Prerequisites

Learn about hardware and software requirements for Wazi Image Builder.

Wazi Image Builder can be installed on an x86_64 Linux® system hosted either in a cloud or an on-premise physical or virtual machine. For a complete list of hardware and software requirements, you can generate the report from Software Product Compatibility Reports.

For other prerequisites, see the following details.

Storage server requirements

To install and run Wazi Image Builder, a storage server to host the artifacts, such as z system volumes and metadata must be set up. To transfer volumes images files from the storage server or to the storage server, you must choose SFTP as the transferring method.

  • Disk space
    • At least 14 GB of disk space is needed to install the web server.
    • Sufficient space is needed to hold numerous and potentially large files for extracted IBM® Z volumes.
  • Software requirements
    • A running SFTP server

z/OS system requirements

If you want to set up source environments from either genuine z/OS® on IBM Z® or existing z/OS instances to extract and provision the necessary volumes or data sets, the following z/OS system prerequisites must be met.
  • Supported z/OS versions: V2.4 and V2.5.
  • You must install all the PTFs that are identified with the SMP/E FIXCAT of IBM.TargetSystem-RequiredService.AlternateHypervisors. Installation of all these PTFs must be completed on the z/OS system before you deploy the custom image. For more information, see IBM Fix Category Values and Descriptions.
  • You need to install ZD&T z/OS Extraction Utilities to create components from IBM Z platforms. For more information, see Installing ZD&T z/OS Extraction Utilities.
  • To run the extraction code, the following minimum requirements for the z/OS user ID must be met:
    • For 32-bit Java™, the user ID needs a minimum region of approximately 150 MB.
    • For 64-bit Java, the user ID needs a minimum region of approximately 250 MB.
    The region size can be specified in the OMVS segment (ASSIZEMAX) for remote login, for example, SSH, and for TSO login through the TSO segment (SIZE or MAXSIZE). If OMVS or TSO segments do not limit sizes, global settings might need to be adjusted in the BPXPRMxx member of PARMLIB. These values are only estimates, and your environment might need more, or you might be able to specify less.
    Example
    alu ibmuser OMVS(ASSIZEMAX(262144000))
  • You need to set up the networking for your on-premises z/OS environment and validate the configuration before you create your custom image. For more information, see Setting up networking for on-premises z/OS environment.
  • The TCP/IP profile must contain the following values:
    z/OS IP address
    This value must be defined in either the HOME or INTERFACE statement. Using system symbolic parameters for the IP address is not supported.
    z/OS default route address
    This value must be defined using the BEGINRoutes statement. Using system symbolic parameters for the default route is not supported. Routing configurations via OMPROUTE are also not supported.
  • If you want to extract volumes from z/OS systems, the following requirements are needed.
    Required
    • An SSH server must be running and accessible by the system to run Wazi Image Builder.
    • The SFTP client must be able to connect to the Wazi Image Builder storage server.
    • To use SFTP, Java 1.6 or later versions must be installed, and the PATH needs to be specified in the $HOME/.profile and pointed to the bin directory of the Java installation.
    • Make sure to grant access to each volume that is extracted. For more information, see Creating a volume component.
    • Make sure to grant READ access to DFDSS program ADRDSSU.
    • At least one offline DASD device must be available on the source z/OS system before the system is extracted.
    Optional
    • Configure zEnterprise® Data Compression (zEDC) if it is available. Grant READ access to the resource FPZ.ACCELERATOR.COMPRESSION in SAF class FACILITY to the user ID that is used in the Wazi Image Builder.
    • Grant READ access to resource STGADMIN.ADR.DUMP.CNCURRNT in SAF class FACILITY.
    • To extract on-premise z/OS volumes, the user ID that runs the extraction must have the capability to use substantial CPU time, as this operation might take a considerable amount of time. To prevent potential errors, it is recommended to grant the user ID unlimited CPU time, at least during the extraction process. You can use the TSO OMVS segment to modify a user's maximum CPU time.
      Example
      ALTUSER userid OMVS(CPUTIMEMAX(86400))
  • If you want to extract volumes from an existing z/OS instance, Java must be installed, and the user who creates volume components must have access to Java after login.

Wazi as a Service requirements

When you install the web server, you will be asked to install Terraform® automatically or manually from the Hashicorp Linux Repository. Terraform is required to allow Wazi Image Builder to convert the deployed images for use in IBM Cloud® VPC. You need to have access to the Internet to install Terraform. The Terraform binary will be installed to a path that is already on the OS path.

Make sure that you have an instance of IBM Cloud Object Storage available and have created a bucket in IBM Cloud Object Storage to store your images. For more information, see Granting access to IBM Cloud Object Storage to import images.