Introduction

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This document outlines the migration process of Linux® virtual machines from x86 to Red Hat® OpenShift® Virtualization (RHOCPV) on IBM Z® and IBM® LinuxONE.

The document is written for architects and administrators that want to understand the necessary steps to migrate their system to RHOCPV on IBM Z and IBM LinuxONE. It aims to help understand the specific challenges when migrating between two different architectures.

Note: While this document refers only to IBM Z, all information in it also applies to IBM® LinuxONE.

The guide describes the required steps and maps them to a tangible running example, describing how to move a MongoDB setup from VMware on x86 to RHOCPV on IBM Z. The example is simplified and focuses on the RHOCPV setup. How to use or optimize MongoDB for a specific application is not covered. Today, workload migration between virtual machines from x86 to IBM Z requires you to reinstall virtual machines on the target environment. You need to consider the availability of the software you want to deploy, which can differ between platforms.

The document covers the following steps in the process:

Prerequisites: What do you need to consider before you start the migration process? What kind of information and skills do you need to gather?
Assess the existing environment and map it to the target application: Which steps do you need to take to understand your current deployment and how can you map it to the target environment?
Design the target environment: Which decisions do you need to make and which dependencies to your target environment do you need to document?
Prepare the target environment: How do you prepare the target RHOCPV environment for your deployment?
Prepare the network setup on the target environment: What decisions about the network setup do you need to make? Which options for making services available are there and how do you set them up on RHOCPV on IBM Z?
Install the Linux VMs: How do you use RHOCPV to set up Linux VMs that are suitable for your target workload? How do you configure the application for external access?
Configure additional storage: How can you set up additional storage in RHOCPV and make it available to your application?

To start simple, this guide focuses on a defined migration with:

The source system running RHEL 9 with MongoDB on VMware with external access (SSH).
The target system running RHEL 9 with MongoDB on Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization with external access (SSH).