Next in our "IBM i on the Cloud Tips" article series, in this new publication I want to talk about our "IBM i in the Cloud Survival Toolkit".
We know that something is changing when moving to the cloud, and we suspect of the fine print in our service/subscription/contract, but let's prepare for that.
The IBM i is the same we use in our day to day operation, communitanions look the same, so what should I prepare for?
- Say goodbye to your HMC: When working in the Cloud you are not able to control your LPAR from an HMC, you have a nice and polished Web Portal to control all actions with simplified management: One single pane of glass to control your LPAR and its storage, easy to use and "almost" no-brainer.
- Say hello to the Web-5250-Console: I know, it is ugly, it doesn't support cut&paste (yet, I hope), does not support all your keyboard keys and shortcuts, and disconnects after a couple of minutes of idle activity, but is really easy to use. Am I hopeless? No, you can read my previous article on how to open the Web-5250-console from the command-line or set a LAN Console with ACS: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/diegokesselman_ibm-ibmcloud-powervs-activity-7201972290970947585-nsao
- No more physical tapes: Yes, VTL is king , and you can use BRMS to backup to Cloud Object Storage or FTP servers, but cartridges are gone.
- No more physical attachments... kind of: When moving to the cloud you cannot chose the box to host your workload, but there are some tricks, read my article on that: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/diegokesselman_ibm-ibmcloud-ibmpowervs-activity-7238647049460535296-0BvL
- No hands&eyes services. You can ask for support, but forget about "press the button" requests.
You can use the IBM Cloud CLI to create some scripts and help you work as comfortable as you do with your actual on-prem systems. You can use BASH or PowerShell to build
- Console: Web-Console is not the best option, but works when you have no ACS LAN 5250 Console. Just build a script to open 5250-Web-Console and avoid navigating in IBM Cloud portal to press the button. IBM i on Power Virtual Server - Console
- Export LPAR: This could be an alternative to Option 21, and can take up to 2 minutes without powering down your services. IBM i on Power Virtual Servers - Export your instances (LPARs)
- Snapshots: They are great for change management. Take the same time than Exports, but use less storage space.
- IBM Cloud Object Storage: This is not a tool, but an storage bucket service where you can save your backups and temporary files. It is really handy. You can also use for migrations or as a file-sharing bridge to your PCs. Remember, this is more reliable, secure and fast than your usual OneDrive or Google Drive service.
- OpenVPN: You can set an OpenVPN server in PowerVS, it is really fast. Just remember: UDP and some TCP ports are blocked, but you can still use TCP port 443.
- OpenSSH: You can use the same Linux PPC server on PowerVS as a bastion server/jumpserver. Secure the SSH service with rules and Linux firewall, and you will be able to use SSHUTTLE , FreeCap , Proxifier or even SSH tunneling to reach your system while migrating. If you have used the Power Virtual Server Workspace with VPC Landing Zone wizard you will be able to use the VPC VM as a bastion server.
- AWSCLI & S3CMD: You can run both from IBM i or Linux bastion server to upload or download software from IBM Cloud Object Storage.
- ZSTD & PIGZ: both are great data compressors. You can save a lot of time (and money) compressing your files or backups before sending them to IBM Cloud Object Storage.
- VTL: The VTL is an amazing tool you can use to simplify your backups and make them look as your traditional Tape Library.
What are you waiting for? Start building your first IBM i instance in IBM Power Virtual Server!
