IBM United States Announcement 208-010, dated January 29, 2008 IBM PowerVM Lx86 expands the ability of IBM System p and BladeCenter servers to run x86 Linux applications Reference information ............................... 2 At a glance Offering Information ...................................2 Publications ............................................... 3 PowerVM Lx86, a standard feature of all PowerVM Editions, is available Technical information .................................3 at no additional charge to support the installation and running of most Ordering information ..................................5 32-bit Linux on x86 applications1 on any System p model with IBM Terms and conditions ................................ 6 POWER5, POWER5+, or POWER6 technology. PowerVM Lx86: Prices .........................................................7 • Creates a Linux on x86 application environment running on Linux on Order now ..................................................7 System p servers by dynamically translating and mapping Linux on x86 instructions to POWER5, POWER5+, and POWER6 processors • Requires no native porting or application upgrade for supported applications For ordering, contact: Your IBM representative, an IBM Business Partner, or the Americas Call Centers at 800-IBM-CALL Reference: RE001 Overview IBM is offering new and expanded options for POWER5™, POWER5+™, and POWER6™ processor-based System p™ servers so that clients can run x86 Linux™ applications that are not available as a native port on an IBM POWER™ platform running Linux. This enables clients to take advantage of the feature-rich IBM PowerVM Virtualization (formerly called System p Virtualization), high performance, and superb Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) features available with System p and BladeCenter® servers. The PowerVM Lx86 feature expands the capabilities of POWER5, POWER5+, and POWER6 processor-based System p servers and PowerPC® and POWER6 processor-based blade servers to install and run most x86 Linux applications1. This new feature creates a virtual x86 Linux environment that will dynamically translate x86 instructions to POWER instructions and cache them to enhance performance, as well as map Linux on Intel® system calls to Linux on POWER system calls. PowerVM Lx86 allows 32-bit x86 Linux applications1 to easily install and run on System p and BladeCenter JS21 or JS22 servers that are using a Linux operating system. Additionally, some of the key goals of this feature are to help ISVs expand their addressable market to Linux on POWER servers at minimal to no cost by allowing them to run their existing 32-bit x86 Linux applications in a POWER environment. It also helps IBM Business Partners and ISVs provide clients with a more comprehensive application environment. PowerVM Lx86 (formerly available as an Open Beta by the name of System p Application Virtual Environment or System p AVE) is offered as a standard feature of all PowerVM Editions (a set of virtualization products formerly known as Advanced POWER Virtualization or APV), including the PowerVM Standard Edition, the recently announced IBM United States Announcement 208-010 IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 1 PowerVM Enterprise Edition with Live Partition Mobility, and the new PowerVM Express Edition. PowerVM virtualization with the Lx86 feature enables clients to consolidate many x86 Linux applications along with applications written to Power Architecture™ servers running on the Linux or IBM AIX® operating systems, offering the potential to reduce energy costs, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), and improve the flexibility of clients' IT. PowerVM Lx86 is also available for ISVs and developers from the IBM developerWorks™ portal. With this announcement, the Open Beta program will be discontinued. 1 PowerVM Lx86 runs most x86 Linux applications; however, PowerVM Lx86 cannot run certain applications. Refer to the Limitations section for further information. Key prerequisites PowerVM Lx86 for x86 Linux requires: • A System p POWER5, POWER5+, or POWER6 processor-based server or PowerPC processor-based BladeCenter server • One of these operating systems: – Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 4 for POWER – SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9 for POWER – SLES 10 for POWER Planned availability date February 8, 2008 Reference information Refer to 208-011, dated January 29, 2008. Refer to 205-250, dated October 4, 2005, for Virtual I/O Server. Business Partner information If you are a Direct Reseller - System Reseller acquiring products from IBM, you may link directly to Business Partner information for this announcement. A PartnerWorld ID and password are required (use IBM ID). BP Attachment for Announcement Letter 208-010 https://www.ibm.com/partnerworld/mem/sla.jsp?num=208-010 Trademarks POWER5, POWER5+, POWER6, System p, POWER, Power Architecture, and developerWorks are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both. BladeCenter, PowerPC, and AIX are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. Offering Information Product information is available via the Offering Information Web site http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi IBM United States Announcement 208-010 IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 2 Publications Required publications are shipped with this program. The IBM Systems Information Center provides you with a single information center where you can access product documentation for IBM systems hardware, operating systems, and server software. Through a consistent framework, you can efficiently find information and personalize your access. The IBM Systems Information Center is at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems Technical information Hardware requirements: PowerVM Lx86 for x86 Linux™ requires one of these hardware platforms: • System p™ POWER5™, POWER5+™, or POWER6™ processor-based server • BladeCenter® Software requirements: PowerVM Lx86 for x86 Linux requires one of these operating systems: • RHEL 4 for POWER™ Note: RHEL 4.6 for POWER is not supported in this release of PowerVM Lx86. • SLES 9 for POWER • SLES 10 for POWER Note: Components of the x86 versions of these operating systems will be required for PowerVM Lx86 and are available when ordering a Linux operating system distribution from IBM. For clients using SUSE: For all initial orders placed on or after January 29, 2008, the appropriate supply feature for SLES 9 or SLES 10 x86 media kit must be selected. For clients that have existing SLES subscriptions, the required x86 components can be downloaded at http://www.novell.com/reg For clients using RHEL: Existing POWER clients Process: 1. Client has existing, active RHEL for POWER subscription. 2. Client orders one of the PowerVM Editions that comes with the Lx86 feature. 3. Through the Admin and install guide, IBM instructs the client how to download and install the x86 ISOs. 4. Client downloads the ISOs from Red Hat using the POWER registration. The Admin Guide provides instructions on how to accomplish the download. 5. The installation script will gather information needed by Red Hat and requests PowerVM Lx86 upgrade by providing information pertaining to the client's existing RHEL for POWER subscription. 6. Client proceeds with PowerVM Lx86 installation. The installation will handle installing from CDs or from a directory. 7. Red Hat upgrades client's RHEL for POWER subscription to RHEL for POWER + RHEL for x86 (approximately 24-hour turnaround time) and has RHEL for x86 subscription co-terminate with RHEL for POWER subscription. 8. Client can now use the update tools. IBM United States Announcement 208-010 IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 3 Clients purchasing new POWER subscriptions directly from Red Hat Process: 1. Client purchases and registers RHEL for POWER subscription from Red Hat. 2. Client installs RHEL for POWER. 3. Follow same steps as from step 2 above. Clients purchasing new POWER subscriptions from IBM Process: 1. Client orders RHEL for POWER subscription from IBM at time of hardware order. 2. Client can request PowerVM Lx86 physical media by selecting the appropriate supply feature number. 3. IBM will ship RHEL for POWER physical media, PowerVM Lx86 physical media, and RHEL for x86 physical media (appropriate supply feature codes must be selected). 4. Client installs RHEL for POWER. 5. Client proceeds with PowerVM Lx86 installation. 6. Client will register their RHEL for POWER + PowerVM Lx86 subscriptions through Red Hat. Note: A RHEL for POWER + PowerVM Lx86 subscription equals a single subscription and single registration with two entitlements, one entitlement for POWER and one entitlement for x86. Limitations: PowerVM Lx86 runs most x86 Linux applications, but PowerVM Lx86 cannot run applications that: • Directly access hardware (for example, 3D graphics adapters). • Require nonstandard kernel module access or use kernel modules not provided by the Linux on POWER operating system distribution. • Do not use only the Intel® IA-32 instruction set architecture as defined by the 1997 Intel Architecture Software Developer's Manual consisting of Basic