IBM Brings Containers to z/OS with IBM z/OS Container Platform

Accelerate your transformation with greater portability and agility in a hybrid cloud environment. Build and run containers, natively on z/OS, with IBM® z/OS® Container Platform (zOSCP).

IBM z/OS Container Platform brings native containers to z/OS by delivering container technology that is built to Open Container Initiative (OCI) standards. This includes an open-source container runtime, along with access to container images in the IBM Cloud Registry, in support of z/OS UNIX applications. IBM intends to deliver Kubernetes orchestration* support for the management of IBM z/OS Container Platform, so you can use Kubernetes infrastructure to deploy, scale, and manage your applications, enabling them to fully participate in your enterprise hybrid cloud solution.

You may be asking: “Doesn’t IBM already provide products for running containers on z/OS, such as z/OS Container Extensions (zCX) and zCX Foundation for RedHat OpenShift Container Platform (OCP)?”. The answer is yes, but those technologies are for Linux on Z containers that run in a Linux environment within z/OS. IBM z/OS Container Platform provides industry-standard cloud technologies that enable you to build your z/OS UNIX applications into containers and run them natively on z/OS. You can use z/OS Container Platform to create a secure environment for your teams to develop new applications and experiment with new features. IBM z/OS Container Platform can run on an IBM z14 or higher and z/OS V2.5 or higher.

IBM z/OS Container Platform (zOSCP) allows you to run containerized z/OS UNIX applications. Developers can build applications and consume resources in a self-service model, while in a secure and isolated environment on z/OS. It includes z/OS implementations of the industry-standard tools you need to build, run, and manage container images.

Containers are lightweight, standalone, executable packages of software that include everything needed to run an application.  IBM z/OS Container Platform utilizes industry standard container technology that is built to OCI standards, for building images and running images as containers, natively on z/OS. The container runtime is what enables containers to run on z/OS.

The technologies included with z/OS Container Platform are:  

1. Podman for IBM z/OS - is the open-source tool used to build, manage and run z/OS containers.

2. IBM z/OS for Skopeo - is the open source tool that manages images and interacts with image repositories.

3. Umoci for IBM z/OS - is open source tool that creates and manages container images.

4. IBM z/OS for runC - is the open source container runtime with a low-level command line interface (CLI) for running containers that are compliant with the Open Container Initiative (OCI) specification. 

5. Conmon for IBM z/OS - is an open source monitoring program and communication tool for a single container.

6. Container Networking Interface for z/OS - provides a network fabric for the containers to communicate with each other across the sysplex and for external communications.

Along with z/OS UNIX applications packaged and built for the s390x architecture as container images stored in the IBM Cloud Registry, customers can now build containerized applications and run them natively on z/OS.

IBM z/OS Container Platform provides capabilities that will help accelerate your hybrid cloud transformation. It enables greater portability and agility in a hybrid cloud environment by delivering containers and future Kubernetes orchestration* support for IBM z/OS applications and workloads. This move towards greater portability and agility will be supported by taking advantage of architecture independent standards and technology for container-based development and deployment on z/OS. As this container-based technology is deployed on core systems of record, it will ensure the isolation of environments and other users from the effects of other containers. By providing a container runtime for z/OS, and the orchestration of those containers, users can:

• Increase speed from development to deployment of z/OS-based applications.

• Increase predictability and repeatability across the application lifecycle for z/OS applications.

• Enhance practices across z/OS development, testing, and operations through an ecosystem of open-source container-based tools.

• Establish a common way to build and deploy applications, just as you would do in a distributed environment.

Delivering these capabilities on z/OS can reinforce and further strengthen the focus on hybrid cloud to unlock business value and drive growth for clients. This can be achieved by providing technology that incorporates clients’ core, mission-critical z/OS UNIX applications into a container-based cloud-native strategy.

Learn more about how to get started with IBM z/OS Container Platform by exploring our content solution page.

Learn more about how z/OS Container Platform can benefit your enterprise by visiting our product page.

Stay tuned for future articles to learn more about how z/OS Container Platform can benefit you and your enterprise.

*Please read the Statement of Direction in the z/OS Container Platform release for announce for IBM’s intent to support Kubernetes orchestration.

Casey Shea is an Advisory Content Designer at IBM with over 9 years of design experience. She is the content design lead for the IBM Z Hybrid Cloud content ecosystem and is based in Poughkeepsie, NY. With work spanning multiple project areas, she focuses on providing optimal user experiences through content strategy, design, and product-level writing.

Michael Fitzpatrick is a Senior Technical Staff Member and CPO of the IBM Enterprise Networking Software Group, based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, in the US. Mike has worked in the networking area for over 30 years, with a focus on resiliency, network design, and performance.

Cris Desnoyers is a Product Manager working in the IBM z/OS organization located in Poughkeepsie, NY. With over 30 years of experience, she focuses on strategy and execution plans to deliver products with high business and customer value to market.

Kershaw Mehta is a Senior Technical Staff Member focusing on application modernization based in Poughkeepsie, NY. With over 30 years of experience, he leads a global team that work on core parts of the z/OS operating system.