The Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform is supported to run on IBM Power servers, including the IBM Power E1050 server. Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform is a container orchestration and management platform that provides a resilient and flexible environment to develop and deploy applications. It extends the open source Kubernetes project to provide an enterprise-grade platform to run and manage workloads by using Linux container technology.
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A Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster is built from a number of nodes, which can run on either physical or virtual machines (VMs). A minimum of three control plane nodes are required to support the cluster management function, and at least two compute nodes are required to provide the capacity to run workloads. During installation, an extra bootstrap node is required to host the files that are required for the installation and initial setup.
The bootstrap and control plane nodes are all based on RHEL CoreOS, which is a minimal immutable container host version of the RHEL distribution that inherits the associated hardware support statements. The compute nodes can run on either RHEL or RHEL CoreOS.
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform is available on a subscription basis, with initial subscriptions and support that are available for 1 year, 3 years, or 5 years. Support is available either directly from Red Hat or from IBM Technical Support Services. Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform subscriptions cover two processor cores each, and they can be stacked to cover more cores.
At the time of announcement, the Power E1050 server supports Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 or later.
When a client orders Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform for Power from IBM, a subscription activation code is published at the IBM ESS website. After you retrieve this code from IBM ESS, use it to establish proof of entitlement and download the software from Red Hat.
For more information about running Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform on IBM Power, see Red Hat OpenShift documentation.
1.7.4 Virtual I/O Server
VIOS is part of the PowerVM Enterprise edition feature. VIOS is software that is installed in a special LPAR, which facilitates the sharing of physical I/O resources between client LPARs within the server. VIOS provides virtual Small Computer Serial Interface (SCSI) target, virtual FC, SEA, and PowerVM Active Memory Sharing capabilities to client LPARs within the system.
The minimum required level of VIOS for the Power E1050 server model is VIOS 3.1.3.21 or later.
IBM regularly updates the VIOS code. For more information, see IBM Fix Central.
1.7.5 Entitled Systems Support
The IBM ESS website is the IBM go-to place to view and manage IBM Power and IBM Storage software and hardware. In general, most products that are offered by IBM Systems that are purchased through IBM Digital Sales representatives or IBM Business Partners are accessed at this website when IBM e-config on Cloud is used.
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The website features the following three main sections:
Ê My Entitled Software: Activities that are related to IBM Power and IBM Storage software, such as downloading licensed, free, and trial software media; placing software update orders; and managing software keys.
Ê My Entitled Hardware: Activities that are related to IBM Power and IBM Storage hardware, such as renewing Update Access Keys (UAKs); buying and using Elastic CoD; assigning or buying credits for new and existing pools in Enterprise Pools 2.0; downloading Storage CoD codes; and managing Hybrid Capacity credits.
Ê My Inventory: Activities that are related to IBM Power and IBM Storage inventory, such as browsing software licenses, software maintenance, and hardware inventory; or managing inventory retrievals by using Base Composer or generating several types of reports.
For initial access and to get more information, see IBM ESS.
Note: A valid registered IBMid is required before a user can sign in to IBM ESS.
1.7.6 Update Access Keys
UAKs are a technology that was introduced with Power8 servers and adapted by the Power9 and Power10 servers. An UAK is an important parameter that is first validated by the system before an update can proceed.
UAKs have two types:
Ê System firmware UAK: This UAK is checked when system firmware updates are applied to the system. The UAK includes an expiration date. System firmware updates contain a release date. When attempting to apply a system firmware update, if the release date for the firmware updates has passed the expiration date for the UAK, the updates are not processed. As UAKs expire, they must be replaced by using either the HMC or the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI) on the service processor.
Ê AIX UAK: This UAK checks for an active Software Maintenance Agreement (SWMA) when updating the AIX OS. The server uses an AIX update that includes the expiration date for the associated SWMA agreement. The server periodically checks and informs the administrator about AIX UAKs that are about to expire, that have expired, or that are missing. The AIX UAK is a CoD code. There is a single AIX UAK per server (not one per LPAR). As the AIX UAK expires, it must be replaced by using either the HMC or ASMI GUI.
By default, newly delivered systems include an UAK that often expires after 3 years. Thereafter, the UAK can be extended every 6 months, but only if an IBM maintenance contract exists. The contract can be verified at the IBM ESS website (see 1.7.5, “Entitled Systems Support” on page 19).
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Figure 1-7 shows an example of viewing the system firmware UAK in the HMC.
Figure 1-7 UAK view from the HMC
Figure 1-8 shows another example of viewing the access key in ASMI.
Figure 1-8 Access key view from the ASMI
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