Device Name refers to identification of peripheral devices on OpenVMS systems and device naming conventions. For DEVICE_NAMING [[System Parameters|system parameter]], see [[DEVICE_NAMING]].

A '''device name''' is a string that uniquely identifies a [[Device|device]] such as a [[Disk|disk]], [[Tape|tape]], [[Network Controller|network controller]], [[Terminal|terminal]] etc. on an OpenVMS system.

=Syntax=
Parts of an OpenVMS device name include:
* [[Allocation Class|allocation class]] or [[Node|node]] name
* device type
* controller designation
* unit number

The same SCSI disk, DKA300:, could be represented as $1$DKA300:, TEST$DKA300:, or simply DKA300: depending on the device naming format (see below).

=Formats=
There are three general formats for naming devices depending on the use of clustering and multipath configurations:
* ddcu - when there is no clustering or multipath devices, e.g. DKA100:
* node$ddcu - when there is clustering, e.g. TEST$DKA100:
* $allocation-class$ddcu - when there is clustering and/or multipath devices, e.g. $30$DKA100:

If a device name is preceded by an underscore, this means that the name is a physical device name, not a logical name.

=Device Naming Conventions=

==Allocation Class==
Allocation Class is used to uniquely identify shared devices in multipath and cluster configurations. Please see [[Allocation Class]] for more information. If allocation classes are used, the format for device names is as follows: $allocation-class$device-name.

==Nodename==
An OpenVMS Cluster device name includes the name of the node to which the device is attached and the physical device name, separated by a dollar sign ($). For example, TEST$DKA1 refers to disk DKA1 on node TEST. Allocation classes should be used in multipath configurations.

==Device Type==

{|class="wikitable"
! colspan="col" | Device Type
! colspan="col" | Meaning
! colspan="col" | Example
|-
| CM
| IPMI device
| CMA0:
|-
| CR
| Card Reader
|
|-
| CS
| Console Storage Device
|
|-
| DA
| RRD40: disks
| DAD42:
|-
| DB
| RP05, RP06 Disk (VAX)
|
|-
| DD
| TU58 Cartridge Tape (VAX)
|
|-
| DG
| Fibre Channel disk
| DGA100:
|-
| DJ
| RA60 Disk
|
|-
| DI
| DSSI disk
| DIA3:
|-
| DK
| SCSI disk
| DKA100:
|-
| DL
| RL02 Cartridge Disk (VAX)
|
|-
| DM
| RK06, RK07 Cartridge Disk (VAX)
|
|-
| DP
|
|
|-
| DQ
| IDE/PATA disk or RL02 Cartridge Disk, R80 Disk (VAX)
|
|-
| DR
| Disk drives connected to a SWXCR Raid Controller (Mylex DAC960) KZESC/KZPSC/KZPAC, RM03, RM05, RM80, RP07 Disk (VAX)
| DRA0:
|-
| DS
| Disk Stripe set (e.g. a [[Volume Shadowing|shadowed]] disk)
| DSA0:
|-
| DU
| Disk connected to [[MSCP]] controllers, UDA Disk (VAX)
| DUA0:
|-
| DX
| RX01 Diskette (VAX)
|
|-
| DY
| RX02 Diskette (VAX)
|
|-
| EC
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| EF
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| EQ
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| ES
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| ET
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| EX
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| EW
| Ethernet network adapter connected to PCI
| EWA0:
|-
| EZ
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| FC
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| FG
| Fiber Channel Host Bus Adapter
| FGA0:
|-
| FX
| Ethernet Network Device
|
|-
| FT
| Network Terminal
|
|-
| GG
| Medium Changer
|
|-
| GH
| DECwindows output device
| GHA0:
|-
| I
| Token Ring
|
|-
| H
| ATM
|
|-
| KB
| Terminal
| KBD0:
|-
| LA
| LPA11–K Laboratory Peripheral Accelerator (VAX)
|
|-
| LC
| Line Printer on DMF32 (VAX)
|
|-
| LP
| Line Printer on LP11 (VAX)
|
|-
| LM
| SCSI tape
| LMA0:
|-
| LP
| Printer
| LPA0:
|-
| LT
| LAT Network Terminal
|
|-
| MB
| [[Mailbox]]
| MBA0:
|-
| MF
| TU78 Magnetic Tape
|
|-
| MG
| Fibre Channel tape drive
| MGA300
|-
| MK
| SCSI Tape Drive
|
|-
MUTape Class Driver
|-
| MO
| Terminal
| MOU0:
|-
| MS
| TS11 Magnetic Tape (VAX)
|
|-
| MT
| MTTE16, TU45, TU77 Magnetic Tape (VAX)
|
|-
| MU
| Tape Drive
|
|-
| NET
| Network Communications Logical Device
|
|-
| NL
| System Null Device
|
|-
| NTY
| Network Terminal
|
|-
| OP
| [[OPCOM|Operator's console]]
| OPA0:
|-
| PA
| Computer Interconnect
|
|-
| PE
| NISCA
| PEA0:
|-
| PK
| SAS controller
| PKA0:
|-
| PT
| TU81 Magnetic Tape (VAX)
|
|-
| PU
| UDA-50 (VAX)
|
|-
| RT
| DECnet (remote) terminal (created with the [[SET HOST]] command)
|
|-
| SE
| ACPI system event
| SEA0:
|-
| T
| Terminal
| TNA0:
|-
| TT
| Interactive Terminal on DZ11 (VAX)
|
|-
| TX
| Interactive Terminal on DMF32, DMZ32, DHU11, or DMB32 (VAX)
|
|-
| VT
| Virtual Terminal
|
|-
| XA
| DR11–W General-Purpose DMA Interface (VAX)
|
|-
| XD
| DMP–11 Synchronous Communications Line
|
|-
| XF
| DR32 Interface Adapter (VAX)
|
|-
| XG
| DMF32 Synchronous Communications Line
|
|-
| XI
| DR Interface on DMF32
|
|-
| XJ
| DUP11 Synchronous Communications Line
|
|-
| XM
| DMC11 Synchronous Communications Line
|
|-
| XQ
| Ethernet card (DELQA-T (M7516-YM), DELQA (M7516) and DEQNA (M7504) Q-bus Ethernet cards)
|
|-
| XU
| Ethernet card (Digital's DEUNA (M7792/M7793) and DELUA (M7521) Unibus Ethernet cards)
|
|}

==Controller Designation==
The third letter represents controller designation (in the order detected by hardware): A - first controller, B - second controller, etc. Pseudo-controllers and indirect controllers (shadow, SAN) always use A.

==Unit Number==
SCSI disks often have unit numbers that are multiples of 100: DKA100:, DKA200:, DKA300 etc.
For tapes on parallel SCSI, the device name of a directly attached tape implies the physical location of the device; for example, MKB301 resides on bus B, SCSI target ID 3, and LUN 1. Such a naming scheme does not scale well for Fibre Channel configurations, in which the number of targets or nodes can be very large.