[Info-vax] cloning Charon

[Tom Adams]

On Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 4:54:20 PM UTC-4, Stanley F. Quayle wrote:
> Thanks for sugesting me, Dave. Yes, I can definitely help.
> 
> > I do have some Charon keys (from my employer) that I can use.  I will work at
> > home with some temporary keys.
> 
> Stromasys issues temporary keys for customer evaluations. It's typically for a max of 30 days.
> 
> There's a "disaster recovery" key for sale, which runs for a total of 720 hours. It has to be associated to a permanent key before you could purchase it.
> 
> > I wonder if I can just copy all the files and executables from a functional
> > Charon installation to my system.  Or do I need to run an install procedure?
> 
> There's no way copying all the stuff from a functioning system. You'd have to go through the registry, hoping to find all the pieces.
> 
> I most of the installation kits from version 1.0 to present, so running the right one would be a snap.
> 
> > I know I might have to revise the configuration files a bit since my home
> > computer will not be exactly like the server at work.  I will put it on
> > Windows 10 at home and the version of Charon is compatible with Windows 10.
> 
> Windows 10 support was available in version 4.8, circa 2017. Version 4.10 is current. Keys have a maximum supported version number. For example, a 4.7 key won't run 4.8. Upgrades to the latest version requires a current support contract. So you'll need a fairly new key if you want to run Windows 10.
> 
> If you have an older key, you could use something like VirtualBox and run a virtual version of Windows that supports what you need.

I think they have 3 permanent keys for 3 servers (1 server is a backup also use for testing.)  They have a number of temporary keys, I have two and there are some more.  These are probably all less than 2 years old, unless the laid-off Charon expert left some he had before the company bought Charon.

Is it true that there is a Charon app that will read a key and tell you how many hours are on it? Perhaps that app will also tell you what versions of Charon it will support.