This is a temporary version of the Ubuntu 16.04 Installation Guide specific to IBM z Systems / s390x.
All this information will be incorporated over time into the common installation guides.

Ubuntu Installation Guide

Copyright © 2004 – 2015 the Debian Installer team
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016 Canonical Ltd.
This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Please refer to the license in Appendix F, GNU General Public License.

Abstract

This document contains installation instructions for the Ubuntu 16.04 system (codename "Xenial Xerus"), for the S/390 ("s390x") architecture. It also contains pointers to more information and information on how to make the most of your new Ubuntu system.

Welcome to Ubuntu

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01.html

What is Ubuntu?

Ubuntu is a Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customize and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.

• • Ubuntu will always be free of charge, and there is no extra fee for the "
  • enterprise edition", we make our very best work available to everyone on the same Free terms.
  • Ubuntu includes the very best in translations and accessibility
  • infrastructure that the Free Software community has to offer, to make Ubuntu usable by as many people as possible.
  • Ubuntu is shipped in stable and regular release cycles; a new release will
  • be shipped every six months. You can use the current stable release or the current development release. A release will be supported for 18 months.
  • Ubuntu is entirely committed to the principles of open source software
  • development; we encourage people to use open source software, improve it and pass it on.

Ubuntu is suitable for both desktop and server use. The current Ubuntu release supports Intel x86 (IBM-compatible PC), AMD64 (Hammer), PowerPC (powerpc and ppcel) as well as the s390x (IBM z Systems) architecture.

Ubuntu includes more than 1000 pieces of software, starting with the Linux kernel version 4.4 and GNOME 3.14, and covering every standard application.

Sponsorship by Canonical

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01s01.html#idp47291785464560

What is Debian?

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01s02.html

Ubuntu and Debian

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01s02.html#ubuntu-and-debian

What is GNU/Linux?

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01s03.html

Getting Ubuntu

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01s04.html

Getting the Newest Version of This Document

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/S390X/InstallationGuide

Organization of This Document

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01s06.html

Your Documentation Help is Welcome

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01s07.html

About Copyrights and Software Licenses

https://help.ubuntu.com/16.04/installation-guide/s390x/ch01s08.html

System Requirements

Ubuntu 16.04 supports six major architectures and several variations of each architecture known as "flavors". One other architecture (IBM/Motorola PowerPC) has an unofficial port.

┌───────────────────┬──────────────┬───────────────────────────────┬────────────┐ │  Architecture     │    Ubuntu    │        Subarchitecture        │   Flavor   │ │                   │ Designation  │                               │            │ ├───────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────────────────────┼────────────┤ │Intel x86-based    │i386          │                               │            │ ├───────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────────────────────┼────────────┤ │AMD64 and          │amd64         │                               │            │ │Intel x86_64       │              │                               │            │ ├───────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────────────────────┼────────────┤ │                   │              │multiplatform                  │generic     │ │ARM with hardware  │armhf         ├───────────────────────────────┼────────────┤ │FPU                │              │multiplatform for LPAE-capable │generic-lpae│ │                   │              │systems                        │            │ ├───────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────────────────────┼────────────┤ │64bit ARM          │arm64         │                               │            │ ├───────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────────────────────┼────────────┤ │IBM/Motorola       │powerpc       │PowerMac                       │pmac        │ │PowerPC            │              │                               │            │ ├───────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────────────────────┼────────────┤ │Power Systems      │ppc64el       │IBM POWER8 or newer machines   │            │ ├───────────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────────────────────┼────────────┤ │IBM z/Architecture │s390x         │s390 (31-bit),                 │generic     │ │                   │              │not officially supported       │            │ └───────────────────┴──────────────┴───────────────────────────────┴────────────┘

Supported Architectures

Support for the IBM z Systems and LinuxONE machines or their underlying s390x architecture, is included from the kernel 4.2 development stream. The most current deep technical information about IBM's Linux support can be found at the Linux on z Systems page on developerWorks:
IBM developerWorks - Linux on IBM z Systems
There is also a section at IBM developerWorks dedicated to Ubuntu: IBM developerWorks - Ubuntu
For general Linux on z Systems information the IBM Knowledge Center is a good starting point: IBM Knowledge Center - Linux for IBM z Systems
Whereas the hardware architecture itself is in detail described in this document: z/Architecture Principles of Operation (SA22-7832)

Supported Hardware

This section contains information about what hardware you need to get started with Ubuntu. You will also find links to further information about supported s390x hardware.

IBM z Systems and LinuxONE machine types

PAV and HyperPAV

PAV and HyperPAV are supported transparently, multipathing is not needed in this case to take advantage of these storage system features. Be sure to configure the devices during DASD device selection. The alias devices will not be offered neither for formatting, partitioning nor direct use. See here for more details on PAV and HyperPAV:
IBM HyperPAV Support on z/VM

Multiple Processors

Multiprocessor support -- also called "symmetric multiprocessing" or SMP -- is available for this architecture. Having multiple processors in a computer was originally only an issue for high-end server systems but has become common in recent years nearly everywhere with the introduction of so called "multi-core" processors. These contain two or more processor units, called "cores", in one physical chip.

The standard Ubuntu 16.04 kernel image has been compiled with SMP support. It is also usable on non-SMP systems without problems.

Network Connectivity Hardware

Almost any network interface card (NIC) supported by the s390x Linux kernel should also be supported by the installation system; drivers should normally be loaded automatically.

The list of supported network devices is:

• • OSA-Express in Fast Ethernet (non-QDIO) and QDIO mode

  • HiperSockets • Guest-LANs (z/VM) • vSwitches (z/VM) • RoCE Express (Remote DMA over Converged Ethernet)

Peripherals and Other Hardware

Package installations from XPRAM or tape are not supported. All packages that you want to install need to be available on a DASD, a SCSI LUN, an ISO or DVD (placed at the HMC) or over the network.

Installation Media

This section will help you determine which different media types you can use to install Ubuntu. There is a whole chapter devoted to media, Obtaining System Installation Media, which lists the advantages and disadvantages of each media type. You may want to refer back to this page once you reach that section.

Network

The network can be used during the installation to retrieve files needed for the installation. Whether the network is used or not depends on the installation method you choose and your answers to certain questions that will be asked during the installation. The installation system supports most common types of network connections, either via either HTTP or FTP.

Hard Disk

Booting the installation system directly from a hard disk is another option for many architectures (on System z it is called boot from prepared boot disk). This will require some other operating system to load the installer onto the hard disk. This method is only recommended for special cases when no other installation method is available.

Supported Storage Systems

The Ubuntu installer contains a kernel that is built to maximize the number of systems it runs on. Any storage system supported by the Linux kernel is also supported by the boot system. This means that FBA/SCSI and ECKD/DASD are supported.

Memory and Disk Space Requirements

You must have at least 512MB of main memory (RAM) and 5GB of hard disk space to perform a normal installation. Note that these are fairly minimal numbers. For more realistic figures, see Section 3.4, "Meeting Minimum Hardware Requirements".

Installation on systems with less memory or disk space available may be possible but are not recommended and supported.

Before Installing Ubuntu