8.7. Preparing an installation in a z/VM guest virtual machine

Procedure

1. Log on to the z/VM guest virtual machine chosen for the Linux installation.

2. optional: If your 3270 connection is interrupted and you cannot log in again because the previous session is still active, you can replace the old session with a new one by entering the following command on the z/VM logon screen:

   logon user here

   Replace user with the name of the z/VM guest virtual machine. Depending on whether an external security manager, for example RACF, is used, the logon command might vary.

3. If you are not already running CMS (single-user operating system shipped with z/VM) in your guest, boot it now by entering the command:

   cp ipl cms

4. Be sure not to use CMS disks such as your A disk (often device number 0191) as installation targets. To find out which disks are in use by CMS, use the following query:

   query disk

5. You can use the following CP (z/VM Control Program, which is the z/VM hypervisor) query commands to find out about the device configuration of your z/VM guest virtual machine:

   1. Query the available main memory, which is called storage in 64-bit IBM Z terminology. Your guest should have at least 1 GiB of main memory.

      cp query virtual storage

   2. Query available network devices by type:

      osa

      OSA - CHPID type OSD, real or virtual (VSWITCH or GuestLAN), both in QDIO mode

      hsi

      HiperSockets - CHPID type IQD, real or virtual (GuestLAN type Hipers)

      lcs

      LCS - CHPID type OSE

      For example, to query all of the network device types mentioned above, run:

      cp query virtual osa

   3. Query available DASDs. Only those that are flagged RW for read-write mode can be used as installation targets:

      cp query virtual dasd

   4. Query available FCP devices (vHBAs):

      cp query virtual fcp