[Info-vax] VMSKITBLD.COM fails with CREATE_SYSDIRS cannot locate product description file.

[Andrew Back]

On Sunday, 13 January 2019 15:58:09 UTC, Stephen Hoffman  wrote:
> On 2019-01-13 14:58:33 +0000, Andrew Back said:
> 
> > Attempting to get OpenVMS 7.3 installed on a VS2000 via a SimH VAX 
> > running on a Linux host. I've created a cluster and added the VS as a 
> > satellite node, with page and swap on the SimH node. OpenVMS 7.3 was 
> > installed via the Hobbyist kit ISO and opted to install everything in 
> > full.
> > 
> > Everything seems fine up until trying to use VMSKITBLD.COM to build a 
> > system disk on the RD53 installed in the VS (KEN)...
> 
> 
> Well..... VMSKITBLD is used to build bootable OpenVMS installation 
> kits, not OpenVMS installations.  VMSKITBLD is relevant here, nor used 
> here, and is only rarely used in general outside of OpenVMS development 
> or the few folks that are looking to build installation kits from a 
> template environment.

Ah, I see. It's all a bit hazy — about 20 years since I worked with VMS systems, so some things are coming back to me and elsewhere there are big gaps.

> VMSINSTAL is far more commonly used than is VMSKITBLD, and VMSINSTAL 
> will be used here, and will be used to install TCP/IP Services and the 
> rest.
> 
> Boot the VAXstation 2000 as a diskless satellite member of the SIMH 
> cluster environment.
> 
> Once the box is booted as a diskless satellite of the SIMH system 
> (configured as a boot and disk server via CLUSTER_CONFIG or (better) 
> CLUSTER_CONFIG_LAN to set up the boot and disk server on SIMH),  you'll 
> be able to BACKUP /IMAGE restore the VMS073.B backup saveset onto the 
> RD53 device, then manually copy the other VMS073.% savesets onto the 
> root [000000] directory that same soon-to-be-a-system disk (since you 
> don't have an installation disk handy, you'll need to stage those folks 
> and then tell VMSINSTAL where the rest of the kit is when prompted 
> after you boot that RD53), then boot that infernal, err, internal RD53 
> disk and complete the remainder of the VMSINSTAL installation.  VM073.B 
> is a BACKUP/IMAGE of the core files of the boot, and the restoration of 
> that saveset onto the target disk is path for an installation such as 
> this.  The VAXstation will need to be instructed to network boot from 
> the console, and—if the emulations and the emulated network and the 
> rest of the giblets are all working the same as actual hardware 
> (usually) does and (usually) did—the VAX will download the files it 
> needs and will boot and run from the SIMH boot/disk server into the 
> cluster, operating across the network.

It's presently restoring VMS073.B and I'm being treated to the sound of a busy RD53. Not sure if I'm going to be able to copy .C onto it and then install a few things from this, without running out of space.

> Once you get the system disk installed and get the VAXstation back into 
> the cluster, you'll want to mount the HPE OpenVMS VAX disk image on the 
> SIMH system (MOUNT/SYSTEM, MOUNT/CLUSTER, etc),  akin to an NFS or SMB 
> mount, though with a completely different protocol, and tied to access 
> only within a cluster) and also mount the HPE OpenVMS VAX distribution 
> disk on the VAXstation remotely (MOUNT/SYSTEM or maybe MOUNT/CLUSTER), 
> and that'll provide access to the rest of the kits you'll need.  Not 
> the least of which will be TCP/IP Services installation kit.

Right, thanks. Since the TCP/IP comes as a .PCSI file, any idea how to get this into the SimH VAX? Tried setting up DECnet for Linux, but seems to be thoroughly broken on any recent version of Linux.

> This whole thing is easier if that VAXstation had a CD reader or a tape 
> device—and a compatible tape device elsewhere, and VMSKITBLD might even 
> be useful for this specific need-a-tape-installation-kit case—or if you 
> had a newer OpenVMS Alpha or OpenVMS I64 system that could act as a 
> host-based InfoServer and the VAXstation 2000 could boot from that.

I also have a uVAX2000 with I/O expansion and an external TK50, but seem to recall the drive needs some attention. Will hopefully get round to this at some point. I do also have some Alphastations, a uVAXII and a 3900 (needing RF disks) in storage. Plus a C3000 enclosure and 8x BL860c blades en route (this should be fun as I've never run IA64 before...)
  
> But you're pretty well back in the bad old days of the 1980s and early 
> 1990s, and without the right mix of hardware to do what the 
> then-available OpenVMS VAX installation documentation describes.

Sure, I have a soft spot for the uVAX/VS2000, as it was the first system I used back around 1991 or so. Also doesn't take up much space at home.

> This stuff has all been discussed before here in the comp.os.vms 
> newsgroup, too.  There's very little to do with OpenVMS VAX that hasn't 
> been discussed here in the newsgroup.  Poke around in the archives, and 
> in the old OpenVMS VAX.FAQ for further details,
> http://www.hoffmanlabs.com/vmsfaq

Thanks for the assistance, much appreciated!

Andrew