PowerVM™ Lx86 supports the installation and running of most
32-bit x86 Linux® applications on any System p™ model with
POWER5™, POWER5+™ or POWER6™ technology, or IBM
BladeCenter® JS20, JS21, or JS22 servers. It creates an x86 Linux application
environment running on POWER™ processor-based systems by dynamically
translating x86 instructions to Power Architecture™ instructions. The
System p advantages for your x86 Linux applications include: performance and
scalability; improved service quality through availability and security features;
and optimized use of processor, memory, disk, and network resources with optional
IBM Virtualization technology available on some systems.
During its previous open beta, this product was known as IBM System p Application
Virtual Environment for x86 Linux.
Following a successful open beta program, PowerVM Lx86 is now generally available
to customers and independent software vendors (ISVs). For
a demo,
check out our
short video on YouTube.
You can get
IBM support for PowerVM x86
, or you can join an open
forum
to exchange information with other users and IBM.
To access the PowerVM Lx86 feature on your System p or POWER
processor-based blade server, decide whether you will be downloading the code or
whether you will be requesting a Virtual Loaner Program (VLP) session if you are
an ISV. If you want to download the code,
check your system configuration to ensure that PowerVM Lx86
supports it.
Accept the online agreement
and download the code.
Intrigued? Want to learn more?
For ISVs and IBM Business Partners
ISVs can also use the Virtual Loaner Program (VLP),
which provides System p partitions with PowerVM Lx86 installed, ready for your
remote access. VLP usage requires PartnerWorld membership and login, as well as a
one-time usage agreement.
Accept the online agreement
and then use the promotion code for the VLP request form, where you will be asked
to select from various partition configurations of processors, memory, and disk.
PowerVM Lx86 runs on Red Hat version 4 with update 4 or later and Novell/SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server 9 with Service Pack 3 and 10 or later. If you have not
participated in the VLP before, you will be asked to accept its usage agreement
also.
PowerVM Lx86 is supported on POWER 5, POWER 5+, and POWER 6 systems.
PowerVM Lx86 is supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.4 and
later, Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 SP3 and later, and Novell SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server 10 and later. You should use either the same OS version or one
service pack earlier in the PowerVM Lx86 Intel environment that is running on the
POWER system.
PowerVM Lx86 runs most x86 Linux applications except those that:
- Directly access hardware devices (such as 3D graphics adapters)
- Require unique kernel modules not available for POWER systems
- Use instructions outside of the Intel IA-32 instruction set architecture
SSE2 as defined by the 1997 Intel Architecture Software Developer's Manual
consisting of Basic Architecture (Order Number 243190), Instruction Set
Reference Manual (Order Number 243191), and the System Programming Guide
(Order Number 243192), all dated 1997
- Do not run correctly on Red Hat RHEL 4.4 or later, Novell SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server 9.3 or later, or Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 or
SLES 10 SP1
- Require x86 real-mode
Applications that are expected to use PowerVM Lx86 effectively fall into
categories of infrastructure applications, tools and utilities, and end-user apps
from Linux client OSes or other end-user interface applications.
A native port is recommended for transactional or database applications or High
Performance Computing or other floating point-intensive computation. This may
include some graphics and user interface applications as well as traditional HPC
applications.
Java™ applications
should use the most recent
version of the IBM JVM. Java is recommended for one-time use such as installers,
rather than for heavy application use.
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