Provisioning instances to a Linux on IBM Z environment

After images are created, you can provision z/OS instances from the images to an Linux on IBM Z target environment on the Images page.

To provision an instance to a Linux on IBM Z target environment, complete the following steps:

From the drop-down menu in the TARGET ENVIRONMENT pane, select an Linux on IBM Z environment.
Click Manage instances on the home page, or click the Instances tab on the header, and then click Provision instance.
Enter a unique name that can be used to recognize the instance.
Select an image that you want to provision. If the image has multiple versions, then select a version.
Optional: Enter some notes that can help you identify the instance.
Provide the required credentials of the target environment in one of the following ways:
- Select Credentials, and then enter the user credentials that can access the target environment.
- Select Certificate, and then enter the user ID along with your OpenSSH private key certificate file. If your key file requires a passphrase, enter the passphrase.
  Note: You need to add your public key to the /[home directory]/.ssh/authorized_keys file of the user ID in the target environment.
Optional: Provide the deployment directory.
The deployment directory is the directory where ZVDT stores installation and volume files during the provisioning process. The user must have read and write permissions to perform the provision action, and the directory must contain adequate space to hold all of the image files.
Note: ZVDT will create a subdirectory that is named 'zvdt' inside the deployment directory, and a couple of subdirectories inside 'zvdt'. Make sure that the current user ID has the permission to do that.

After you click Next, the pre-provisioning validation step will automatically check whether the target environment meets the requirements of a provisioning. For more information about the items that will be checked, see items 1 - 8 in Pre-provisioning validation.
To provision an instance that contains data set components, enter the credentials to access the source environment.
The credentials are needed because a more flexible and efficient way is used to restore data sets. ZVDT needs to log in to the source environment to run the job or program.
Note: If you provision an instance from a z/OS® image that requires the credentials, you must enter the initial password of the source environment. However, if you provision an instance from an ADCD image that requires the credentials, you can set the initial password for the user ID 'IBMUSER'. This password will be used when you log in to the provisioned z/OS instance.
Configure the provisioning in one of the following ways:
- Clear the Advanced settings option, and then click Provision instance to start the provisioning.
- Enable the Advanced settings option, and then complete the following optional steps:
  1. Configure the central processors (CPs), integrated information processors (zIIPs), and available system memory size that are allocated to the instance.
    Notes:
    
    The total quantity of CPs and zIIPs cannot be more than 8, and the quantity of zIIPs cannot be greater than the quantity of CPs.
    
    To ensure that the emulator performs well, the total quantity of CPs and zIIPs should be less than the number of real cores on the target environment.
  2. Override the IPL command if you want. Specify the attributes of the device address, IODF address, and LOADxx suffix. Then, click Provision instance.
After you click Provision instance, the pre-provisioning validation will automatically check permission and the capability of the deployment directory. For more information, see items 9 - 11 in Pre-provisioning validation.

You can also monitor and manage the provisioning or provisioned instances on the Instances page. For more information, see Monitoring and managing the provisioned instances.