Tru64 UNIX
| Company type | Operating system |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Predecessor | Digital UNIX (DEC OSF/1 AXP) |
| Founded | March 1993 (as DEC OSF/1 AXP) |
| Founder | Digital Equipment Corporation |
| Fate | Discontinued |
| Successor | None |
Area served | Alpha instruction set architecture platforms |
| Products | Tru64 UNIX operating system |
| Owner | Hewlett-Packard (final) |
| Parent | Hewlett-Packard (after acquisitions) |
Tru64 UNIX represents a now-obsolete 64-bit UNIX operating system designed for the Alpha instruction set architecture (ISA), presently under the ownership of Hewlett-Packard (HP). Initially created by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and known as Digital UNIX (originally DEC OSF/1 AXP), the system later became part of Compaq's portfolio prior to HP's acquisition.
Unlike DEC’s earlier UNIX variant, Ultrix, which was derived from BSD, Tru64 UNIX is grounded in the OSF/1 operating system. It is distinguished by its foundation on the Mach kernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University, a kernel uncommon in commercial UNIX distributions. Other notable operating systems utilizing Mach include GNU Hurd, NeXTSTEP, MkLinux, and Darwin.
This operating system requires the use of the SRM bootloader, which is specific to Alpha hardware platforms.
DEC OSF/1 AXP
In 1988, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) collaborated with companies such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard to establish the Open Software Foundation (OSF), with the goal of creating OSF/1 as a competitor to System V Release 4. The first OSF/1 Release 1.0 was introduced in January 1992 for MIPS-based DECstation workstations. DEC subsequently adapted OSF/1 for its new 64-bit Alpha processor architecture, releasing DEC OSF/1 AXP version 1.2 in March 1993. This iteration became the primary UNIX environment for Alpha systems. Starting with OSF/1 AXP version 2.0, enhanced compatibility with UNIX System V was incorporated to improve its competitive stance.
Digital UNIX
Beginning with version 3.2 in 1995, DEC rebranded OSF/1 AXP as Digital UNIX to emphasize its adherence to the X/Open Single UNIX Specification standards.
Tru64 UNIX
Following Compaq’s acquisition of DEC in early 1998, Digital UNIX was renamed Tru64 UNIX starting with release 4.0F, underscoring its 64-bit capabilities while downplaying the Digital branding.
In April 1999, Compaq announced that Tru64 UNIX version 5.0 had been successfully executed on Intel's IA-64 simulator; however, this port was abandoned later that year.
A localized Chinese edition called COSIX was jointly produced by Compaq and China National Computer Software & Technology Service Corporation (CS&S), debuting in 1999.
TruCluster Server
Tru64 UNIX introduced a clustering technology named TruCluster Server beginning with version 5.0. This solution offered a cluster-wide filesystem accessible by all nodes, storage areas dedicated to individual members, and an optional quorum disk for cluster management. The cluster implementation employed enhanced symbolic links that included member identifiers and utilized a voting mechanism for cluster formation akin to that found in OpenVMS.
End of Life
After HP acquired Compaq in 2002, initial plans aimed to integrate Tru64 UNIX’s advanced features—such as AdvFS, TruCluster, and LSM—into the HP-UX platform. However, by December 2004, HP revised this approach, choosing instead to implement the Veritas File System, thereby discontinuing Tru64’s proprietary technologies. This strategic shift resulted in workforce reductions among developers maintaining Tru64.
The last maintenance update, version 5.1B-6, was released in October 2010. HP pledged support for Tru64 UNIX through December 31, 2012. Significantly, in 2008 HP contributed the AdvFS filesystem to the open-source community, facilitating wider adoption within Linux environments.
Versions
Below is a list of the releases made available for Alpha AXP systems:
| Version | Approximate Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| DEC OSF/1 1.2 | March 1993 | |
| DEC OSF/1 1.2A | April 1993 | Released exclusively for hardware support |
| DEC OSF/1 1.3 | July 1993 | |
| DEC OSF/1 1.3A | September 1993 | |
| DEC OSF/1 1.3B | November 1993 | Hardware-specific release only |
| DEC OSF/1 2.0 | March 1994 | |
| DEC OSF/1 2.0A | April 1994 | Introduced Logical Storage Manager (LSM) version 1, AdvFS version 1, and ASE version 1 |
| DEC OSF/1 2.0B | May 1994 | Hardware-only update |
| DEC OSF/1 2.1 | July 1994 | |
| DEC OSF/1 3.0 | August 1994 | Added support for Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) |
| DEC OSF/1 3.0A | September 1994 | Included ASE version 1.1 and System V Environment components |
| DEC OSF/1 3.0B | September 1994 | Release dedicated to hardware improvements |
| Digital UNIX 3.2 | February 1995 | |
| Digital UNIX 3.2A | March 1995 | Updated ASE to version 1.2 |
| Digital UNIX 3.2B | May 1995 | Hardware-only release |
| Digital UNIX 3.2C | July 1995 | |
| Digital UNIX 3.2D-1 | January 1996 | Added ASE version 1.3 |
| Digital UNIX 3.2D-2 | January 1996 | Release focused on hardware support |
| Digital UNIX 3.2E | March 1996 | Debuted TruCluster version 1.0 |
| Digital UNIX 4.0 | March 1996 | Default desktop environment set to CDE |
| Digital UNIX 3.2F | June 1996 | |
| Digital UNIX 3.2G | August 1996 | |
| Digital UNIX 4.0A | September 1996 | ASE updated to version 1.4 |
| Digital UNIX 4.0B | December 1996 | Added X/Open-compliant Curses library |
| Digital UNIX 4.0C | April 1997 | |
| Digital UNIX 4.0D | December 1997 | 'Prepared for Y2K; introduced extended UIDs/GIDs, class scheduler, JDK version 1.1.4, and Netscape browser updates |
| Digital UNIX 4.0E | November 1998 | ASE version 1.5; USB device support; AdvFS atomic write data logging; updates to Sendmail and Netscape; ODBC/JDBC compatibility |