With the March 15, 2024 GA, IBM z/OS Container Platform (zOSCP) delivered the infrastructure to build and run containerized z/OS UNIX applications natively on z/OS, see the z/OS Container Platform 1.1 is generally available blog for more information. 

With this delivery, IBM is providing the capability to support a production ready environment for running z/OS containers.  Leveraging industry standard Kubernetes orchestration technology and IBM z/OS Communications Server’s Sysplex Distributor and Dynamic Virtual IP Address (DVIPA) technologies, zOSCP is designed to manage the availability and scalability demands across a Kubernetes cluster and enable the non-disruptive, transparent, dynamic takeover in case of a failure.

A Kubernetes cluster consists of a control plane and one or more worker nodes.  The control plane manages the cluster and worker nodes run containerized applications. The Kubernetes control plane node and worker node implementation on zOSCP consists of:

• z/OS Control Plane appliance (zCPA): a locked down Linux appliance hosting the Kubernetes control plane node components

• kubectl: open-source command line interface to communicate with control plane node to manage deployments

• kubelet: primary interface to the control plane; open-source code that acts as a Kubernetes agent for the node

• cri-o: open-source OCI compliant container runtime for Kubernetes

• crictl: open-source command line interface for the Kubernetes runtime (cri-o)

Build, deploy, run and manage containerized z/OS UNIX applications, leveraging IBM Z Qualities of Service as well as the performance benefits of running in close proximity to IBM Z applications and data.

IBM z/OS Container Platform

• supports traditional z/OS operations management for resource management, networking and security

• provides an industry standard container experience for z/OS that is consistent and familiar to application developers 

• enables containerized z/OS UNIX applications to be seamlessly integrated into your existing DevOps pipeline 

• utilizes Kubernetes open-source technology and IBM networking and load balancing support to provide automatic deployment, scaling and management of containerized applications across a High Availability Kubernetes cluster

Leverage the strengths of IBM Z and the agility of container technology by embracing IBM z/OS Container Platform as part of your digital transformation journey.

To learn more access the following resources:

Product page

Content Solution

IBM Documentation

IBM Brings Containers to z/OS with IBM z/OS Container Platform, Hot Topics Article

Kubernetes Orchestration for IBM z/OS Container Platform, Hot Topic Article 

To stay up to date and be part of the conversation, join the IBM Z & IBM LinuxONE community topic group z/OS Container Platform