Deploy WebSphere Automation to OpenShift on IBM Z with version 1.5
I am thrilled to announce WebSphere Automation (WSA) version 1.5 will support deployment of WSA to OpenShift on Linux on IBM Z. For clients who have WebSphere deployments on IBM Z, this support means you can have WebSphere Automation and your WebSphere runtimes all running in the IBM Z ecosystem.
As you probably know, WebSphere Automation already works with WAS and Liberty on all WebSphere supported platforms, including z/OS and Linux on IBM Z. The support announced today enables WebSphere Automation itself to be deployed to OpenShift clusters running on IBM Z (s390x architecture). Support for the s390x architecture has been a common request from WAS for z/OS clients, and we are pleased to make that support available.
Just like WebSphere Automation deployed to x64 platforms, WebSphere Automation deployed to IBM Z will connect to and manage to WAS and Liberty on all WebSphere supported platforms.
Version 1.5 gives you the flexibility to deploy WebSphere Automation to either x64 or IBM Z environments. If you are interested in support of WebSphere Automation deployed to OpenShift on Power (ppc64) platforms, please vote for the RFE!
Additionally, in order to support OpenShift 4.11, we adjusted how the API key used to authenticate the WebSphere Application Server servers and Liberty servers is created. For new version 1.5 installs, this change is completely transparent. For existing installs which are upgrading from version 1.4 to version 1.5 on version of OpenShift 4.10 or lower, there should be no impact as the API key tokens are already generated. When you upgrade to WSA version 1.5, new tokens will be generated so that new servers can be added using those tokens, but existing tokens will continue to work as either token are authorized.
As always you can learn about What’s New in our IBM Docs pages.
A very big thank you to the clients who have worked with us in the early stages of developing this support, and of course to the amazing WebSphere Automation development team who made this accomplishment possible!
As we look forward to capabilities coming in 2023, I will continue to encourage the great feedback we receive from you through our Customer Advisory Board, and through the IBM Ideas! (RFE) portal for WebSphere Automation.