Editing OpenVMS (section)

===Port to x86-64===

When VMS Software Inc. (VSI) announced that they had secured the rights to develop the OpenVMS operating system from HP, they also announced their intention to port OpenVMS to the [[x86-64]] architecture.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140731006118/en/VMS-Software-Named-Exclusive-Developer-Future-Versions|title=VMS Software, Inc. Named Exclusive Developer of Future Versions of OpenVMS Operating System.|date=July 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810031139/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140731006118/en/VMS-Software-Named-Exclusive-Developer-Future-Versions#.U-bjA7xxfZt|archive-date=August 10, 2014}}</ref> The porting effort ran concurrently with the establishment of the company, as well as the development of VSI's own Itanium and Alpha releases of OpenVMS V8.4-x.

The x86-64 port is targeted for specific servers from [[Hewlett Packard Enterprise|HPE]] and [[Dell]], as well as certain virtual machine [[hypervisor]]s.<ref name="vms-roadmap-12-2019">{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/pdfs/VSI_Roadmap_20191209.pdf|title=OpenVMS Rolling Roadmap|date=December 2019|publisher=VSI|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610041353/https://vmssoftware.com/pdfs/VSI_Roadmap_20191209.pdf|archive-date=June 10, 2020|url-status=dead|access-date=May 4, 2021}}</ref> Initial support was targeted for [[Kernel-based Virtual Machine|KVM]] and [[VirtualBox]]. Support for [[VMware]] was announced in 2020, and [[Hyper-V]] is being explored as a future target.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/about/v9-qa/|title=VSI V9.0 Q&A|website=VSI|access-date=April 27, 2024}}</ref> In 2021, the x86-64 port was demonstrated running on an [[Intel Atom]]-based [[single-board computer]].<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6AJigJnNs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/3H6AJigJnNs| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=OpenVMS x64 Atom Project|date=June 1, 2021|access-date=June 2, 2021|author=VSI|website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

As with the Alpha and Itanium ports, the x86-64 port made some changes to simplify porting and supporting OpenVMS on the new platform including: replacing the proprietary GEM compiler backend used by the VMS compilers with [[LLVM]],<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTaBkCBYskA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/xTaBkCBYskA| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=2017 LLVM Developers' Meeting: J. Reagan "Porting OpenVMS using LLVM"|website=[[YouTube]]|date=October 31, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> changing the boot process so that OpenVMS is booted from a memory disk,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vmssoftware.com/pdfs/State_of_Port_20170105.pdf|title=State of the Port to x86_64 January 2017.|date=January 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104221854/http://www.vmssoftware.com/pdfs/State_of_Port_20170105.pdf|archive-date=November 4, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> and simulating the four privilege levels of OpenVMS in software since only two of x86-64's privilege levels are usable by OpenVMS.<ref name="swis">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8kcfvJ1Iec |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/U8kcfvJ1Iec| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Re-architecting SWIS for X86-64|date=October 8, 2017|author=Camiel Vanderhoeven|website=[[YouTube]]|access-date=October 21, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The first boot was announced on May 14, 2019. This involved booting OpenVMS on VirtualBox, and successfully running the <code>[[Directory (OpenVMS command)|DIRECTORY]]</code> command.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/about/news/2019-05-14-vms-software-inc-announces-first-boot-on-x86-architecture/|title=VMS Software Inc. Announces First Boot on x86 Architecture|date=May 14, 2019|access-date=May 4, 2021|website=VSI}}</ref> In May 2020, the V9.0 Early Adopter's Kit release was made available to a small number of customers. This consisted of the OpenVMS operating system running in a VirtualBox VM with certain limitations; most significantly, few layered products were available, and code can only be compiled for x86-64 using cross compilers which run on Itanium-based OpenVMS systems.<ref name="9.0 Rollout">{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/docs/may-19-2020-v9.0-rollout-and-beyond.pdf|title=Rollout of V9.0 and Beyond|date=May 19, 2020|access-date=May 4, 2021|website=VSI}}</ref> Following the V9.0 release, VSI released a series of updates on a monthly or bimonthly basis which added additional functionality and hypervisor support. These were designated V9.0-A through V9.0-H.<ref name="state-of-the-port">{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/updates/state-of-the-port/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418211710/https://vmssoftware.com/about/state-of-the-port/|archive-date=April 18, 2021|url-status=dead|title=State of the Port|access-date=April 16, 2021|website=VSI}}</ref> In June 2021, VSI released the V9.1 Field Test, making it available to VSI's customers and partners.<ref name="vms-9.1">{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/about/openvmsv9-1/|title=OpenVMS 9.1|date=June 30, 2021|access-date=June 30, 2021|website=VSI|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630172618/https://vmssoftware.com/about/openvmsv9-1/|archive-date=June 30, 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref> V9.1 shipped as an [[ISO image]] which can be installed onto a variety of hypervisors, and onto [[ProLiant|HPE ProLiant DL380]] servers starting with the V9.1-A release.<ref name="vsi-9.1-A">{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/about/news/2021-09-30-openvms-9/|title=VMS Software Releases OpenVMS V9.1-A|date=September 30, 2021|access-date=September 30, 2021|website=VSI}}</ref>