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Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 8:28 pm
by flipper8827
I have never used Vms before however, I have been an avid user of the other Unix like operating systems such as Free, Open and NetBSD. In addition I have also virtualized quite a few of the different flavors of Linux but I have absolutely no experience with any operating system earlier than ms-dos or the Windows flavors of the 9x series and Xp/7 and 8/10 era of windows releases in addition to the windows and BSD experience I have tuns of experience with Debian Linux and a wide array of its offspring. This being said I am also quite proficient in most of the community driven linux and BSD distributions.

Moderator's comment: Thread moved to Offtopic as the OP does not imply any question.

Re: Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:44 pm
by sms

Code: Select all

> [...] I have been an avid user of the other Unix like operating
> systems [...]

   VMS is not very Unix-like.

   And you want what, exactly?

   Do you have any VMS-compatible hardware (Alpha, IA64, ...), or did
you expect to use some kind of emulator, or some publicly accessible
system, or what?

   Possibly interesting:

      https://vmssoftware.com/community/community-license/

   There's plenty of other documentation in that general neighborhood.

Re: Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:24 pm
by arne_v
flipper8827 wrote:
Wed Aug 10, 2022 8:28 pm
I have never used Vms before however, I have been an avid user of the other Unix like operating systems such as Free, Open and NetBSD. In addition I have also virtualized quite a few of the different flavors of Linux but I have absolutely no experience with any operating system earlier than ms-dos or the Windows flavors of the 9x series and Xp/7 and 8/10 era of windows releases in addition to the windows and BSD experience I have tuns of experience with Debian Linux and a wide array of its offspring. This being said I am also quite proficient in most of the community driven linux and BSD distributions.
I assume you post because you want to try VMS.

First you will need something to run on. My recommendation would be an Alpha emulator unless you just happen to be able to get your hands on a physical Alpha for little money. Then you can apply for a VMS Community License and when you get the license you will also get download access to the product.

Then you will need to get VMS installed and setup. That will require a little VMS system manager (traditional VMS term for sysadmin) knowledge and some VMS user knowledge.

DCL (the VMS "shell") is not difficult to learn but it is very different from *nix (and Windows). I recommend studying a few manuals to understand the basics about how to navigate the system and do simple stuff with files.

VMS system management is also very different from *nix (and Windows). The VMS install itself is not difficult, but when you need to get the network configured then you will need to read manuals. For people that have used VMS for 30-40 years then a lot of this stuff seems natural, but for someone without VMS experience it is weird.

Re: Complete VMS newcomer

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2022 12:53 am
by volkerhalle
There is also the VSI OpenVMS 'Student License', which comes as a ready-to-run OpenVMS system on the FreeAXP Alpha emulator on Windows.

https://training.vmssoftware.com/student-license/

Volker.

Re: Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2022 3:24 am
by martin
Anyone know if the Alpha emulator is available on Linux? Running a Windows VM just to run an emulator is a bit daft!

Re: Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2022 4:09 am
by marty.stu
Only AXPbox is still available for free on Linux. Other emulators are either commercial, or their free versions were removed from public access long ago.

Re: Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:19 pm
by martin
I keep coming back to try and get the emulator working. I've got my license and have built the emulator on Linux, but I can't find the ISO, ALPHA0842L1.ZIPEXE, anywhere. Am I missing something here?

Re: Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2022 11:55 pm
by sms

Code: Select all

> [...]  I've got my license, [...]

   Which kind of license is your (unspecified) "my license"?

> [...] and have built the emulator on Linux, but I
> can't find the ISO, ALPHA0842L1.ZIPEXE, anywhere. [...]

   With my weak psychic powers, I can't tell where you looked.

   When I signed up for the "Community" program, the e-mail message
which told me where to get the "license PAK" also said:

> If you need the installation files for the system and layered products,
> you can download them from our SFTP server. Here are the credentials:
> [...]

   Those instructions led to, for example:

-r--------   1 acommunity 4000     394646016 Jun  9 18:48 ALPHA0842L1.ZIP;2
-r--------   1 acommunity 4000     394766336 Jun  9 18:48 ALPHA0842L1.ZIPEXE;2

and a host of others.

> [...] Am I missing something here?

   Apparently, but I don't know what you have.  If you don't have the
download info for the software kits, then you probably should ask at 
"community@vmssoftware.com".  (Or, if that fails,
"training@vmssoftware.com".)

Re: Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2022 4:15 am
by martin
> Which kind of license is your (unspecified) "my license"?
Community

> With my weak psychic powers, I can't tell where you looked.
Duckduckgo, inbuilt search engine on https://vmssoftware.com/, ...>Products, ...>Services, ...>Resources

> When I signed up for the "Community" program, the e-mail message
> which told me where to get the "license PAK" also said:

> If you need the installation files for the system and layered products,
> you can download them from our SFTP server. Here are the credentials:
> [...]
Well I signed up and just got the renewal email.

> Those instructions led to, for example:
> -r-------- 1 acommunity 4000 394646016 Jun 9 18:48 ALPHA0842L1.ZIP;2
> -r-------- 1 acommunity 4000 394766336 Jun 9 18:48 ALPHA0842L1.ZIPEXE;2
> and a host of others.
That's exactly what I'm trying to find.

> Apparently, but I don't know what you have. If you don't have the
> download info for the software kits, then you probably should ask at
> "community@vmssoftware.com". (Or, if that fails,
> "training@vmssoftware.com".)
Well as I mentioned, I have every thing except ALPHA0842L1

I've sent an email to community@vmssoftware.com and am awaiting a reply. I just hoped that the fora would be able to help.

Re: Compleete Vms newcommer

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:10 am
by sms

Code: Select all

> Well I signed up and just got the renewal email.

   As I said, my original "license PAK" e-maiI message gave the download
details; the recent PAK renewal message did not.

> Duckduckgo, inbuilt search engine [...]

   As it said, these kits are found on a VSI SFTP server, not on the VSI
web site.  They're trying to control the distribution of these kits, not
make them available to the whole world.

> [...] I just hoped that the fora would be able to help.

   I'd prefer not to make enemies of the folks at VSI by publishing
things which they don't want published.