Getting started with IBM Terraform Self-Managed for Z and LinuxONE

To learn to use IBM Terraform Self-Managed for Z and LinuxONE (Terraform for Z), you can deploy infrastructure for several common use cases.

IBM Terraform Self-Managed for Z and LinuxONE 1.0.0 (Terraform for Z) supports the following use cases:
  • Deploying and managing IBM z/VM and Red Hat KVM-based Linux virtual machines on IBM Z and LinuxONE
  • Deploying and managing on-demand development and test environments for z/OS

Deploying and managing IBM z/VM and Red Hat KVM-based Linux virtual machines on IBM Z and LinuxONE

For this use case, you need to install only the components of IBM Terraform for Z.

To deploy an IBM z/VM or Red Hat KVM-based Linux virtual machine:
  1. Install and configure the components of IBM Terraform for Z, which includes both Terraform Enterprise and IBM Cloud Infrastructure Center.
  2. Use Terraform Enterprise to:
    1. Write a configuration file in HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) to define the resource configurations for your required infrastructure. The file is declarative, meaning you describe the infrastructure that you want but not how to provision it.
    2. Allow Terraform Enterprise to analyze the file. Terraform Enterprise analyzes both the written configuration and the current state of your infrastructure. It then creates an execution plan describing the required end state from the current state.
    3. Approve the plan for your organization before running it.
    4. Allow Terraform Enterprise to perform the proposed operations, respecting any resource dependencies.
  3. Follow the tutorials in IBM Cloud Infrastructure Center for provisioning a KVM or z/VM. See the Terraform resources for a list of available resources that are supported by IBM Cloud Infrastructure Center.

Deploying and managing on-demand development and test environments for z/OS

For this use case, install IBM Terraform for Z, the On-demand Dev and Test environment for z/OS component of IBM Test Accelerator for Z, and the On-Demand Environments provider.

To deploy an on-demand development and test environment for z/OS:
  1. Install and configure the On-demand Dev and Test environment for z/OS component of IBM Test Accelerator for Z. See the installation instructions.
  2. Before you work with a target resource, ensure that the Linux target environment is properly set up. These prerequisites are essential to enable successful deployments and operations. Although they are covered across the On-demand Dev and Test environment for z/OS component of IBM Test Accelerator for Z for z/OS documentation, they should be reviewed early in the setup process. Key setup requirements include:
  3. Install and configure Terraform Enterprise, which is bundled in IBM Terraform for Z.
  4. Use Terraform Enterprise to:
    1. Write a configuration file in HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) to define the resource configurations for your required infrastructure. The file is declarative, meaning you describe the infrastructure that you want but not how to provision it.
    2. Allow Terraform Enterprise to analyze the file. Terraform Enterprise analyzes both the written configuration and the current state of your infrastructure. It then creates an execution plan describing the required end state from the current state.
    3. Approve the plan for your organization before running it.
    4. Allow Terraform Enterprise to perform the proposed operations, respecting any resource dependencies.
  5. Optional: Apply the required configuration into a CI/CD pipeline for more automation.