[Info-vax] HP Integrity rx2800 i4 (2.53GHz/32.0MB) :: PAKs won't load

[clairgrant71 at gmail.com]

We must be on at least our fifth or sixth attempt at finalizing a very long release note but here is the basic idea.

"When booting into a cluster containing members running VSI OpenVMS V8.4-1H1
and members running any HPE version, a node may fail to load a valid license.
The failure occurs for products that are not licensed under the cluster's
Operating Environment License Agreement (BOE or HAOE).  For example, consider
VMSCLUSTER licenses purchased along with the VSI BOE and HPE FOE licenses."

For 8.4-1H1 you need a new LMF.EXE and you must execute a few LICENSE MODIFY commands. For 8.4-2 you only need to execute the commands.

So, how did such a blatant, in-your-face problem escape our thousands of hours of testing as well as everyday operation where we have 8.4 systems and 8.4-1H1 systems clustered all the time? That is almost as interesting as the problem itself. The embarrassing answer is that we didn't have the right combination of operating environment licenses and individual product license units in play to expose the problem.

This will likely not be the last time something unforeseen arises regarding multiple producers (VSI and HP) of products with the same name. It is just a tough problem but we are gaining on it. BTW: Replacing the current licensing scheme altogether is an on-going topic of discussion.