Device Name
Device Name refers to identification of peripheral devices on OpenVMS systems and device naming conventions. For DEVICE_NAMING system parameter, see DEVICE_NAMING.
A device name is a string that uniquely identifies a device such as a disk, tape, network controller, terminal etc. on an OpenVMS system.
Contents
Syntax
Parts of an OpenVMS device name include:
- allocation class or node name
- device type
- controller designation
- unit number
The same SCSI disk, DKA300:, could be represented as $1$GKA300:, 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
MUTape Class Driver| Device Type | Meaning | 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 | ||
| 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 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 | |
| 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 | 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.
