Ubuntu 18.04 LTS available for Linux on Z and LinuxONE

z14

Ubuntu 16.04.1 and kernel support map

End of July Canonical released the fix update for their first mainframe release. No new features but a lot of fixes, for Linux on z many installation fixes. If you are using (or planning to use) Ubuntu 16.04 LTS it's time to think about the life cycle.  Here is the support map from Ubuntu Wiki:

Source: Ubuntu Wiki as of 9/5/2016, License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License

My recommendation is the following:

• For production use stay with 16.04.1 stream for the life of the product. Plan for a check point in spring 2018 and check if you need the additional hardware enablement delivered with the 16.04.5 kernel. 
• For development use you probably want the latest kernel anyhow. There 16.04.2-16.04.4 are valid choices. However I'd rather upgrade everything and go with the 16.10, 17.04, 17.10 versions. This will give you the latest versions of all the open source packages as well.

z13 feature exploitation - which distribution levels are required

In this post I'll try to summarize which distribution levels, packages, APARs, PTFs etc are needed to exploit a given z13 (performance) function. I expect this to change over time, so please revisit for updates.

For the virtualization layers I use the label "(guest)" for enablement of guest exploitation. So you need at least the given version of the Hipervisor to exploit a certain function in the guest. Of course you also need the respective guest support.

All version levels in the table are minimum levels.

Feature	Red Hat	SUSE	Ubuntu	z/VM (host)	z/VM (guest)	KVM (host)	KVM (guest)
SMT	7.2	12 SP1	16.04	6.3+		1.1.1
SIMD: kernel support – compiled SIMD apps can run	7.2	12 SP1	16.04		6.3+(3)	1.1.1	1.1.1
z13 tool chain support (compiler, binutils)	tbd	12 SP1	16.04		6.3+		1.1.0
PCI: RoCE 10 Gb Ethernet	7.2(1)	12 SP1	16.04		6.3+
PCI: RoCE 10 Gb OFED stack	7.2(1)		16.04		6.3+
PCI: zEDC Java(4)	7.2(1)	12 SP1	16.04		6.3+
PCI: zEDC zlib preload library	(1)(2)	(2)	16.04		6.3+
-
-
-

(1) fixes coming, maybe in next fix pack
(2) RYO lib from https://github.com/ibm-genwqe/genwqe-user
(3) z/VM APAR VM65733 required
(4) Java 7 SR9FP30, Java 7.1 SR3FP40, Java8 SR3

(updated 9/30/2016)

How to submit requirements for LinuxONE, Linux on z Systems, z/VM and KVM on z Systems

KVM as well as LinuxONE is now part of the " Request for Enhancement (RFE) Community". So as described in my earlier post you can now also submit requirements for LinuxONE and KVM to IBM. To do this open the  community start page and then select  the "Submit" tab.
After entering in your IBM ID, you can fill in your requirement. In the product pull down please select one of:

• Linux on System z
• IBM LinuxONE
• KVM for IBM z Systems
• z/VM

Fill in the other fields as good as you can and then click on submit.

Canonical is handling requirements for the Ubuntu distribution through Launchpad. Open a bug there, put requirement in the title and tag it with s390x.

Red Hat has a defined RFE process for their customers. So after logging into RHN follow the instructions to submit a request.

SUSE requirements can be submitted to their sales reps as well as using  the "feedback" button at the bottom of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z web site.

(Updated 6/28/2016)

The Ubuntu Mainframe Cookbook

If you liked the Virtualization Cookbooks for Red Hat and SUSE and you are looking at Ubuntu right now then maybe you are interested in Mike MacIsaac's latest book: The Ubuntu Mainframe Cookbook.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS available for LinuxONE and z Systems

Today Canonical announced the availability of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS including full support for z Systems and LinuxONE. Welcome to the platform!
Besides bringing tons of packages there is a fundamental change in pricing. It's no longer IFL based but rather based on a drawer. See the Ubuntu blog entry below.

Link collection to useful information:

• IBM tested platform site updated with Ubuntu 16.04 (supported  on zEC12 and z13 architectures) 
• Ubuntu Server Certifications for  
• zEC12 & zBC12: LPAR, z/VM guest, KVM guest
• z13 & z13s: LPAR, LPAR & DPM, z/VM guest, KVM guest   
• IBM Ubuntu marketing web site with shiny videos
• IBM sponsored GeekGuide "LinuxONE: the Ubuntu Monster"
• IBM documentation for Ubuntu 16.04
• Posting on the ubuntu-announce mailing list 
• Ubuntu blog entry "Ubuntu 16.04 LTS for IBM LinuxONE and IBM z Systems is now available!" including the new pricing scheme
• Ubuntu 16.04 release notes
• LinuxONE and z Systems known issues
• Ubuntu 16.04 download site
• Ubuntu 16.04 alternative download 
• Ubuntu s390x wiki - the starting point 
• Installation guide

Video "Ubuntu + IBM LinuxONE™ explained by Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical "

(updated 6/5/2016)

IBM Interconnect 2016 news

This week at Interconnect in 2016 there were some good demos that I want to share. In the key note presentation from Ross Mauri "Master Hybrid Cloud, Defend Against Cyber Threats with IBM z Systems and IBM LinuxONE"

there are some interesting demonstrations: the "shopping experience" demo for LinuxONE starts at 25:15 and blockchain demo for LinuxONE starts at 51:22.

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)