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 IBM Z mainframe emulator

Silawati Wijayaguna's profile image
Silawati Wijayaguna posted Tue April 08, 2025 09:39 AM

I have a question related to the IBM Z mainframe emulator. How do you install this emulator on your local system? Are there any requirements I need to meet before installation? Will this emulator support 3270 terminal emulation? Is it similar to using VMware?

I’m planning to practice more and share the content if possible.

 

Lionel Dyck's profile image
Lionel Dyck IBM Champion posted Tue April 08, 2025 10:04 AM

Can you be more specific on the IBM Z mainframe emulator that you are referring to?  A url would be helpful to know how to fully answer your questions.

SAUL MAURICIO CHAGOLLA HERREJON's profile image
SAUL MAURICIO CHAGOLLA HERREJON posted Tue April 08, 2025 01:28 PM

@Silawati Wijayaguna

Just comment that there is OFFICIALLY only one and that is for workloads: WSim Workload Simulator.

z/OS emulation is not allowed for copyright (example: using Hercules).

That's what I know... I may be wrong....

... If you enroll in IBM courses, they give you the option through Skytap.

Lionel Dyck's profile image
Lionel Dyck IBM Champion posted Tue April 08, 2025 04:14 PM

IBM does offer z emulators that are fully supported - the zPDT for example and the zDNT as well. Those are more for businesses and there isn't a student/hobby version that is reasonably priced.

Silawati Wijayaguna's profile image
Silawati Wijayaguna posted Mon April 28, 2025 11:05 AM

Many thanks for the answer. Yes, I've been using Skytap for now.

SAUL MAURICIO CHAGOLLA HERREJON's profile image
SAUL MAURICIO CHAGOLLA HERREJON posted Mon April 28, 2025 05:06 PM

Excellent :-)

A pleasure to have helped you @Silawati Wijayaguna

Roberto Ibarra's profile image
Roberto Ibarra posted Tue April 29, 2025 01:59 PM

Looks like Skytap is only for “…AIX, IBM i, and Linux on IBM Power, as well as x86 workloads natively…” (https://www.skytap .com/skytap-on-ibm/) so no IBM z (the good old Mainframe) on it, or am I missing something?

Ricardo Bánffy's profile image
Ricardo Bánffy posted Tue April 29, 2025 03:35 PM

Does Skytap emulate mainframes? Last time I read about it, it was for POWER (AIX and IBMi).

There are two other options to emulate s390x (modern mainframe) hardware: QEMU and Hercules. None of these will allow you to legally run modern IBM OSs - The last OS from the z/OS family you can legally run on Hercules is MVS 3.8j, which is ancient, but you might learn a lot of ideas that are useful in more modern environments. Both QEMU and Hercules can run Linux for Z, but, unsurprisingly, it's Linux and you will see very little from mainframe environments in there. Also, don't expect to be able to connect to a Linux box (even an s390x one) with a 3270.

Hercules can do other stuff as well - while IBM won't license you their OSs, you can run other OSs developed for IBM mainframes, such as MUSIC/SP and MTS. Both are very different from anything you can get running on generic hardware, and that's part of the fun.

Silawati Wijayaguna's profile image
Silawati Wijayaguna posted Mon May 05, 2025 10:27 AM
The Skytap platform I've been using comes from IBM Labs, specifically through the free Learn IBM course. For example, you can find it here: learn.ibm.com
 
In this free course, you can use their IBM Remote Lab Platform (IRLP) with the 3270 interface to complete your lab sessions and submit JCL jobs. This will redirect you to Skytap, you can also check if Skytap is up and operational or in maintenance, if it's up you should see all green: Skytap Status. The access provided for these labs is available for 15 days or a total of 80 hours, whichever comes first. If your lab access expires, you will be given a new lab environment the next time you enter the labs.
 
Here are the instructions I found from one of the labs:
 
1.Ensure that you have downloaded the relevant exercise guide.
2.Access the lab using the 'Open Lab' button shown here.
3.Log in with your IBM ID (sign up here if you don't already have one), complete the labs by following the exercise guide, and return to this course.

You can find more detailed instructions and information on the Lab Instructions.

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