Ubuntu 20.10 released

Ubuntu Server 20.10 is out!
It ships

• Linux kernel 5.8
• QEMU v5.0
• libvirt v6.6

See the release notes here, and the blog entry at canonical with Z-specific highlights here.

IBM Cloud Infrastructure Center adds Support for Red Hat KVM

The latest release of IBM Cloud Infrastructure Center 1.1.2 adds support for Red Hat KVM on IBM Z and LinuxONE.

IBM Cloud Infrastructure Center is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) management solution that provides on-premise cloud deployments of Linux virtual machines on IBM Z and LinuxONE.
As a component of the Z Hybrid Cloud solution stack, Cloud Infrastructure Center delivers simplified IaaS management across compute, network, and storage resources, making virtual infrastructure ready to be consumed by PaaS layer solutions.
Among others, version 1.1.2 provides new capabilities, including cloud deployments for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machines (KVM).

See here for the official announcement, and here for a blog entry with further details.

Webinar: KVM Network Performance - Best Practices and Tuning Recommendations

Abstract
Join us for this webinar session to get an overview of the different networking configuration choices running KVM guests on the IBM Z platforms and details to setup and capabilities. It also provides tuning recommendations for the KVM host and KVM guest environment to achieve greater network performance.

Speaker
Dr. Jürgen Dölle, Linux on IBM Z Performance Evaluation

Registration
Register here. You can check the system requirements here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Replay & Archive
All sessions are recorded. For the archive as well as a replay and handout of this session and all previous webcasts see here.

QEMU v5.1 released

QEMU v5.1 is out. Here are the highlights from a KVM on Z perspective:

• Secure Guest support
• vfio-ccw: Various enhancements
• DASD IPL via vfio-ccw is now fully functional (requires Linux kernel 5.8)
  

For further details, see the Release Notes.

KVM on IBM Z at Virtual SHARE

Don't miss our session dedicated to Secure Execution at this year's virtual SHARE:

Protecting Data In-use With Secure Execution, presented by Reinhard Bündgen, 3:50 PM - 4:35 PM EST on Tuesday, August 4.

RHEL providing unlimited KVM Guests on IBM Z

Red Hat has announced a new offering for IBM Z and LinuxONE here.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM Z with premium support also includes

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Extended Update Support add-on (new)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux High Availability add-on (new)
• Red Hat Smart Management (new)
• Red Hat Insights (new)
• Unlimited virtual guests (KVM)

QEMU v5.0 released

QEMU v5.0 is out. For highlights from a KVM on Z perspective see the Release Notes.