Computer operating system
Operating system
OpenVMS OpenVMS V7.3-1 running the
CDE -based DECwindows "New Desktop" GUI
Developer VMS Software Inc (VSI)[ 1] (previously Digital Equipment Corporation , Compaq , Hewlett-Packard ) Written in Primarily C , BLISS , VAX MACRO , DCL .[ 2] Other languages also used.[ 3] Working state Current Source model Closed-source with open-source components. Formerly source available [ 4] [ 5] Initial release Announced: October 25, 1977; 46 years ago (1977-10-25 ) V1.0 / August 1978; 46 years ago (1978-08 ) Latest release V9.2-2 / January 25, 2024; 6 months ago (2024-01-25 ) [ 6] Latest preview E9.2-3 / August 8, 2024; 7 days ago (2024-08-08 ) Marketing target Servers (historically Minicomputers , Workstations )Available in English , Japanese .[ 7] Historical support for Chinese (both Traditional and Simplified characters), Korean , Thai .[ 8] Update method Concurrent upgrades, rolling upgrades Package manager PCSI and VMSINSTAL Platforms VAX , Alpha , Itanium , x86-64 Kernel typeMonolithic kernel with loadable modulesInfluenced VAXELN , MICA , Windows NT Influenced by RSX-11M Default user interface DCL CLI and DECwindows GUI License Proprietary Official website vmssoftware .com
OpenVMS , often referred to as just VMS ,[ 9] is a multi-user , multiprocessing and virtual memory -based operating system . It is designed to support time-sharing , batch processing , transaction processing and workstation applications.[ 10] Customers using OpenVMS include banks and financial services, hospitals and healthcare, telecommunications operators, network information services, and industrial manufacturers.[ 11] [ 12] During the 1990s and 2000s, there were approximately half a million VMS systems in operation worldwide.[ 13] [ 14] [ 15]
It was first announced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) as VAX/VMS (Virtual Address eXtension/Virtual Memory System [ 16] ) alongside the VAX-11/780 minicomputer in 1977.[ 17] [ 18] [ 19] OpenVMS has subsequently been ported to run on DEC Alpha systems, the Itanium -based HPE Integrity Servers ,[ 20] and select x86-64 hardware and hypervisors .[ 21] Since 2014, OpenVMS is developed and supported by VMS Software Inc. (VSI).[ 22] [ 23] OpenVMS offers high availability through clustering —the ability to distribute the system over multiple physical machines.[ 24] This allows clustered applications and data to remain continuously available while operating system software and hardware maintenance and upgrades are performed,[ 25] or if part of the cluster is destroyed.[ 26] VMS cluster uptimes of 17 years have been reported.[ 27]
^ Patrick Thibodeau (July 31, 2014). "HP gives OpenVMS new life" . Computerworld . Retrieved October 21, 2021 .
^ Camiel Vanderhoeven (May 30, 2021). "How much of VMS is still in MACRO-32?" . Newsgroup : comp.os.vms . Retrieved October 21, 2021 .
^ "2.7 In what language is OpenVMS written?" . The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) . Hewlett Packard Enterprise . Archived from the original on August 10, 2018.
^ Cite error: The named reference wizard-vms-source
was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).
^ "Webinar 16: x86 Update" . VSI. October 15, 2021. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021 .
^ "OpenVMS V9.2-2 public availability" . VSI . January 25, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024 .
^ "Japanese OpenVMS OS (JVMS)" . VSI . Retrieved February 5, 2021 .
^ Michael M. T. Yau (1993). "Supporting the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Languages in the OpenVMS Operating System" (PDF) . Digital Technical Journal . 5 (3): 63–79. Retrieved October 21, 2021 .
^ "OpenVMS at 20 Nothing stops it" (PDF) . Digital Equipment Corporation. October 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2021 .
^ "Software Product Description and QuickSpecs - VSI OpenVMS Version 8.4-2L1 for Integrity servers" (PDF) . VMS Software Inc. July 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2021 .
^ "VSI Business & New Products Update – April 9, 2019" (PDF) . VSI. April 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2021 .
^ Charles Babcock (November 1, 2007). "VMS Operating System Is 30 Years Old; Customers Believe It Can Last Forever" . InformationWeek . Retrieved February 19, 2021 .
^ Drew Robb (November 1, 2004). "OpenVMS survives and thrives" . computerworld.com. Retrieved December 31, 2020 .
^ Tao Ai Lei (May 30, 1998). "Digital tries to salvage OpenVMS" . computerworld.co.nz. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020 .
^ Jesse Lipcon (October 1997). "OpenVMS: 20 Years of Renewal" . Digital Equipment Corporation. Archived from the original on February 17, 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2021 .
^ "VAX-11/780 Hardware Handbook" (PDF) . Digital Equipment Corporation . 1979. Retrieved October 17, 2022 .
^ Patrick Thibodeau (June 11, 2013). "OpenVMS, R.I.P. 1977-2020?" . Computerworld . Retrieved April 27, 2024 .
^ Tom Merritt (2012). Chronology of Tech History . Lulu.com. p. 104. ISBN 978-1300253075 .
^ "VAX 11/780 - OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : HISTORY / detailed info" . Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
^ "Supported Platforms" . VSI .
^ Cite error: The named reference 9.0 Rollout
was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).
^ "HP hands off OpenVMS development to VSI" . Tech Times . August 1, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2024 .
^ "VMS Software, Inc. Named Exclusive Developer of Future Versions of OpenVMS Operating System" (Press release). Retrieved October 27, 2017 .
^ Cite error: The named reference cluster-docs
was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).
^ "Cluster Uptime" . November 28, 2003. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2020 .
^ "Commerzbank Survives 9/11 with OpenVMS Clusters" (PDF) . July 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2024 .
^ "February 2018 Business & Technical Update" (PDF) . VSI. February 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2021 .