OpenVMS installation instructions for VMWare Workstation

[mfny]

Hello,

Would anyone be able to provide instructions as to how to set up a VM for OpenVMS in VMware Workstation, I am only able to find VirtualBox instruction at this time.

In particular what configuration should I have for hard drives and serial port ..

[volkerhalle]

See here viewtopic.php?f=37&t=200

Volker.

[m_detommaso]

This is a good place to start :

"OpenVMS V9.1 FT on VMware Workstation 16 Player" author Dave Sweeney (CEO of VMS Software, Inc.)

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=200&p=17998&hilit=vmware#p745


then

---

From VSI OpenVMS x86-64 E9.2-1 Release Notes
Document Number: DO-RNE921-01A
Publication Date: March 2023
Operating System and Version: VSI OpenVMS x86-64 E9.2-1

2.2.6. Booting Issues with VMware Workstation 17 Player Corrected

Recent release of VMware Workstation 17 Player was unable to boot VSI OpenVMS x86-64 V9.2. This issue has been corrected for version E9.2-1.

2.2.7. Possible Issues with VMware Virtual Machines

Virtual machines created in VMware hypervisors (ESXi, Workstation Pro, Player, Fusion) may not operate as intended until you manually set the parameters listed in the table below. Depending on your specific configuration, there may be cases where you may not need to set one or more of these parameters. VSI provides this information in case you experience the issues these parameters address.

efi.serialconsole.enabled TRUE
efi.shell.activeByDefault TRUE
efi.quickBoot.enabled FALSE


To set these parameters for a virtual machine running under VMware Workstation , follow these steps:

1. Determine the location of your VM configuration file. To do so, perform the following steps:

a. Select your VM and bring up its Settings window.
b. Switch to the Options tab.
c. The directory specified in the Working Directory field is where you will find your VM
configuration file (it will be named vm_name.vmx).

2. Make sure your VM is powered off.
3. Open the folder that contains your VM configuration file.
4. Open the file in an editor.
5. Enter the new keys (parameter names) and set their values according to the table above.

Note Quotes around the values are required when manually editing VMX files.

6. Save and close the file.

/Maurizio

[mfny]

Forgot to add I am using Workstation Pro 17

Added in 18 minutes 15 seconds:

See here viewtopic.php?f=37&t=200

Volker.

Would you be able to point to the details for the following steps in that post ?

15. Setup Putty session as described elsewhere
16. Open Putty window to serial line

Added in 44 minutes 44 seconds:
Managed to find the information here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8602&p=18132

However nothing seems to happen on the Putty terminal when I connect, it connects with no error but no output is shown

[m_detommaso]

Did you try to manually set the three parameters listed in my previous reply ?

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8611#p18138

---

(in particular, for your Putty console problem)

efi.serialconsole.enabled TRUE

This parameter enables serial console access to the UEFI Shell and VSI OpenVMS Boot Manager.
By default, VMware disables serial port console access. Because of this, a remote serial connection only
becomes active once OpenVMS is booted (SYSBOOT or beyond).

---

/Maurizio

[mfny]

Did you try to manually set the three parameters listed in my previous reply ?

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8611#p18138

---

(in particular, for your Putty console problem)

efi.serialconsole.enabled TRUE

This parameter enables serial console access to the UEFI Shell and VSI OpenVMS Boot Manager.
By default, VMware disables serial port console access. Because of this, a remote serial connection only
becomes active once OpenVMS is booted (SYSBOOT or beyond).

---

/Maurizio

When I try adding those lines with quotes on the values to the vmx file I get a error in VMWare about a corrupt .vmx file and do i want to remove the virtual machine from the list.

[volkerhalle]

The correct syntax for the .vmx file is:

efi.serialconsole.enabled = "TRUE"

Once a start your OpenVMS x86-64 VM after this change and establish a Putty session to the port configred in the .vmx file with

serial0.fileName = "telnet://:2023"

you can now also enter BOOTMGR> commands in Putty.

Volker.

[mfny]

Ah yes I did not add the = sign and just copy and pasted that line. When adding the = it seems to work fine

[mfny]

What should the hard drive size be for a typical OpenVMS installation ?

[volkerhalle]

I tried an upgrade from V9.2 to E9.2-1 with a 2 GB disk -> it failed. 6 GB was fine.

The target disk specified is smaller than the minimum size that
VSI recommends for a system disk (6GB, where 1GB = 2097152
512-byte blocks)

Volker.