SLES 11 SP2 released

More than 21 months after SLES 11 SP1 today SUSE released the SP2 of their enterprise distribution. You can find more information on this release here:

• press release
• release notes (s390x version)
• overview and complete list of new features for the mainframe
• release notes for High Availability Extensions (s390x version) 
• How to upgrade to SLES 11 SP2
• release notes for SDK (s390x version)
• SLES 11 SP2 FAQ for ISVs 
• documentation as large zip file
• hardware certifications for z196, z114, z10 EC, z10 BC, z9 EC, z9 BC  
• kernel level: 3.0.13-0.27
• "Behind the scenes" blog entry 

As more information becomes available I'll update this post. Latest Update 5/18/2012.

Mainframe environments supported by Oracle

Recently there have been a lot of discussions with respect to what environments are supported for Oracle DB on the mainframe. On the Marist zLinux mailing list there is a good reply from a Oracle person. Here are a few more links for reference:

• Supported Virtualization and Partitioning Technologies for Oracle Database and RAC Product Releases
• RAC Technologies Matrix for Linux Platforms

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.8 released

Red Hat has announced the availability of RHEL 5.8. You can find more information on this here:

• Announcement
• Release Notes
• Technical Notes
• Kernel update page including a list of bug fixes 
• kernel level: kernel-2.6.18-308.el5. 

From a mainframe perspective this has been a pure bug fix release. There is one important feature update though. Red Hat included an update to the additional gcc44 package enabling complete z196 support. As a dependency the binutils220 package will be installed as well. With those two packages you can start building binaries targeted for the z196 with the -march=z196 option or at least tune for it with options like -march=z9-109 -mtune=z196.

z196 GA2 feature base support in Linux

The required Linux distribution versions for the base support of new features like OSA Express4 are documented in the announcement letter (pdf). To find it scroll down to the Software requirements section.

Updated Virtualization Cookbook

The virtualization cookbook from Michael MacIsaac, Brad Hinson, Marian Gasparovic received a major updates to cover z/VM 6.2 (including singe system image), RHEL 6.2 and the upcoming SLES11 SP2. All is now in one book and it's even got a cloud touch with a chapter on xCAT. The code examples also received an update.

Linux and VIPA - white papers

In the past month a few questions regarding the use of OSPF and VIPA on Linux have been raised. This is especially important to clients combining z/OS and Linux and System z. So here are a two references to start with:

• Business Continuity for SAP on IBM System z (SC33-8206-05): This book has a comprehensive description of a combined z/OS and Linux solution. VIPA and OSPF is covered in the networking chapter. This is a must read before starting any deployment!
• A Reference Implementation Architecture for Deploying a Highly-Available Networking Infrastructure for Cloud Computing and Virtual Environments using OSPF: This paper provides a reference architecture for networking HA with VIPAs on a Linux and z/VM system together with Tivoli System Automation for Multiplatforms
• Validation of OSPF on IBM Linux on System z at Scale: This paper is an extension to the one above. The focus is on configuration and medium scale up. 
• z/VM Single System Image Cluster Live Guest Relocation with HiperSockets: Exploitation via Dynamic Routing: This paper covers the combination of live mobility and dynamic routing

(updated 9/30/2013)