SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 3 (SLES 12 SP3) released

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SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 2 (SLES 12 SP2) released

On November 8th 2016 eleven months after the last service pack  SUSE has released the latest updated to their flag ship server distribution. SUSE also has a blog post with some more details.

The kernel level for 12.2 is kernel-4.4.21-69.1. This is a jump in the kernel version from the old 3.12 based kernel. It's the same major kernel level that's being used by Canonical for Ubuntu 16.04. And with that kernel a lot of new functionality is delivered. SUSE and IBM worked hard to ensure that for applications it behaves the same.

What's new (details see documentation and release notes):

• The release notes states that SUSE now fully supports MariaDB. They have version 10.0.27 inlcuded
• Networking:
• For OSA the specification of a portname is no longer needed
• Hipersockets can now be bridged to Erhernet
• Layer2 offloads are enabled
• The 10 GbE RoCE card now also supports the DAPL/OFED stack on
• Encryption and security updates
• Glibc has now the first set of SIMD exploitations for z13
• Toolchain module updates
• Full KVM host support - so you can now run SLES12 as a Hypervisor on System z an Linux boxes 
• ....

Here is my usual summary of links to more information:

• Complete SLES 12 documentation
• SLES 12.2 release notes (s390x version)
• z Systems / s390x specific information 
• release notes for High Availability Extensions (z Systems / s390x version)  
• release notes for SDK (z Systems / s390x version)
• SUSE tuning guide updated to SP2
• Whitepaper on SUSE's module concept
• IBM documentation on developerworks
• Docker support statement

(updated 5/2/2017)

KVM for IBM z Systems - version 1.1.1 GA

After the announcement in February, KVM for IBM z Systems 1.1.1  is now generally available. This is the second release, and it is expected that a new update is going to be released every half year.   

Here are a few links for further details:

• Announcement letter 1.1.0, Announcement letter 1.1.1
• Key new features in the 1.1.1 version (see also here)
• Simultaneous multi threading (SMT) support in the host. The guests don't see the difference
• Support for the Vector Facility introduced in z13(s) (SIMD) to accelerate string operations and calculations
• Hypervisor enhancements including support for iSCSI and NFS
• Unattended installation capability of hypervisor for ease of installation
• Includes Kimchi as a Hipervisor GUI (basic for now but already useful)
• Software Development Kit
• Supported in LPARs on zEC12, zBC12, z13 and newer machines (see announcement letter)
• SUSE support statement. They have a separate Web Page for this!
• Documention at the IBM Knowledgecenter and on Developerworks (pdf)
• KVM for IBM z Systems Limits and Configuration Recommendations
• High Availability with KVM for IBM z Systems
• "howto build" for the popular UI virt-manager
• Redbook "Getting Started with KVM for IBM z Systems"
• LSPR numbers for KVM
• Software support (expect this to grow over time)
• SAP application server
• IBM Software Product Compatibility Reports - select KVM for z as the hipervisor

Note: there is already the first fixpack available on Fix Central. When you start, please install the latest fixpack!

If you encounter any problems, please open a PMR with IBM. 

(updated 3/23/2015) 

New whitepaper: "High Availability with KVM for IBM z Systems"

There is a new white paper on IBM Techdocs that covers High Availability aspects for KVM on z.
From the abstract: "This white paper focuses on considerations for setting up a highly-available KVM for IBM z environment hosting your business applications. With IBM’s investments in z Systems reliability, availability and serviceability, z Systems is an excellent platform to host a High Availability KVM for IBM z environment."

KVM for IBM z Systems V1.1.1 and KVM survey

Together with the z13s IBM also announced the next version KVM for IBM z Systems V1.1.1 (search for 1.1.1 in the announcement). It will be available March 18, 2016. Here are some of the enhancements it will offer:

• Simultaneous multi threading (SMT) support in the host. The guests don't see the difference
• Support for the Vector Facility introduced in z13(s) (SIMD) to accelerate string operations and calculations
• Hypervisor enhancements including support for iSCSI and NFS
• Unattended installation capability of hypervisor for ease of installation

As this new product is continue to evolve at a fast pace, IBM has put up a survey for everyone interested to provide their input.

For the popular UI virt-manager a "howto build" is available. 

(updated 2/25/2016)

SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 1 (SLES 12 SP1) released

On December 22nd just in time for Christmas SUSE has released the latest updated to their flag ship server distribution.

The kernel level for 12.1 is kernel-3.12.49-11.1. As one of the top features this distribution is the first one, which allows full exploitation of the z13. And this distribution is so far the only one that's supported by IBM's version of KVM as well as Docker. SUSE has published a nice summary of the the z specific news.
And of course it has many bug fixes. So after the installation be sure to run an update to install the latest fixes from the maintweb. 

Here is my usual summary of links to more information:

• Complete SLES 12 documentation
• SLES 12.1 release notes (s390x version)
• z Systems / s390x specific information 
• release notes for High Availability Extensions (z Systems / s390x version)  
• release notes for SDK (z Systems / s390x version)
• SUSE tuning guide updated to SP1 
• Whitepaper on SUSE's module concept
• IBM documentation on developerworks
• KVM support statement
• Docker support statement

A frequently asked question is about the location of the older libstdc++ libraries that are needed for compatibility with older software products. There are two locations:

• the oldest ones are in a package called compat, that you can install with zypper directly. It has libstdc++-3-libc6.2-2-2.10.0.so and libstdc++-libc6.2-2.so.3
• the libstdc++33 is part of the Legacy Module that SUSE provides. Add it to your repositories with yast2 repositories and then you can install. It contains the libstc++.so.5

(updated 1/20/2016)

KVM for IBM z Systems

KVM 1.1.1 (new version) blog post

After the announcement in August, KVM for IBM z Systems is now generally available.  This takes the open source approach for virtualization to the mainframe. 

Here are a few links for further details:

• Announcement letter
• Supported in LPARs on zEC12, zBC12, z13 and newer machines (see announcement letter)
• Documention at the IBM Knowledgecenter and on Developerworks (pdf) 
• Redbook "Getting Started with KVM for IBM z Systems"
• LSPR numbers for KVM
• SUSE blog entry for the GA
• SUSE support statement for the upcomin SLES 12.1 in another blog entry: "With the next service pack release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z, full support for KVM for IBM z Systems will be provided."
• KVM for IBM z Systems presentation from LinuxCon
• Jens Freimann: Pushing the limits: 1000 guests per host and beyond and the presentation on YouTube
• Software support (expect this to grow over time)
• SAP application server
• IBM Software Product Compatibility Reports - select KVM for z as the hipervisor

If you encounter any problems, please open a PMR with IBM. 

(updated 12/07/2015) 

LinuxCon announcements for Linux on z

Today IBM made some interesting announcements at LinuxCon. I'm going to cover more of the technical stuff in separate posts - this is for the overview.

• Announcement recording on Youtube  
• Open Source & ISV Ecosystem Enablement for LinuxONE and IBM z presentation with quite interesting performance results
• IBM press release
• Ubuntu is coming for the mainframe (Mark Shuttleworth joined Ross Mauri on stage today for this announcement)
• KVM for IBM z Systems
• Linux Foundations announces Open Mainframe Project 
• A cloud for ISVs to test their applications called Linux Test Drive Program
• A community cloud hosted at Marist and Syracuse university
• White paper Delivering Business Agility with Open Source Solutions on IBM LinuxONE and z Systems
• MongoDB support
• MariaDB blog post

(updated 2/12/2015)