After 47 years, OpenVMS gets a package manager (VSP)!

As of the 18th of February, OpenVMS, known for its stability and high-availability, 47 years old and ported to 4 different CPU architecture, has a package manager!
This article shows you how to use the package manager and talks about a few of its quirks. It’s an early beta version, and you do notice that when using it.
A small list of things I noticed, coming from a Linux (apt/yum/dnf) background:
There seems to be no automatic dependency resolution and the dependencies it does list are incomplete. No update management yet, no removal of packages and no support for your own package repository, only the VSI official one. Service startup or login script changes are not done automatically. Packages with multiple installer files fail and require manual intervention.
It does correctly identify the architectures, has search support and makes it way easier to install software.
The time saved by downloading, manually copying and starting installation is huge, so even this early beta is a very welcome addition to OpenVMS.

VSI describes it in their early version manual like this:

VSP is a package management tool for OpenVMS which uses VMS Service Platform
REST API to manage and install PCSI packages.

OpenVMS VSP Package manager

For example, installing the latest C++ compiler is now as easy as executing
this command:

VSP> DOWNLOAD /INSTALL VSI-X86VMS-CXX-A1001-3_250204-1

(Or it would be if the package manager supported packages with multiple
installers inside it, in this case the main installer and a patch. But
more on that later on.)

Recently I removed all Google Ads from this site due to their invasive tracking, as well as Google Analytics. Please, if you found this content useful, consider a small donation using any of the options below. It means the world to me if you show your appreciation and you’ll help pay the server costs:

GitHub Sponsorship

PCBWay referral link (You get $5, I get $20 after you’ve placed an order)

Digital Ocea referral link ($200 credit for 60 days. Spend $25 after your credit expires and I’ll get $25!)

You can read all my OpenVMS articles here.

I’ve done all my testing on OpenVMS x86 since I have no Itanium hardware to
test on. To follow along with this article, you do need to OpenVMS E9.2-3.
You can either apply to the Ambassador Program,
use the
Hobbyist License Virtual Machine,
or become a paying customer of VSI.

Summary

If you don’t want to read any technical details, here’s a summary.

VSP simplifies package management on OpenVMS, allowing you to search,
download, and install software with simple commands, replacing manual
downloading, extracting and installing software.

Current Features:

• Package search for available software.
• One-command installations.
• Centralized repository access.

Current Limitations:

• No automatic dependency resolution.
• No removal / uninstallation of packages
• Packages with multiple installers fail (e.g. main+patch)
• Lacks update management.
• No support for private repositories.

Future improvements, to match modern package managers (APT, YUM, DNF), VSP
needs:

• Automated dependency handling.
• Update and upgrade capabilities.
• Private repository support.

Though in early beta, VSP is an amazing step forward for efficient OpenVMS
software management.

Lets continue on diving into the fun part.

Installing the OpenVMS Package Manager (VSP)

You need to download this file from the VSI Service Portal:

VSI-X86VMS-VSP-E0100-0-1
File Size:17.24 MB (18 080 118 bytes)
MD5 Checksum:28b1dfc0ee1426981a5f44fc1dd61633

Copy it over to your OpenVMS installation. I’ve got a specific folder for my random stuff:

$ show def
  REMY1$DKA100:[REMY]

$ dir
Directory REMY1$DKA100:[REMY]

VSI-X86VMS-VSP-E0100-0-1^(1^).zip;1     VSI-X86VMS-VSP-E0100-0-1.PCSI$COMPRESSED;1
VSI-X86VMS-VSP-E0100-0-1.PCSI$COMPRESSED_VNC;1

Don’t forget to install SSL 111, SSL3 does not work.

Start the Product Installation:

 PRODUCT INSTALL VSP

The installation failed when I tried it the first with a validation error:

Performing product kit validation of signed kits ...

%PCSI-E-VALFAILED, validation of REMY1$DKA100:[REMY]VSI-X86VMS-VSP-E0100-0-1.PCSI$COMPRESSED;1 failed
-PCSI-E-VSI_TEXT, Verification of signed file failed
error no , text: 02000068:rsa>