This presentation is a foundational deep dive into the ICIC architecture, exploring how it simplifies IaaS management for IBM z/VM and other hypervisors. Focus will be given to recent release cycles, specifically highlighting the high-impact enhancements introduced in the recent General Availability (GA) V1.2.5. Attendees will learn about improved scalability, security hardening, and revamped user interfaces.
"A look at git, a source code management tool from a VMer's perspective. - The world according to CNTRL, AUX and update files. - The journey from file cabinets to being scattered across the globe. - Eek! Waiter, there's a bug in my code, I would like to know how it got there. - Oh.. you already fixed it! - Branches are cheap. - Will the real clone please stand up. - Keeping up with main. - Now where did you say my files are"
Virtualization has always been a strength of the mainframe platform. Today, users can choose between a variety of hypervisor options to run their workloads, including IBM's z/VM, Linux' KVM technology, and Red Hat's OpenShift Virtualization. We will explore the main characteristics and unique capabilities of those solutions, look at our strategy around future development and upcoming enhancements in the virtualization space, and discuss considerations for making an informed choice which hypervisor can best fit your needs.
Channel performance management is rarely as straightforward as it first appears. To further complicate this, the IBM z17 introduces new considerations with the addition of the Network Express Adapter, FICON Express32-4P Adapter, and Data Processing Unit (DPU). This presentation will begin with a brief overview of channels and the z17 channel architecture. It then moves into a deeper exploration of channel performance management , highlighting key components, critical metrics, and important nuances specific to the z17 architecture.
The requirement of "code signing" and related cryptographically supported attestations is growing. Some organizations and environments will not run software which is not cryptographically signed. The ZTRUST project provides a trust anchor for the Z community (z/VM, z/Linux, z/VSE, even z/OS) facilitating code signing and related functions. This talk will introduce the need and illustrate the strong methods available to our community for addressing that need.
Whether implementing hybrid cloud or supporting server consolidation projects, customers are implementing mission critical applications on Linux on IBM Z and LinuxONE. In this session, the speakers will focus on real customer problems and associated solutions with managing this new infrastructure, including monitoring messages, monitoring spool space, sending alerts, feeding data to analytics platforms, automatically fixing a problem, and backing up and recovering critical data.
Some of the greatest innovation has come from a passion. It might be the desire to right a wrong or to help those in need or whatever else drives our hearts. In this session, you'll hear two stories of IBMers who felt a conviction to pursue something that had an impact much bigger than themselves. The stories involve the embracing of the internet and a machine that would save lives.
This session provides an overview of GDPS, IBM's multi-site application availability solution, and how it integrates key availability technologies; including z/OS, z/VM, Linux on Z, LinuxONE systems, and remote disk copy with automation to enhance application availability and strengthen disaster recovery across IBM Z environments. Attendees will learn how GDPS delivers state-of-the-art performance in support of continuous availability, while coordinating recovery for z/OS, z/VM, and Linux workloads. The session also explores how GDPS helps organizations meet regulatory and business continuity requirements by providing robust disaster recovery (DR), high availability (HA), and improved continuity of operations (CO) for mission critical applications. Steven Cook zVM: Beyond the Horizon An update and discussion on the current z/VM focus, strategy, p
The z/VM virtual switch is a powerful option for connecting your virtual machines to an external network. We'll discuss various deployment options, including IEEE VLANs, link aggregation, global VSWITCHes with shared link aggregation port groups, the HiperSocket bridge, and the new support for the Network Express (OSH) adapter. We'll even spend some time talking about how to diagnose problems.
Your mainframe is your most valuable AI asset. Here's how to unlock it. Imagine an Operational Data Fabric (ODF) that provides real time and non-disruptive access to mainframe sources without requiring the data to be moved. The ODF simply makes the data consumable. This Operational Data Fabric doesn't just move raw data — it assembles it into business entities. For example, the ODF pulls together everything the mainframe knows about a Customer, (accounts, transactions, policies, billing history), alongside data from CRM, digital channels, and other systems, and presents it as a unified, governed, real-time data product. This is the "context" that makes the difference between an AI model that hallucinates and one that reasons accurately. Mainframe data has the transactional depth; this ODF gives it the structure. This structure provides AI-readiness without re-architecture. What AI needs is context-enriched, entity-resolved, temporally consistent data — essentially what a human analyst would assemble before making a decision. The ODF automates this assembly at runtime. Your mainframe transaction history becomes immediately usable as AI training context and real-time retrieval augmentation, without touching your mainframe architecture. Come learn more about how we are enabling others to implement this at Enterprise scale!
IBM Z provides cryptographic features to protect your data--and your client's data. Intrigued by the possibilities inherent in IBM Z cryptographic features? Uncertain as to what all these acronyms mean? Confused about which features operate when running under z/VM? Wondering about the basics of guest crypto configuration? Unsure of what to do with all those keys? Scared by the word 'cryptography'? This presentation aims to alleviate fear and uncertainty by explaining the IBM Z cryptographic 'stack': what the features do, how they help, how z/VM virtualizes them, and how a guest can capitalize upon them ... with as few security-related acronyms as possible. New features released in 1Q26 will also be introduced and discussed.
In this session we will show the latest enhancement from 21CS SDB, based on customer/compliance requirements, to support longer that 8 chars passwords when connecting to an IBM DB2 Server outside of VSEn. If there is time, we will be happy to show a demo.
This lab lets you choose from several monitoring, automation and backup/recovery scenarios for z/VM and Linux guests. You can choose from separate hands-on labs using IBM Operations Manager for z/VM or IBM Backup and Restore Manager for z/VM. Lab exercises include viewing and interacting with service machine and Linux guest consoles, taking an action based on a console message, monitoring user IDs for logoff, monitoring spool and page space, and backing up and recovering z/VM data.
In my experiences with network teams, they seem to not understand how IBM z networking (specifically OSA hardware) works. Their reality of having a single physical wire carrying potentially over 100 IP addresses is beyond their "norm". Meanwhile, many IBM z SysProgs do not have mucn experience with TCP/IP (or VTAM, for that matter), which can impede working with the network team to solve connectivity issues. This presentation is a high-level review of TCP/IP v4 addressing and routing, along with common IBM z debugging tools that can be used to provide the networking team with connectivity data. The concepts and tools are common across all IBM Z operating systems, but I will touch on the implementation differences between z/VM, z/OS, VSEn and common Linux implementations.
The open source movement has fundamentally redefined enterprise computing, proving that the traditional mainframe is not only alive but thriving as a modern, agile pillar of business infrastructure. The Open Mainframe Project currently stands as the vendor-neutral home for global community collaboration on the mainframe. This session delivers a comprehensive look into the cutting-edge milestones transforming the enterprise ecosystem today. We will explore the launch of the new Mainframe Infrastructure - a landmark milestone that establishes a clear, governed path to infrastructure access for open source projects worldwide. Attendees will discover how foundational initiatives like Zowe bridge modern DevOps tooling with traditional z/OS environments, and how Open Mainframe Project continues to cultivate the next generation of mainframers through its global mentorships, diversity initiatives, and projects like Mainframe Open Education, Feilong and the Mainframe Software Hub for Linux. Join us to learn how open source collaboration is ensuring longterm sustainability, accelerating delivery, and modernizing the enterprise mainframe for the decade ahead.
When IBM z17 made its debut last year, new chip hardware was been introduced to offload IO and enable faster CP processing. The transition from QDIO to EQDIO is taking place, and the NETH card introduced alongside z17 consolidates adapter hardware. What does all this even mean for YOU and z/VM?
In this session we will talk about the VSEn AI ChatBot that we've been working the past months, specifically trained for VSEn users, to run on your premisses and without needing too costly HW resources.
As the Linux on IBM Z and LinuxONE environments continue to grow, the need for software and solutions to manage these environments also grows. This session focuses on operational monitoring and automated operations across multiple z/VM LPARs, with or without SSI: (1) taking actions on other LPARs based on events on one LPAR, (2) automatically take action based on messages on z/VM service machines, on Linux guest consoles, and/or in Linux syslog data (3) view and interact with live consoles, for both monitoring and debugging purposes (4) monitor and manage spool space (5) send alerts to a central alerting system, such as IBM Netcool/OMNIbus or other systems that accept SNMP traps (6) send e-mails based on console messages, spool usage, etc. (7) automatically archive logging data when a disk approaches full.
Over the past couple of years I have worked on providing CMS with a SSH Server capability. I now have a working PoC that enables a full interactive SSH session or a 'one-shot' command mechanism. In addition, I have worked on providing CMS with a Python implementation (3.10+) which necessitated porting OpenSSL (1.1.1k and 3.6.0) in order to use pip3 to install packages from external repositories. Having Python means web-based tools are available including GUIs that enable tooling and applications to be built and run on CMS. Python is able to deal with files encoded in EBCDIC (IBM-1047) and ASCII (ISO8859-1) as I've developed an ASCII layer to multiple OpenExtension APIs. I am also working on a port of Perl 5.42.2 (the OpenSSL test suite uses Perl to automate its tests). This is in its early stages but I hope to have something to share during this session.
As principal engineer at Sine Nomine Associates, I have been doing Linux on the mainframe since it was a skunkworks project within IBM. I have authored several articles in publications such as Enterprise Technical Journal (and its predecessors) and have presented on z/VM and Linux... Read More →
Brian Hugenbruch is an IBM Z and LinuxONE security expert with more than 20 years in teaching the full security stack for the platform around the world. But what happens when AI generates his slides for him? In a mash-up of technical presenting and PowerPoint karaoke, we're going to find out. This presentation will, in theory at least, cover technical detail regarding the security of our favorite platform, from hardware isolation up to secrets management. (Brian will issue appropriate warnings and corrections if necessary.). At the end, we'll assess how the AI tools (and the associated prompt(s)) performed in creating this deck.
Learn how to rapidly stand up a comprehensive z/VM performance monitoring environment using IBM tools. Beginning with core data collection and the Performance Toolkit, you’ll then enable OMEGAMON for deep system and Linux visibility, and finalize your solution with the z/VM Performance Data Pump for data integration and analytics. Walk away with a clear, repeatable blueprint for operational insight.
Jim Porell is a Rocket Software Director of Solutions Advisors, focusing on pre and post sales technical assistance for System, Storage and Security products from IBM. Prior to joining Rocket, he was an independent consultant and retired IBM Distinguished Engineer. He held various... Read More →
In this session we will show how to use the 21CS Customer Portal as opposed to Box and what features will be available soon. Looking forward for your feedback!
