IBM z/OS Container Extensions zCX

z/OS Container Extensions (zCX), a new entitled capability of z/OS 2.4, ushers in a new era of hybrid computing supporting running Linux applications directly on z/OS.

IBM® z/OS® Container Extensions (IBM zCX) makes it possible to run Linux on IBM Z® applications that are packaged as Docker container images on z/OS. Application developers can develop and data centers can operate popular open source packages, Linux applications, IBM software, and third-party software together with z/OS applications and data.

This class is intended for z/OS system programmers and IT specialists in charge of configuring, implementing and deploying zCX under z/OS 2.4. This class is also intended for Application developers who will deploy docker containers in a zCX z/OS container extensions instance

You should have knowledge equivalent to:

• General z/OS knowledge, including basic UNIX System Services skills
• Basic knowledge of RACF- Basic knowledge of z/OSMF and workflows

After completing this course, participants should be able to:

• Describe the components of z/OS Container Extensions (zCX)
• Plan the resources required to setup zCX
• Configure and implement a zCX instance with z/OSMF workflow
• Start and connect to your zCX instance
• Access your zCX CLI Container and issue Docker commands
• Provision and deploy application container using zCX docker CLI
• Create Docker volumes for data persistence
• Monitor and manage your zCX instance and your containers
• Deploy some use-case applications in zCX containers
• Understand the Security considerations for zCX and containers
• Setup zCX user management and authentication
• Implement clustering and orchestration of zCX instances and container
• Understand how to to Dockerize your Applications for z/OS Container Extensions
• Implement a zCX private secure registry to deploy your own containers
• Position zCX in the world of Hybrid Cloud
• Select workloads for zCX
• Determine which application is a good fit for zCX
• Describe some zCX use cases

• In this course, we will learn the capabilities and benefits of zCX.
• You will plan, configure and implement a zCX instance with z/OSMF workflows
• You will learn how to use z/OSMF to setup and configure zCX
• Create, provision, and deploy a zCX instance
• Use z/OSMF workflows to manage the lifecycle of a zCX instance, deprovision a zCX instance
• Use reconfiguration workflow to increase/decrease resources for zCX instance
• Using zCX Command Line Interface, you will
• Get familiar with the docker CLI
• Explore installing zCX containers within newly provisioned zCX instance
• Provision and deploy application containers using zCX docker CLI commands
• Explore how to cluster zCX applications for higher availability and load balancing
• Operationally control zCX
• Dockerize your Applications for z/OS Container Extensions
• Create Docker volumes for data persistence, monitor and manage your zCX instance and containers
• Implement a zCX private secure registry to deploy your own containers
• Exercises and recorded demos reinforce the concepts and technologies being covered in the lectures