I am a little bit confused as to where to place the ADCD dasd volume files.

I have downloaded the ADCD compressed dasd files and extracted into a newly created folder. What permissions should be assigned to this folder ?

I did all the setup work logged in as IBMSYS1, and when I tried to decrypt the IPL volume got a permission denied error so I had to move the encrypted file into the HOME folder to accomplish this task. 

This led me thinking that maybe I need to review where the ADCD files should be placed to prevent additional file access issues.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

You might have been created the files under root user id, as follows:

Also, it's recommended to create a group named "zpdt" for the user id ibmsys1, as follows:

groupadd zpdt

usermod ibmsys1 -G zpdt

After that you can change the owner, as follows:

cd /...     <== point to your directory

chgrp ibmsys1:zpdt *

It will be enough in terms of permissions to IPL and operate z/OS.

Here's the dasd volume list after I changed the owner and group attributes:

ibmsys1@ZITO-UBUNTU:/zpool1/os/z22$ ls -l
total 200268991
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov 23 15:26 D2BLZ1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov 23 10:54 d2c521
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov 23 11:08 d2c531
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:10 D2CFG1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 14:06 d2dbar
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 13:28 d2dbc1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 14:06 d2dbc2
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:21 d2dis1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:22 d2dis2
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 13:22 d2inm1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:23 d2kan1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 13:06 d2paga
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 13:01 d2pagb
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 14:03 d2pagc
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:18 d2prd1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:19 d2prd2
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:20 d2prd3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov 22 16:45 D2RES1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 13:39 d2res2
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:12 D2SYS1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:17 d2uss1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  6 17:18 d2uss2
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 10:28 d2w901
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ibmsys1 zpdt 8539292672 Nov  4 13:07 d2w902

Should this work ?

Just wanted to update that z/os was successfully IPL'ed using a starter DEVMAP created by program "create_devmap.pl " from ConfigGuideSample directory. 

I can logon to TSO from a X3270 session inside Linux.

Is z/os setup by default to accept TN3270 connections from remote clients ? what port should be opened in the firewall for this to work ?

Start with trying port 3270 and target the ip address of your Linux install,  for 3270 terminal sessions

Yes, port 3270 seems to work when connecting from another PC on my network to the IP of the Linux machine.

Now, if I want z/os to use a dedicated ethernet adapter on the Linux machine (there are 2 adapters) is that doable ?

Yes, we use it on our internal configuration, but you will need network knowledge to do it. We will not be able to support you on that definitions.

I think I have enough network knowledge.

Is it documented how to set this up ?

Not in zD&T Knowledgecenter.

You will find some additional information from zPDT redbook, chapter 7:  IBM zPDT Guide and Reference System z Personal Development Tool (SG24-8205-02).