community License Request" and dated 12-AUG-2020. The email had the links for the PAK downloads as well. In the subsequent emails that came when the previous PAKs expired there was no mention of the FTP site credentials. The one from 2020 still work for me. One might assume they put it in the first time you get a CLP license PAK notice, but who knows for sure.

I can find no other VSI communication that mentions the FTP site login credentials since that email of 2020.

If you kept all your emails from VSI, then hopefully you have the information. Otherwise a request to the email posted by SMS is probably your best bet.

BTW, the FTP server "vsiftp.vmssoftware.com" is not defunct, just the OPENKITS login for Open Source software downloads was closed. VSI deciding to go in another direction for those downloads. The same server still has the ACOMMUNITY and ICOMMUNITY logins available for the VSI downloads of CLP software.

[sms]

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> BTW, the FTP server "vsiftp.vmssoftware.com" is not defunct, [...]

   Ah.  Thanks.  My error.  It's been too long.  I was trying to use FTP
instead of SFTP to access "vsiftp.vmssoftware.com".  FTP times out. 
(Calling it an "FTP" site is not entirely helpful for this reason.  One
might argue that a more informative failure would be more helpful, but
running an actual FTP server only to provide an error message and allow
no access might be unattractive.)


> [...] look for a file ALPHA0842L1.ZIP or similar name

   I (now, again) see, for example ("sftp> ls -l"):

[...]
-r--------   1 acommunity 4000     394646016 Jun  9  2022 ALPHA0842L1.ZIP;2
-r--------   1 acommunity 4000     394766336 Jun  9  2022 ALPHA0842L1.ZIPEXE;2
[...]

Providing both ".ZIP" and ".ZIPEXE" might be seen as a waste of storage
space, but it's not _my_ storage space.  The following might generate
some confusion, too:

      sftp> ls -l *.hash

[sword7]

Ok, I tried to access through SecureFX client but password did not work.

On MSYS2 prompt, I tried to access ftp site but its responses with error message said that:

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$ sftp accomunity@vsiftp.vmssoftware.com
Unable to negotiate with 216.41.237.161 port 22: no matching host key type found. Their offer: ssh-rsa
Connection closed

A few years ago, it worked fine but it did not work anymore.

Tim

[marty.stu]

$ sftp accomunity@vsiftp.vmssoftware.com
Unable to negotiate with 216.41.237.161 port 22: no matching host key type found. Their offer: ssh-rsa

Tim

Hi Tim,

Your issue is that you need to allow deprecated encryption protocols in your client by adding a special key

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-oHostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-rsa

to your command.

Hope this helps.