Continuity in Computing

Avanti & FreeAXP Download

(V5.1.0.726 - October 1, 2026)

Because of  significant changes in how Avanti is licensed, Avanti and AvantiFlex 4.0 customers should contact us before upgrading.

Avanti Links

Avanti Success Stories

Technical Articles

Avanti Virtual Alpha

Avanti™ replaces legacy Digital, Compaq, and HP Alpha hardware with the virtual hardware hosted under 64-bit Microsoft Windows. OpenVMS and Tru64 UNIX applications are fully virtualized with no changes to the legacy applications. Source code is not necessary. Recompiles are not required. Avanti improves the reliability of legacy Alpha installations while reducing their operating costs.

Avanti licensing is based on a license units concept, where different emulator features require license units. Some configurations do not require license units, and can therefore be run for free (these configurations were formerly knows as FreeAXP).

Alpha Virtualization Advantages

  • Virtualize OpenVMS, Digital UNIX, and Tru64 UNIX environments
  • Quick deployment: Three to five day implementation
  • High ROI: Preservation of investment in software & vested employee knowledge
  • Professional services: We have been supporting Alpha systems since 1992.
  • Power Management: Auto-Idle feature reduces host CPU and power utilization when virtual Alpha is idle.
  • Multiple instances supported on a single host
  • Modern hardware: Improves reliability, performance & efficiency
  • No change in operation or user environments
  • Binary compatibility: Application source code not required
  • More space: Enlarge existing disks and add more disks
  • VM support: VMware & vMotion, Microsoft Hyper-V, Oracle VirtualBox, Apple Boot Camp, etc.
  • Lower operating costs with a smaller data center footprint
  • Improved integration with Microsoft 64-bit Windows O/S.

Virtual Machines

Hosted on Microsoft Windows, Avanti is fully supported in virtual environments like VMware, Hyper-V, VirtualBox, and others. VMware vMotion is also supported, further improving application reliability.

Turnkey Ports

Migration Specialties offers onsite and remote turnkey porting services. Turnkey services include system configuration, software porting, installation, and testing support. Decades of experience make our porting services fast and efficient.

Porting to Avanti

Porting Alpha applications to Avanti is similar to porting them to new Alpha hardware. The following six steps outline an Avanti port:

  1. Configure Avanti to match the legacy Alpha hardware.
  2. Install the base OpenVMS or Tru64 UNIX O/S.
  3. Backup the legacy Alpha disks to the Avanti system.
  4. Restore the legacy system disks on the Avanti system.
  5. Boot the legacy system under Avanti and adjust network parameters.
  6. Shut down the legacy Alpha hardware.

Avanti Trivia

Avanti creates a virtual Alpha environment that is indistinguishable from a real Alpha. The emulated Alpha environment is so accurate that it can be forced to bug check like a genuine Alpha.

Obtaining a Quote

To obtain an OpenVMS Avanti porting quote, download and run our VMS_INFO.COM procedure. Tru64 UNIX users can run the built in sys_check tool*. E-mail the results to Migration Specialties for review. All customer data is treated as confidential.

If you would like additional information concerning Alpha upgrades via virtualization, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. See our OpenVMS and Tru64 UNIX Porting Services page for other Alpha replacement options.

*sys_check should be present on a Tru64 UNIX system by default. If not, use one of the following links to obtain a copy.

Tru64 Tip: Running sys_check

Sys_check must be run by the root login (as id 0). Running from non-root will throw various errors and only provide a partial output. Recent version of sys_check will not run at all unless they are run by root.

Use these steps to run sys_check:

# cd /var/tmp
# sys_check -all > sys.html

Depending upon the Alpha system being checked, sys_check may run for up to 40 minutes. Zip the resulting sys.html file and send it to us.

Avanti Products

Avanti products can be purchased directly from Migration Specialties Europe

Avanti™

Avanti is a commercial virtual Alpha solution designed to support demanding Alpha replacements. Avanti can replace low end Alpha hardware outright and high end Alpha hardware where performance is not a critical factor. Avanti can replace systems running OpenVMS 6.2 thru 8.4 and Tru64 UNIX V3.2C thru V5.1B-6/Pk8.

Avanti License Unit Utilization

The free Avanti base package includes one CPU supporting the EV4, EV5, and EV6 instruction sets, 128MB memory, one SCSI controller, two NICs, and two virtual serial ports.

To add additional Avanti features, license units are required. Here are two sample Avanti configurations and the license units required to create them. 

Configuration License Units
Virtua Alpha configured with 1GB of memory 20
Virtual Alpha configured with 512 MB of memory (10 units), JIT (60 units), and physical serial ports (10 units) 80

 

Avanti Annual Software Support

Annual support contracts are available, covering 24 hour response, 8 - 5 CET, M - F, telephone, and e-mail support services and product updates. Netherlands holidays excluded.

  • MIM: Make Image. Provided by Enrico Granata, copyright © 2010. MIM is a command line utility that allows quick creation of container files used with virtual VAX and Alpha systems. MIM is intuitive to use. Simply run MIM at the command line to obtain usage instructions.
  • mktape Utility: A utility to create virtual tapes in the SimH vtape format from real tapes using a real SCSI tape drive on a Windows-based system.
  • Tru64 Disks: Provided by John Manger of Caponier Ltd., the following empty disk image files are available for download to support OSF/1 and Tru64 Unix users. These are empty RZ disk images that have been correctly formatted with appropriate Unix disk-labels. They can be used to support authentic DEC RZ-style volumes of the correct size. The canned disks facilitate migrations and early versions of OSF/1 and Tru64.
  • Older versions
  • Third-party notices

"Hardware virtualization saves time and money. Application ports using hardware emulation can be completed in days. Contrast that with application migration, which at best is a matter of months, or application replacement, which can take years."

Virtualization Bonus

In addition to the advantages of replacing legacy hardware, a virtualized system provides a host of new features.

  • Additional disk space
  • Remote hosting
  • Simplified remote backups
  • Portability
  • Quick proto-typing
  • Enhanced training environments
  • Secure testing environments
  • Snapshots

These and other options that were simply impossible with ageing physical equipment become routine in a virtual environment.