(title page only)

index of MCRs 1-1814

(never implemented)

(title page only)

(never implemented)

(never implemented)

The present paper is a case history look at the development of the Multics System from a management point of view.

Features of the Multics system programming process lead to high programmer productivity with high software reliability. Other workers' predictions of increasing difficulty of system maintenance with time have not been observed; reasons for this are investigated.

The contents of this MTB outlines a tool intended to be used for the analysis of a Multics address space. This tool, analyze_multics, is intended to replace ol_dump and ifd.

A recent RPQ effort has identified a need to review the operator's console device control module for the purposes of providing a means of changing bootload consoles without interrupting user service. During this review several problems were discovered with the device control module, ocdcm_, the most serious causing the processor handling an interrupt from the console to loop, masked, in ring zero until the operation completes. If this operation is a read, the termination status being looped on can take as long as thirty seconds to arrive. The processor, and process, servicing this interrupt are effectively unresponsive for this period. Due to problems such as this it was decided that a complete redesign of ocdcm_ was needed.

After many years of apparent disinterest in computer security, the DoD has established a Computer Security Center. This Center has published a "Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria," and is in the process of evaluating several computer systems. The Criteria set out requirements for functionality, documentation, and configuration management for systems at various levels of security or trust. This MTB briefly describes the evaluation process, and goes on to discuss the results to date of the Multics evaluation, including system changes necessary to reach the B2 level of the Criteria.

This documents the current status of the Multics Security Evaluation.

This MTB describes the plans for attaching and controlling communication between a Multics process and an MCA for performing various functions. These will include reading the current IMU configuration state, reading selected information from one of the two internal IMU diskette devices and performing Integrated Peripheral Controller (IPC) functions (once the IPC has also been attached).

All attachments will be performed by calls through the mca_ gate in ring_1, which will then call rcp_ to perform the actual attachment. No attachment or I/O to MCAs or IPCs will be allowed outside of ring_1. This will force all calls to ioi_ for the I/O operations to be executed from the ring_1 mca programs.

This interface will allow simple and secure access to information contained in the IMU.

This is the third revision of MTB663. This revision defines the security auditing trail, and now reflects the current implementation of the interface. It carries change bars as related to revision 02.

The Criteria requires design documentation that describes how the TCB enforces the security policy of the system, as described in the DTLS. It further requires a complete and accurate description of the interface between the TCB modules and the TCB protection mechanisms. This document identifies an interim plan towards satisfying this requirement. It further describes what needs to be done to completely fulfill the requirements set out by the Criteria. This MTB, in addition to informing the Multics community of its contents, serves as formal notification to the DOD Security Evaluation Team, informing them of Honeywell's plans for both an interim and final plan for Multics design documentation.

This MTB describes the C runtime library as it will be implemented on Multics. It is expected to be a complete list of the runtime library available from System V Release 2.0(1)

Changes within this MTB will be marked with change bars.

Revision 3: Changes include a complete list of the runtime routines to be available with the C compiler.

This MTB addresses the problem of creating packages which are too large to fit into a single object segment but which have large amounts of call traffic between code modules. It proposes a method of creating a multi-segment executable object (Object MSF) which can be treated as a single entity for the purposes of execution, and file system operations. Object MSFs would resolve inter-component links without use of the dynamic linker, and would allow the elimination of external definitions and entrypoints which should remain internal interfaces.

Revision 1: Modified external entry mechanism to enter via component 0 transfer vector; introduced deferred initialization type.

Revision 2: Modified external entry mechanism to have the dynamic linker indirect through partially snapped links to get actual target of definition to remedy problems with non-entry definitions.

Revision 3: Modified to change names and address issues raised by MCRB.

Configuration Management is the management of changes to systems. MTB-713, "MR11 Configuration Management", describes our current procedures for proposing, reviewing, implementing, installing and tracking software changes. MTB-712, "Policy and Procedures for Software Integration", describes procedures for software installation in more detail.

In reviewing these procedures, the Multics B2 Evaluation Team found several shortcomings. This MTB briefly describes the shortcomings, and proposes minor changes to the Multics configuration management process to correct them.

Revision 1 includes enhancements to the history_comment command writeup, marked with change bars.

Revision 2 includes some significant changes to the history_comment command control arguments. The entire command is marked with change bars.

This MTB will supply the specifications for the new Multics Link Editor mentioned in MTB 688 and MTB 691.

Revision 1: Revised ocu_ subroutine interface, and linkage editor command interface.

Revision 2: Revides to change terminology regarding object multisegment files.

This MTB describes the plans for supporting the FIPS disk drives on the Multics File System. The FIPS disk are MSU3380 and MSU3390, these are IBM devices 3380D and 3380E respectively. This plan will allow support of any large disk with the correct format and PSIA hardware interface. The two problems addressed are: disk size too large for volume map, and the performance of the hardware read-alter-rewrite (RAR). These problems are solved by dividing the large disk into "subvolumes" and eliminating 64 word IO to these drives.

This is the first revision, and reflects the results of the proto-type code testing. Also minor problems were found and corrected. This revision has change bars to indicate the changes from the original MTB.

This MTB describes the changes to hardcore required by C to install heap variables.

Revision 1: Changes made in this revision correct the initialization of the stack header and are marked with change bars.

Revision 2: The changes made reflect the comments made on MCR 7395 and MCR 7396. The changes also include the description of list_heap_variables.

Revision 3: The changes made for this revision reflect amendments to MCR 7426 and MCR 7421.

This MTB describes the changes to the command_processor_ and to cu_ required by C in order to obtain the command name for Argv[0].

Revision 3 The changes made reflect the amendments to MCR 7375 (P612).

This MTB describes features to be added to ALM to allow it to be used as an intermediary by various compilers. These features are:

• The addition of a subroutine interface to ALM that will allow language translators to invoke the assembler directly.
• The ability to specify initialization information for external variables.
• Support for a new class of type 5 links called *heap links.
• The ability to generate text section entry sequences that are usable by probe.

This MTB proposes the addition of support to languages for accessing sources that are components of archives. The MTB is intended for language and related utility developers/maintainers. The MTB focusses on (a) adding support for explicit archive component pathnames, (b) defining and adding support for a new implicit archive component pathname convention, and (c) discussing the implications/effects of (a) and (b) on language use of source segments.

This MTB contains documentation for various external subroutine interfaces that are not currently documented in AG93-05. An MCR will follow to include this documentation in the MR 12.0 release of AG93.

This MTB describes the changes required to list_init_ to allow external pointers to be initialized to nonconstant values.

This MTB presents the functional specifications of a Multics Online Work Station Environment (MOWSE) package for Multics and IBM-PC compatibles running MS-DOS.

This document provides an overview of the MOWSE environment and the user interface.

This document provides an overview of the Background File Transfer facility and user interface, which uses the Multics Online Work Station Environment (MOWSE).

This MTB describes a file backup and restore facility for a Personal Computer (PC) using a Multics system as the file storage medium. This facility uses the Multics Online Work Station Environment (MOWSE).

This MTB presents an overview of the features and tentative design of the keyboard/screen manager for use on a MOWSE work- station.

This MTB describes the Bootload Multics (BCE) version of the physical volume save/restore. This is part of the continuing enhancement of the BCE command set to pickup those BOS functions that are still required now that BOS is being phased out.

This MTB only deals with saving/restoring to/from tape. Disk to disk copying is done by using the BCE copy_disk command, written by Keith Loepere and not covered by this MTB.

This is the first revision of MTB745. It reflects changes made thus far in the design. Also contained in this version is a documentation appendix with several sub-sections, containing the subsystem info segments and the others describing the documentation changes required to the manuals.

This MTB describes new software and Answering Service changes to support charging processes for DSA usage. Central to these changes is a new subroutine network_accounting_ and a table >sc1>network_accounting_table, managed via vfile_, that records current process use of DSA channels.

This revision adds another entry to the Answering Service accounting entrypoints which will be used to initialize network accounting on system bootload.

Interference between the current warn facility (blast messages) and the video system makes it necessary to redesign the mechanism used by the Answering Service "blast" interface. This change, in turn, makes it also necessary to redesign the bump-for-inactivity feature that logs users out for inactivity.

An overview of the new Multics Networking Architecture (MNA) is presented. This includes an overview of the changes to be made for the user interface, changes to the administrative system, and internal Multics support changes. This is meant to be an introduction to the networking architecture and its terminology and serves as a prerequisite for understanding future MTBs.

A new type of IPC event channel is described, the asynchronous event call channel. The handlers for these new channels can be invoked whether or not the owning process is blocked. A new interface is also described for creating event channels.

This MTB proposes changes to Message Coordinator (MC) software to support DSA channels. There are two major sets of changes. The bulk of the change is the introduction of virtual channels. Several MC commands must be modified to recognize and operate on virtual channels. The smaller changes involves creation of pending entries in the mc_anstbl.

Virtual channels are accessed through the use of "-operator" and "-virtual_channel <virtual channel name>" control arguments to the "login" pre-access command. Only the login_server is made to accept these control arguments, thus they are only available through DSA connections. MTB-751, The MNA Answering Service Modifications, and MTB-752, Network Login Servers, may be referenced for more details in this area.

This MTB describes proposed changes to the Answering Service to accommodate the Multics Networking Architecture (MNA). Under the new architecture, the responsibility of managing communications channels is removed from the Initializer process and delegated to a set of Login Server processes. The Initializer retains the function of the Identification and Authentication (I&A) of user requests to access Multics, as well as such functions as process manipulation. This MTB documents the new and changed Initializer process software which supports the MNA. In particular, the Answering Service support of the Login Server processes is described in detail.

This MTB describes the design for a type of process that functions as a "login server" for a particular set of network endpoints. Such a process has ultimate control of all the connections to those endpoints, engages in all pre-access dialogue, and assigns the connections to user processes as appropriate. This relieves the Initializer process of the necessity of learning how to communicate with each network as it comes along; the functions of user validation and process creation, which must continue to be performed by the Initializer, are separated from those of communications channel management. A protocol has been developed for communication between the Initializer and the login servers, so that the servers can request the creation of processes, find out process IDs, be notified of process terminations in order to clean up all connections, etc.

The login server itself will not be part of the standard Multics system in MR12; it will only be included in the DSA package marketed by Bull. Its implementation, however, requires some modifications to standard system software, and these modifications are planned for MR12. Most notable among them are extensions to are extensions to the answering service and the message coordinator; these modifications are referred to in this MTB, and described in greater detail in MTBs 750 and 751.

This MTB proposes changes to support simple user ring tasking. Control points are sub-process entities whose execution can be interleaved. The proposal includes general descriptions of commands and subroutines to manipulate tasks, and changes to the system to deal with the more complex environment.

This MTB describes a possible new interface to the system routine tssi_ that will be used by languages that access source, object, and listing files. It describes two new entrypoints and an information structure that will be used to access these files.

This document describes the design and implementation of a new subsystem that will provide a user interface to tools necessary to maintain a T&D deckfile. This new subsystem will replace the functionality provided by the existing load_tandd_library command and provide a number of new functions that will aide in the maintaining and updating of the deck file.

A description of the functionality and external interfaces of Multics software to support video mode within the Multics Online WorkStation Environment (MOWSE).

This MTB describes features to be added to the ALM assembler that will be of interest to ALM programmers and those compiler writers who are using ALM as an intermediary. The features will include the ability to:

• position text entry sequences,
• specify more information in text entry sequences,
• create a full or partial symbol table for debugging.

These features will provide the assembler with symbolic debugging information that will be organized into a format known to probe and debug. The information will be supplied to the assembler using two new pseudo operators. These pseudo operators are described in this MTB and will allow the programmer or compiler writer to provide the assembler with information for the symbolic debugging of ALM programs. Note that this document does not describe any mechanism for the explicit specification of statement map information.

Thanks to Ward Anderson who has done most of the work on symbol table support for ALM.

This MTB describes the interface between the Multics Video System and the communications system which is part of the Honeywell Distributed Systems Architecture (DSA) protocols.

This page lists and provides links to the MTBs that have been published since the Multics simulator revived Multics development, beginning in 2016.