IBM Z–compatible operating systems supported as guests of z/VM

This topic provides information about the IBM Z®–compatible operating systems supported as guests of current z/VM® releases.

In general, an operating system is supported as a guest of z/VM only where support has been announced for that operating system to run on the server. For example, if an operating system is not supported to run in a LINUX only LPAR, that operating system is not supported as a guest of z/VM running in a LINUX only LPAR.

This topic is not intended to completely cover the complex issues involved in hardware support. For server considerations, see IBM servers supported by z/VM.

The following general notes apply to the support matrix:

End of Service (EoS) or Withdrawal from Marketing

z/VM 6.2 achieved EoS on June 30, 2017.
z/VM 5.4 and 6.3 achieved EoS on December 31, 2017.
z/VM 6.4 achieved EoS on March 31, 2021.
z/VM 7.1 achieved EoS on March 31, 2023.
z/VM 7.2 achieved EoS on March 31, 2025.
z/VM 7.3 EoS has been announced; effective April 30, 2027.

z/VM releases no longer supported have been removed from the matrix.

Table 1. Guest support
Guest of z/VM 7.4 or 7.3 host	Support notes
Linux® on IBM Z	Tested platforms for Linux shows IBM® tested and supported Linux environments on IBM servers. A supported Linux distribution is also supported as a guest of z/VM if the z/VM release supports that server.
z/OS® V2.1 or later	Exploitation of hardware function by z/OS might require specific levels of z/VM. For details, see z/OS: Planning for Installation, GA22-7504. z/VM supports only virtual coupling. Exploiting zCX in a z/OS virtual machine (zCX on z/OS as a guest of z/VM, similar to "second-level") is functionally supported but is intended only for testing purposes for the guest z/OS system and its zCX containers. Performance of the containerized applications will not compare favorably to what would be achieved running those workloads on native z/OS.
z/TPF V1.1	z/TPF is supported as a guest of z/VM in environments where TPF-specific server and DASD control unit RPQs are not required. Use of the Emulation Program for 37xx communication controllers is not supported. z/VM System Recovery Boost support benefits the z/TPF guest environment when running on IBM z15® and later servers.
21CS VSEⁿ 6.3 or later	z/VSE® has achieved end of life and has been replaced by 21CS VSEⁿ. Support for 21CS VSEⁿ is provided by 21CS. For more information, see 21CS website. z/VM System Recovery Boost support benefits the 21CS VSEⁿ guest environment when running on IBM z15 and later servers.
z/VM	Running z/VM in a virtual machine (z/VM as a guest of z/VM, also known as second-level) is functionally supported but is intended only for testing purposes for the second-level z/VM system and its guests (called third-level guests). Performance of the third-level guests will not compare favorably to what would be achieved running those guest workloads second-level. z/VM Guest Coupling Simulation is not supported in the z/VM guest.