OpenVMS on Proxmox

This guide walks through running OpenVMS x86_64 v9.2-3 under Proxmox VE natively using the official VSI-provided community image.

Step 1: Apply for the OpenVMS Community License

The first step will be to register for the OpenVMS Community License on the VMS Software website, if you haven’t already done so.

Apply for your free OpenVMS Community License here:  

• VMS Software Community License Registration

Step 2: Download and Extract the Community Archive

Once approved, you’ll receive a download link for X86_V923_community.zip. Download and extract it to obtain:

• X86_V923-community-flat.vmdk
• X86_V923-community.vmdk

Step 3: Create a New Virtual Machine in Proxmox

Connect to the web interface of your Proxmox VE node and click on the Create VM button.

From the Proxmox Create: Virtual Machine dialog, let’s walk through each tab and adjust as necessary:

1. General tab:

• Set a name for the VM (e.g., OpenVMS)
• Note the VM ID: (e.g., 117)

2. OS tab:

• Select Do not use any media
• Set Guest OS Type: to Other (Required)

  

3. System tab:

• Machine: q35 (Required)
• BIOS: OVMF (UEFI) (Required)
• Add EFI Disk: *CHECKED*
• SCSI Controller: VirtIO SCSI (Required)

4. Disks tab:

• Delete all default disks — we’ll import the OpenVMS disk manually.

5. CPU tab:

• Cores: 2 (Suggested)
• Type: host (Required)

6. Memory tab:

• Allocate 8192 MiB (Suggested, as lower values may fail to boot)

7. Network tab:

• Model: Intel E1000 (Required, best supported NIC)
• Bridge & VLAN: adjust to match your environment

8. Review the Confirm tab and click Finish

Step 4: Upload Disk Image to the Proxmox Host

Use scp to upload both .vmdk files to your Proxmox node:

scp X86_V923-community-flat.vmdk root@<proxmox-ip>:/root/
scp X86_V923-community.vmdk root@<proxmox-ip>:/root/

Step 5: Import the VMDK into Proxmox Storage

Now that we have created a virtual machine on our Promox node, we will use the Promox shell to import the disk into the new virtual machine.

qm disk import 117 X86_V923-community.vmdk local-lvm

This creates a volume like local-lvm:vm-117-disk-1.

Step 6: Attach the Disk to the VM

This steps instructs Proxmox to connect the disk to our virtual machine via the SCSI interface.

qm set 117 --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-117-disk-1

Step 7: Add Serial Port

OpenVMS really insists on having a serial console, so we will need to add one to our virtual machine.

From the Hardware tab, click the Add button and select Serial Port.

• Add Serial Port 0 as a Socket

Step 8: Remove CD-ROM (Optional)

As we are using a pre-built disk image, we do not really require a CD/DVD Drive. I suggest removing it unil it is needed.

From the Hardware tab, click on the CD/DVD Drive and click on the Remove button.

Step 9: Disable HPET

Edit the virtual machine config file on the Proxmox host. nano is a simple text editor already installed on Proxmox.

nano /etc/pve/qemu-server/117.conf

Add this line at the top:

args: -machine hpet=off

This avoids timer issues.

Step 10: Set Boot Order

In the VM’s Options tab, set scsi0 as the first boot device.

Done

Start the VM and you should reach the OpenVMS BOOTMGR. From there, you can boot into the installed OS and begin configuration.

To boot OpenVMS, type BOOT DKB0 and press ENTER at the BOOTMGR> prompt.

BOOTMGR> BOOT DKB0

Optional Cleanup

Delete the uploaded .vmdk files once you’re sure everything is working:

rm /root/X86_V923-community*.vmdk

References

• VMS Software Community License Registration (vmssoftware.com)