IBM Power Virtual Server Level 3 Demonstration Guide

Description	IBM Power Virtual Server Sales Enablement Level 3 Demonstration Guide
Author(s)	Andrew R. Jones (andrewj@us.ibm.com), Deepak C Shetty (deepakcshetty@in.ibm.com)
Repository	https://github.com/IBM/SalesEnablement-PowerVS-L3
Copyright	Copyright © 2025 IBM

Introduction

Welcome to the IBM Power Virtual Server for Technical Sales - Level 3 course and demonstration guide! The goal is to provide IBM and Business Partner technical sellers with the knowledge and tools to perform hands-on demonstrations of IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS).

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. User identifications (IDs) are restricted to specific capabilities. Permission to create or modify PowerVS service instances, virtual machines (instances), networks, images, and so on, is NOT provided. The demonstration guide includes click through demonstrations to cover these functions.

The learning material is divided across distinct parts, each with one or more chapters. To complete the IBM Power Virtual Server for Technical Sales - Level 3 badge requirements, IBM and Business Partner technical sellers must complete each part.

Business Partners must pass an accreditation quiz after completion of the hands-on portion of the course. The quiz consists of multiple-choice questions, with four possible responses (and only one correct answer) for each question.

IBMers must develop and record a Stand & Deliver presentation. This recorded video is intended to simulate delivery of a “live” demo in front of a client. IBMers have the flexibility to define a hypothetical client, the challenges the client has, and the goals they aspire to achieve. Specific criteria that must be demonstrated as part of the Stand & Deliver recordings are provided within the documentation that accompanies the Level 3 course.

Acronyms

The following acronyms are used throughout this demonstration guide:

- Application programming interfaces (APIs)
- Classless inter-domain routing (CIDR)
- Control (ctrl) - The control key on keyboard
- Command (cmd) - The command key on keyboard
- Disaster recovery (DR)
- Gigabyte (GB)
- High availability (HA)
- IBM Cloud Object Storage (COS)
- IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS)
- IBM Technology Zone (TechZone)
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Input/output operations per second (IOPs)
- Internet protocol (IP)
- Operating system (OS)
- Random access memory (RAM)
- Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS)
- Secure Socket Shell (SSH)
- User identification (ID)
- Virtual machine (VM)

Everyone attempting this Level 3 learning plan is encouraged to first complete the IBM Power Systems Virtual Server Sales Foundation Badge (Level 2). This course is not a replacement for the Level 2 content.

IBM: IBM Power Virtual Server Sales Foundation
Business Partners: IBM Power Systems Virtual Server Sales Foundation

Part 1 - Overview ↵

IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) delivers flexible compute capacity for Power-based workloads. PowerVS is integrated with IBM Cloud for on-demand provisioning. PowerVS provides a secure and scalable server virtualization environment. PowerVS is built upon the advanced reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features and leading performance of the Power platform.

This demonstration environment has multiple purposes. First, it is meant to educate technical sellers on (PowerVS) and to hone seller skills to deliver PowerVS demonstrations. Also, the IBM Technology Zone (TechZone) environment, this demonstration guide, and associated click through demos can be re-used for client demonstrations.

The primary goal of this Level 3 is to focus on the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) capability of PowerVS and not on the operating systems that are supported: AIX, IBM i, and Linux, nor the Power hardware.

Parts 1, 2, and 3: learn how the demonstration environment was built, and how to use a "baking show" style demonstration with the IBM Cloud Portal and the provided click through demonstrations. New PowerVS resources are not provisioned as part of this demonstration guide. All resources are pre-provisioned in a shared environment to save time and money.
Part 4: learn how to use the IBM Cloud Portal to manage PowerVS instances.
Part 5: learn how to access the pre-provisioned PowerVS instances by using IBM Cloud Shell.
Parts 6, 7, and 8: learn more about several technical aspects of PowerVS including the PowerVS IBM Cloud command line interface (CLI) plug-in.
Part 9: learn about the recently added features of PowerVS.
Part 10: learn where to find more resources, and how to complete the IBM Power Virtual Server for Technical Sales - Level 3 badge.

Proceed to the next section to reserve the IBM Technology Zone environment.

The steps that follow outline how to reserve access to the pre-provisioned, IBM Technology Zone (ITZ) demonstration environment.

Remember, reserve the demonstration environment in IBM Technology Zone

Reserve an IBM Technology Zone environment ahead of time so that the instance has time to provision.

Open the TechZone hosted PowerVS L3 demonstration environment in browser and click Environments (A).
In the Demonstration Environment tile, click Reserve (A) icon to request for a reservation.
A new browser tab or window will open with a web form for reserving the L3 environment. Navigate to that tab or window and Select Reserve Now (A).
Complete the required fields for the reservation.

a. Provide the instance a unique name (A). For example, 'PowerVS-L3-lab-env'.

b. Set the value of Purpose to Education (B).

c. Write a brief note into the Purpose Description (C) field.

d. Under the Preferred Geography field, select itzadhoc03 - AMERICAS - us-south region - dal13 datacenter (D) (or a closer location if available).

e. Specify the Start Date and Time and End Date and Time (E) for the reservation. The default reservation is for two days. You can extend the reservation for up to an extra four days.
When satisfied, scroll down and accept the terms and conditions (A) and then click Submit (B) to initiate the environment provisioning request.
Wait for IBM Technology Zone to finish provisioning the PowerVS environment. The automation takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes. When ready, an email is sent and the TechZone my reservations page shows a PowerVS tile with the status of Ready. If marked as ready, click Open this environment (A) on the tile to drill down into details of the reservation.

Important

Clicking the PowerVS tile before it is marked as Ready (for example, if it shows as "scheduled" or "provisioning") displays incomplete data. Wait until the environment is Ready before you continue to the next step.
In the reservation details page, locate the User ID field (scroll to the bottom) and record this value. It is needed later. It looks like your email address that was used to request the environment but with a period instead of an at sign (@).
Click Download SSH Private Key (A) (scroll to the bottom of the reservation details page).

This SSH key is used later to access the PowerVS virtual server instances.

Record the file name and location of the downloaded SSH key!

This SSH private key file is used later when accessing virtual machines on PowerVS.
Review the emails received. One is from IBM Cloud with the title Account: You are invited to join an account in IBM Cloud. In the body of the email is a Join Now link. Click the link and Accept the invitation on the IBM Cloud portal.
Note, joining the IBM cloud account associated with the TechZone reservation is a must, otherwise you won't have access to the IBM cloud resources needed to complete the hands-on lab-guide provided in this course.

Troubleshooting in case email is not received

If you do not receive an e-mail, try deleting the existing reservation in TechZone and try creating a new one. If that doesn't work, open a support ticket and include the reservation ID and summarize the problem in your message.

Now that you have an active TechZone reservation, you can proceed. Remember, the default duration of the reservation is 2 days. You can extend the reservation for up to an extra four days. IBMers will need an active reservation to record their stand and deliver, and business partners will want it to complete the short quiz as part of the Level 3 learning plan.

Ended: Part 1 - Overview

Part 2 - Provisioning a PowerVS workspace ↵

The IBM Power servers that are used by IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) are located in IBM data centers. These servers are distinct from the IBM Cloud servers with separate networks and direct-attached storage. While the PowerVS internal networks are fenced, they still offer connectivity options to meet customer requirements, including public internet. This carefully calibrated infrastructure enables PowerVS to maintain key software certifications and support like their on-premises infrastructure, but with the added flexibility and capabilities that come from Cloud.

The IBM Power Virtual Server workspace allows users to quickly create and deploy one or more virtual server instances (that are running either the AIX, IBM i, or Linux operating systems). After a PowerVS virtual server instance (VSI) is provisioned, users get access to the VSI without the need to manage or operate the physical servers. However, users must manage the operating system, software applications, and data. Given that this course is primarily a demonstration of infrastructure as a service, the guide does not delve deeply into the application layer or the day to day administrative tasks. The guide explores the fundamentals of working with PowerVS VSIs using the IBM Cloud Portal and command-line interfaces (CLIs).

It is important to understand the difference in terminology between a PowerVS workspace and a PowerVS instance. Think of the PowerVS workspace as a container for all PowerVS instances at a specific geographic region. A workspace is also similar to a data center. PowerVS instances are virtual machines (VMs). For example, a Cloud account can have multiple PowerVS workspaces: one in Dallas, Texas, and another in Washington, D.C. Each service can contain multiple VSIs (also known as VMs). A workspace must be associated with an IBM Cloud resource group. Resource groups help in grouping resources and assigning permissions. To learn more, refer to Getting Started with IBM Power Virtual Server.

The key parameters for a PowerVS workspace are:

Data center location type and location: Data center location type can be either IBM data center (for PowerVS in IBM Cloud case) or Client location (for PowerVS private cloud case). For the sake of this demonstration, location type IBM data center applies. As of April 2025, PowerVS is colocated with 22 IBM Cloud data centers that are located around the world. Consider choosing the data center location that is located nearest to most users that access the PowerVS workloads.
Workspace name: The PowerVS workspace name appears in the IBM Cloud Portal under the provisioned workspace. Specify a name that is easily understood and recognized.
Resource group: Resource groups are used to organize resources in an IBM Cloud account. Administrative and access rights for all PowerVS resources are associated with the PowerVS workspace and not individual PowerVS instances (VMs). After a PowerVS workspace is assigned to a resource group, the resource group cannot be changed.
Tags can also be specified in the resource group section. Tags are custom labels that aid in organization, identification, and management. There are 2 types of tags:
- User tags: User tags are added to resources or service IDs by an authorized user in the account. Add user tags to your resources to organize, track, and manage costs for related resources. For example, env:dev, env:test tags can be used to identify different development environments.
- Access management tags: Access management tags are used to manage access to resources. They can be created in advance for use in access policies, which grant access to the resources where access management tags are attached. For example, project: lw-wizard, app: poc-app tags can be used to manage access to different projects.
- For more information on tags, refer to this document.
Integrations: When creating a Power Virtual Server workspace, several optional integration options are available to enhance connectivity and functionality. In this demonstration we will leverage the integration of PowerVS with IBM Cloud Monitoring. IBM Cloud Monitoring allows users to gain visibility into the resources (VSIs) in the PowerVS workspace.

Use the click through demonstration to practice provisioning an IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) workspace.

Note: Access to provision a new workspace is not provided in the IBM Technology Zone cloud account. Use this click through demonstration to simulate this activity. Fields that require a text entry (for example workspace name) are pre-populated in the click through demonstration.

Open the following link and then click the play button to begin the demonstration.

Click through demo: Create an IBM Power Virtual Server workspace

Tips for maximizing the click through experience

Follow this click through guide to complete the demonstration. In case of uncertainty regarding the next click, clicking anywhere on the screen will prompt a green highlight box to indicate the next clickable area. For optimal performance, adjust the browser’s zoom percentage to ensure the entire demonstration screen fits within the viewable area.
Click Catalog in the top menu bar.
Click the Search the catalog... field.
Click the Power Virtual Server tile.
Click Create a workspace.
Click the Location type pull-down.
Click IBM data center.
Click the Location pull-down.
Click Washington DC 07 in the list of data centers.
Click Continue.
Click the Name field.
Click the Select resource group pull-down.
Click PowerVS-L3.

Note: Tags can also be added to the service to help grouping, sorting, and applying flexible access policies.
Click Continue.
Click Finish.
Check I agree to the Terms and conditions.
Click Create.

After about a minute, the new PowerVS workspace is ready to be populated with virtual server instances. In the next part of the demonstration guide, learn how to provision a virtual server instance.

Ended: Part 2 - Provisioning a PowerVS workspace

Part 3 - Provisioning a PowerVS instance ↵

IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) is all about deploying and managing virtual server instances (VSIs) running AIX, IBM i, or Linux. A VSI is also referred to as a virtual machines (VM) or a logical partition (LPAR). The key parameters for provisioning a PowerVS VSI are:

Instance name: The PowerVS instance name appears in the IBM Cloud Portal under the list of instances within a service. Specify a name that is easily understood and recognized.
User tags (optional): Tags are custom labels that aid in organization, identification, and management. User tags are added to resources or service IDs by an authorized user in the account. Add user tags to your resources to organize, track, and manage costs for related resources. For example, env:dev, env:test tags can be used to identify different development environments. For more information on tags, refer to this document.
Server placement group: Server placement groups provide control over the host or server on which a new VM is placed. By using server placement groups, high availability solutions can be created within a data center. Apply an affinity or anti-affinity policy to each VM instance within a server placement group. All VMs in a placement group with an affinity policy are started on the same server. All VMs in a placement group with an anti-affinity policy are started on different servers. Learn more about placement groups.
Shared processor pool: Shared processor pools (SPP) can be used to split cores between a set of VSIs and provides a better overall ability to manage processor resources. SPP helps reduce software licensing costs by limiting the number of processors an uncapped partition can use. For more information on SPP, refer to this document.
Virtual server pinning: Virtual server pinning controls the movement of VMs during disasters and other restart events. Learn more about hard and soft pinning here.
SSH key: An SSH public and private key pair is required to access the instance. An SSH key must be created and loaded into the IBM Cloud Portal before an instance can be provisioned. Learn more about using and generating SSH keys here.
Operating system: IBM Power Virtual Server supports Linux, IBM i, and IBM AIX operating systems (OS). Under linux, both RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Suse Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) distributions are supported. With the support of these operating systems you can deploy several applications, including SAP HANA, SAP S/4HANA, and SAP NetWeaver. Clients can also run Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform to accelerate their application modernization efforts by using new cloud-native applications.
IBM provides stock AIX, Linux and IBM i images when creating a Power Virtual Server. However, clients can always bring their own custom AIX, IBM i, or Linux image that is tested and deployed. For more information on supported OSes and Bring your own image options, refer to the below:
- For PowerVS in IBM data center, refer to this document.
- For PowerVS in client location (PowerVS private cloud), refer to this document.
OS image: Users can choose an operating system image from the PowerVS image catalog or users can bring their own image. Each supported OS has a specific set of images in the PowerVS catalog for supported OS versions. Each instance is provisioned with a boot volume that uses the storage tier selected.
Configure for Epic workloads (Applicable for AIX OS only): Clients can configure virtual machine (VM) instance to deploy Epic workloads when they select AIX as their operating system. For more information on configuring a VM for Epic workloads, refer to this document.

What are Epic systems?

Epic Systems, also known simply as Epic, is one of the largest providers of health information technology, used primarily by large U.S. hospitals and health systems to access, organize, store and share electronic medical records. Epic remains one of the largest electronic health record (EHR) vendors in the United States.
Deploy empty virtual server instance: Clients can create or provision a virtual server instance (VM) without any initial boot image volume. VMs without boot volume are helpful in high availability and disaster recovery use cases. A VM can be created without a boot volume and the volume that is cloned or replicated can be attached to a VM to bring the backed-up VM. For more information, refer to this document.
Virtual serial number (VSN) (Applicable for IBM i OS only): A VSN keeps track of installation, support entitlements, and licensing compliance for IBM i software. For more information, refer to this document.
IBM i Licenses (Applicable for IBM i OS only): When IBM i OS is selected, the IBM Power Virtual Server offering encompasses not only the IBM i OS but also additional Licensed Program Products (LPP) and various IBM i operating system features. For a complete list of included LPPs and OS features, refer to this document. Additional LPPs for IBM i are available for purchase and can be included in VM instances. To incorporate one or more of these LPPs, select the desired licenses for inclusion in the VM instance. As of Apr. 2025, the following licenses can be purchased through the Power Virtual Server offering: IBM i Cloud Storage Solutions (5773-ICC), IBM i Power HA (5770-HAS), and Rational Development Studio for IBM i (5770-WDS).
Storage tier: PowerVS supports 4 tiers of storage. Tier 3 provides a maximum of 3 input/output operations per second (IOPs) per gigabyte (GB). Tier 1 provides a maximum of 10 IOPs/GB. Tier 0 provides a maximum of 25 IOPs/GB. The Fixed IOPs tier provides 5,000 IOPs regardless of size; however, the Fixed IOPs tier is limited to volumes with a size of 200 GB or less. For more information, refer to this document.
Storage pool affinity: Three storage pool affinity options are available: auto-select, affinity, and anti-affinity. The affinity option requires the boot volume to be placed in the same pool as another existing instance or existing boot volume. New storage volumes for the instance are placed in the same storage pool as the affinity object. The anti-affinity policy specifies a different pool must be used from existing instance or existing boot volume. For more information, refer to this document.
Cloud-init user data: Cloud-init user data is utilized during the boot process of a virtual machine (VM) to automate initial configurations. This includes setting up user accounts, SSH keys, installing packages, configuring network settings, and other system settings. Essentially, it allows for the customization of the VM environment without manual intervention, ensuring that the VM is ready for use immediately after boot. Power Virtual Server user interface provides an option to pass in user data or scripts during the first boot runtime. To finalize the user data for Linux images, validation checks must be completed as required. Validation checks are not performed for AIX and Bring Your Own License (BYOL) images.
Boot volume replication: Boot volume replication in IBM Power Virtual Server involves creating replicated volumes to ensure data availability and disaster recovery. This process uses Global Replication Services (GRS), which provides asynchronous volume-level replication. For more information, refer to this document.
Deploy to dedicated host: Using the dedicated host capability on IBM Power® Virtual Server, clients can provision an entire server for their sole use, significantly expanding their computing options. Clients can handle mission-critical workloads with complete isolation, control, and security. For more information, refer to this document.
Machine type: As of April 2025, IBM Power9 and IBM Power10 machine types are supported. Availability of machine types vary by data center. Learn more about the hardware specifications available here.
Core type: PowerVS supports shared uncapped, shared capped, and dedicated cores. Shared uncapped cores are shared among other clients. Shared capped cores are shared, but resources do not expand beyond what is requested (used mostly for licensing). Dedicated cores are allocated for a specific client (used for specific third-party licensing considerations). Learn more about core types here.
Number of cores: The option for the number of cores assigned to an instance depends on the core type. Shared capped and unshared capped cores support 0.25 core increments, while dedicated cores must be assigned a full core. The maximum number of cores depends on the machine type and availability in the selected location.
Virtual cores: Virtual cores in IBM Power Virtual Server refer to units of virtual processor resources allocated to a partition or virtual machine. These virtual cores can be mapped to physical processor cores or time-sliced across them, allowing for flexible resource management. For more information on virtual cores concept and how it works in the context of shared processor pools, refer to this document. For more information on how to manage core to virtual core ratio, refer to this document.
Amount of memory: PowerVS instances must be provisioned with a minimum of 2 GB of random access memory (RAM). The maximum amount of memory varies based on machine type and availability in the selected location. If greater than 64 GB RAM per core is specified, a higher price is charged.
Additional storage volumes: Storage volumes in IBM Power Virtual Server are virtual storage devices that can be attached to virtual machines (VMs) to provide persistent storage. Clients can either create a new data volume or attach an existing one that they defined in their account. A new data volume can be created when an instance is provisioned. The size of a volume cannot be decreased after it is created. The maximum size of a volume that can be created is 238,193 GB. A storage tier can be specified. The volume can also be marked as shareable or nonshareable (default). Volume replication (using GRS) for data volumes can be enabled (default is off). Additional volumes created when the VM is created, use the same storage pool as the boot volume for the VM uses. For more information on creating data volumes, refer to the section "Table 4. Provisioning a VM with or without a boot volume." in this link.
Configure for large quantity volumes: Enable the Configure for large quantity volumes toggle button to support more than 127 (up to 500) volumes. This setting is at a VM-level that remains unmodifiable upon provisioning. For more information, refer to this document.
Networking: PowerVS instances are attached to a private network and can optionally be attached to a public, internet accessible network. Use private networks to connect to existing subnets. A new subnet can be created also. Learn more about PowerVS networking here.

Three click through demonstrations are provided in the next chapters. One for each of the supported operating systems: AIX, Linux, and IBM i. While each is similar, a few minor differences exist. You are encouraged to go through each of these demonstrations and read the step-by-step guidance provided.

Use this click through demonstration to provision an AIX virtual server instance (VSI).

Important

If you skipped the Part 3 Introduction and are not familiar with the features of PowerVS like storage pools, storage tiers, etc. you should consider going back and reading it.

Note: Access to provision a new VSI is not provided in the IBM Technology Zone cloud account. Use this click through demonstration to simulate this activity. Fields that require a text entry are pre-populated in the click through demonstration.

Open the following link and then click the play button to begin the demonstration.

Click through demonstration: Create an IBM Power Virtual Server Instance - AIX

Tips for maximizing the click through experience

Follow this click through guide to complete the demonstration. In case of uncertainty regarding the next click, clicking anywhere on the screen will prompt a green highlight box to indicate the next clickable area. For optimal performance, adjust the browser’s zoom percentage to ensure the entire demonstration screen fits within the viewable area.
Click PowerVS-L3-2025 in the Workspaces table.
Click View virtual servers.
Click Create instance +.

The next steps refer to the entries in the General section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click in the Instance name field.
Click the User tags information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Add to a server placement group information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Add to a shared processor pool information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Virtual server pinning information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select virtual server pinning pull-down.
Click None.
Click the Select SSH key pull-down.
Click PowerVS-key.
Click Continue in the General section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Boot image section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click the Select OS pull-down.
Click AIX.
Click the Configure for Epic workloads information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Deploy empty virtual server instance information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select image pull-down.
Click 7300-03-00.
Click the Tier pull-down (set to Tier 3 (3 IOPs/GB) by default).
Click Tier 3 (3 IOPs/GB).
Click the Advanced configurations pull-down. This option allows users to specify cloud-init user data and boot volume replication. cloud-init user data is used when VSI is booted. In the user data, you have the option to include custom content that enables you to tailor the startup configuration for the specific instance.
Learn more about boot volume replication in next step.
Click the Boot volume replication information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Boot image section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Profile section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click the Deploy to dedicated host information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select machine type pull-down.
Click s1022.
Click the Core type information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Virtual cores information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Profile section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Storage volumes section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click Create volume +.
Click in the Name field.
Click the User tags information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click + to increase the size of the volume to 2 GB.
Click the Tier pull-down (it will already be set to Tier3 (3 IOPs/GB)).
Click Tier 3 (3 IOPs/GB).
Toggle Shareable to On.
Click the Volume replication with GRS information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Create and attach.
Click Advanced configurations pull-down.
Click the Configure for large quantity volumes information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Storage volumes section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Network interfaces section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Note: for this demonstration, the instance is provisioned with a public network (internet facing). A public network simplifies demonstrating access to instances. However, most production deployments of PowerVS use private networks and control access with Direct Link, Virtual Private Network (VPN), or Megaport Software Defined Network (SDN). To learn more about PowerVS networking options, look here.

Toggle Public networks to On.
Click Attach existign network +.
Click the Existing subnets pull-down.
Click private-powervs-2025.
Click Attach.
Click Finish under the Network interfaces section.
Click I agree to the Terms and conditions.
Click Create.

The AIX PowerVS instance is now being provisioned. This process took approximately 20 minutes. Notice the value under the Status column of the Virtual server instances table. After the status changes to an Active state, the instance is ready to be accessed.

Use this click through demonstration to provision an Linux virtual server instance (VSI).

Important

If you skipped the Part 3 Introduction and are not familiar with the features of PowerVS like storage pools, storage tiers, etc. you should consider going back and reading it.

Note: Access to provision a new VSI is not provided in the IBM Technology Zone cloud account. Use this click through demonstration to simulate this activity. Fields that require a text entry are pre-populated in the click through demonstration.

Open the following link and then click the play button to begin the demonstration.

Click through demonstration: Create an IBM Power Virtual Server Instance - Linux

Tips for maximizing the click through experience

Follow this click through guide to complete the demonstration. In case of uncertainty regarding the next click, clicking anywhere on the screen will prompt a green highlight box to indicate the next clickable area. For optimal performance, adjust the browser’s zoom percentage to ensure the entire demonstration screen fits within the viewable area.
Click PowerVS-L3-2025 in the Workspaces table.
Click View virtual servers.
Click Create instance +.

The next steps refer to the entries in the General section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click in the Instance name field.
Click the User tags information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Add to a server placement group information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Add to a shared processor pool information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Virtual server pinning information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select virtual server pinning pull-down.
Click None.
Click the Select SSH key pull-down.
Click PowerVS-key.
Click Continue in the General section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Boot image section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click the Select OS pull-down.
Click Linux.
Click the Deploy empty virtual server instance information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select image pull-down.
Click RHEL9-SP4.
Click the Tier pull-down (set to Tier 3 (3 IOPs/GB) by default).
Click Tier 3 (3 IOPs/GB).
Click the Advanced configurations pull-down. This option allows users to specify cloud-init user data and boot volume replication. cloud-init user data is used when VSI is booted. In the user data, you have the option to include custom content that enables you to tailor the startup configuration for the specific instance.
Learn more about boot volume replication in next step.
Click the Boot volume replication information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Boot image section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Profile section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click the Deploy to dedicated host information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select machine type pull-down.
Click s1022.
Click the Core type information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Virtual cores information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Profile section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Storage volumes section of the Create virtual server instance form.

The process of creating a new storage volume in the AIX click-through has been previously covered. This demonstration will focus on utilizing an existing storage volume. The storage volume created in the AIX click-through was designated as "Shareable," and will therefore be used in this demonstration. To proceed, click Attach existing +.
Select powervs-volume-2025.
Click Attach volume.
Click Advanced configurations pull-down.
Click the Configure for large quantity volumes information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Storage volumes section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Network interfaces section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Note: for this demonstration, the instance is provisioned with a public network (internet facing). A public network simplifies demonstrating access to instances. However, most production deployments of PowerVS use private networks and control access with Direct Link, Virtual Private Network (VPN), or Megaport Software Defined Network (SDN). To learn more about PowerVS networking options, look here.

Toggle Public networks to On.
Click Attach existing network +.
Click the Existing subnets pull-down.
Click private-powervs-2025.
Click Attach.
Click Finish under the Network interfaces section.
Click I agree to the Terms and conditions.
Click Create.

The Linux PowerVS instance is now being provisioned. This process took approximately 15 minutes. Notice the value under the Status column of the Virtual server instances table. After the status changes to an Active state, the instance is ready to be accessed.

Use this click through demonstration to provision an IBM i virtual server instance (VSI).

Important

If you skipped the Part 3 Introduction and are not familiar with the features of PowerVS like storage pools, storage tiers, etc. you should consider going back and reading it.

Note: Access to provision a new VSI is not provided in the IBM Technology Zone cloud account. Use this click through demonstration to simulate this activity. Fields that require a text entry are pre-populated in the click through demonstration.

Open the following link and then click the play button to begin the demonstration.

Click through demonstration: Create an IBM Power Virtual Server Instance - IBM i

Tips for maximizing the click through experience

Follow this click through guide to complete the demonstration. In case of uncertainty regarding the next click, clicking anywhere on the screen will prompt a green highlight box to indicate the next clickable area. For optimal performance, adjust the browser’s zoom percentage to ensure the entire demonstration screen fits within the viewable area.
Click PowerVS-L3-2025 in the Workspaces table.
Click View virtual servers.
Click Create instance +.

The next steps refer to the entries in the General section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click in the Instance name field.
Click the User tags information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Add to a server placement group information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Add to a shared processor pool information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Virtual server pinning information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select virtual server pinning pull-down.
Click None.
Click the Select SSH key pull-down.
Click PowerVS-key.
Click Continue in the General section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Boot image section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click the Select OS pull-down.
Click IBM i.
Click the Deploy empty virtual server instance information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select image pull-down.
Click IBMi-75-05-2984-1.
Click the Virtual serial number information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Tier pull-down (set to Tier 3 (3 IOPs/GB) by default).
Click Tier 3 (3 IOPs/GB).
Click the IBM i Licenses information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Advanced configurations pull-down. This option allows users to specify cloud-init user data and boot volume replication. cloud-init user data is used when VSI is booted. In the user data, you have the option to include custom content that enables you to tailor the startup configuration for the specific instance.
Learn more about boot volume replication in next step.
Click the Boot volume replication information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Boot image section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Profile section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click the Deploy to dedicated host information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Select machine type pull-down.
Click s1022.
Click the Core type information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click the Virtual cores information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Profile section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Storage volumes section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Click Create volume +.
Click in the Name field.
Click the User tags information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click + to increase the size of the volume to 2 GB.
Click the Tier pull-down (it will already be set to Tier3 (3 IOPs/GB)).
Click Tier 3 (3 IOPs/GB).
Click the Volume replication with GRS information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Create and attach.
Click Advanced configurations pull-down.
Click the Configure for large quantity volumes information icon () and read the helpful information.
Click the information icon () again to close the information dialog.
Click Continue under the Storage volumes section.

The next steps refer to the entries in the Network interfaces section of the Create virtual server instance form.

Note: for this demonstration, the instance is provisioned with a public network (internet facing). A public network simplifies demonstrating access to instances. However, most production deployments of PowerVS use private networks and control access with Direct Link, Virtual Private Network (VPN), or Megaport Software Defined Network (SDN). To learn more about PowerVS networking options, look here.

Toggle Public networks to On.
Click Attach existign network +.
Click the Existing subnets pull-down.
Click private-powervs-2025.
Click Attach.
Click Finish under the Network interfaces section.
Click I agree to the Terms and conditions.
Click Create.

The IBM i PowerVS instance is now being provisioned. This process took approximately 20 minutes. Notice the value under the Status column of the Virtual server instances table. After the status changes to an Active state, the instance is ready to be accessed.

Ended: Part 3 - Provisioning a PowerVS instance

Part 4 - Managing PowerVS instances ↵

Using the IBM Cloud Portal, clients can control and manage many aspects of their provisioned IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) workspaces and virtual server instances (VSIs).

In the next chapter, explore how to manage individual VSIs.

Remember, the IBM Technology Zone (ITZ) environment is a shared service for all students. Safeguards are in place ahead of time to help ensure that the environment remains stable. Attempts to modify workspaces and VSIs results in an error like:

However, you can still explore and even demonstrate how changes can be easily made to resources through the IBM Cloud portal. To avoid the message from being seen, click cancel instead of create or submit, and then describe to the audience what occurs.

Using the IBM Cloud portal and command-line interfaces (CLIs), users can do the following actions on individual IBM Power Virtual Servers (PowerVS) instances (VSIs):

Shutdown an operating system (OS)
Immediate shutdown (without killing processes gracefully) of an OS
Restart
Open a console to the instance
Delete an instance
Capture and export an image of an instance
Modify a VSI
- Change the name of the VSI
- Change virtual server pinning policy
- Add or remove cores
- Add or remove memory
- Modify placement group
Add or remove volumes
Modify network interfaces (can require OS changes)

Options vary

Options vary depending on the OS and options that are specified for the VSI.

Using the IBM Cloud portal, complete the following scenario for managing PowerVS instances by using the "baking show" demonstration technique. Note, an error message like the following one is encountered if an attempt is made to complete an action.

An error is expected, as full access to the shared environment is not provided. To avoid the error message, click Cancel on the action dialog. During a live client demonstration, or for an IBMers Stand and Deliver, tell the audience why the action is being canceled but explain what happens when the action is completed.

Open the IBM Cloud Portal: https://cloud.ibm.com/ and authenticate.
Change to the 2305900 - ITZ - ADHOC03 account.

Tip

If the browser window is narrow, this icon: is seen instead of the current account name as shown in the previous screen capture.

Click the hamburger menu icon (A)

Note

After switching accounts a new user questionnaire or other dialogs can appear. Cancel these windows. If the IBM Cloud Dashboard is not displayed as seen in the previous image, click the IBM Cloud text at upper left of the IBM Cloud Portal.
Click Resource List (A)
Click PowerVS-L3-2025 (A) under Compute.
Click AIX-VM (A) in the Virtual server instances table.
Click the VM actions (A) pull-down.

Notice the actions that can be initiated. The actions available vary depending on the current state of the instance and the operating system of the instance.

Don't see a VM actions button?

If the browser window is too small, the reactive nature of the IBM Cloud Portal will change the VM actions button to an ellipses icon . Click the ellipses icon to see the VM actions or expand the browser window horizontally.
Click anywhere on the main screen (away from the menu from step 7).
Click the VM actions (A) drop-down menu and select Capture and export (B).
The dialog describes two distinct forms within the interface:
- Capture Contents Form: This form facilitates the selection of storage volumes intended for export. The selected volumes can be exported either to the PowerVS service image catalog or to IBM Cloud Object Storage (COS).
- Destination Form: This form enables the specification of the export destination. Based on the selected destination, additional input fields are dynamically displayed. These fields allow for the configuration of parameters such as the image name (for the image catalog) or COS-specific details including region, bucket name, access key, and other relevant credentials.
In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Any attempt to complete an action, will result in an error. Click Cancel (A) in the "Capture and export virtual server" dialog to close it and return back to the VSI details view page.
Click the Edit details (A) link.

Explore what instance configuration options can be modified. Depending on the running state of the instance, some options are not accessible. Note, changing the instance always requires the user to agree to the service terms.
Click Cancel (A) in the Edit virtual server instance details dialog to close it.

On your own

The preceding steps walked through two aspects of managing a single PowerVS instance with the AIX operating system. Explore the Edit options available for the VSIs running Linux and IBM i. Notice any differences?

Before proceeding, take a few minutes exploring other aspects of managing PowerVS instances by using the IBM Cloud Portal. Detailed steps are not provided, but typically you can click the Cancel button to return to the instances detail page.
A few things to try from any of the instances' detail pages:

In Attached volumes section, click Attach existing (A). Notice how only existing volumes that are marked as shareable are displayed.
In Attached volumes section, click Create volume. Notice that it is now possible to add a Storage volume that uses a different tier of storage than the instance boot volume.
In Network interfaces section, Private networks sub-section, click Attach existing network (A). Notice how it shows existing private subnets. A VSI can be attached to one or more private subnets.

Ended: Part 4 - Managing PowerVS instances

Part 5 - Accessing PowerVS instances ↵

IBM Power Systems Virtual Server is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering. PowerVS allows clients to rapidly provision new virtual server instances (VSIs) with AIX, IBM i, or Linux operating systems(OS). Ultimately, clients want to deploy applications on those VSIs. The applications that clients choose to deploy vary widely. They include middleware like databases, third-party software products like SAP, or in-house applications. To install these applications, they need to access the instance and install the software.

A fundamental challenge that clients face is how to connect their on-premises data sources with off-premises (cloud-based) resources and services. Doing so securely, efficiently, and cost-effectively is undeniably a challenge for organizations of every size, whether they are a mid-sized business or an enterprise company.

Three main methods are:

Public internet
Virtual private network (VPN) tunnel
IBM Cloud Direct Link (2.0)

Usually, clients deploy PowerVS instances that use a secured network like Direct Link or Virtual Private Network (VPN).

IBM Cloud Direct Link (2.0) provides a level of trusted connectivity from enterprise sources to a client's IBM Cloud private network. IBM Cloud Direct Link (2.0) is tailored to every client's workload requirements or business use case.

Direct Link Connect is a solution for data center to data center connectivity (between clouds, or between on-premises and cloud), flexible bandwidth requirements, and multicloud environments. It also presents a less costly entry for IBM Cloud network clients compared to other Direct Link offerings.
Direct Link Dedicated is built for clients that have high-volume workloads that require low latency, or for those clients rapidly moving data across multicloud environments. It satisfies stringent compliance requirements that are held by certain countries or industries. Dedicated also supports universal connectivity for either colocation or carrier.
Dedicated Hosting options are also available for clients with nonstandard technologies (requiring bespoke networking solutions). Many such clients need to maintain and continue to use their existing IT investments, as they invest in cloud-based technologies. Dedicated storage options are available in parallel for such clients. The connection point for Dedicated Hosting is next to an IBM Cloud data center to provide optimal latency and performance.
IBM Cloud VPN access allows users to manage all servers remotely and securely over the IBM Cloud private network. A VPN connection from a remote location to the private network gives the capability for out-of-band management and server rescue through an encrypted VPN tunnel.

Accessing an IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) virtual server instance (VSI) depends on several factors, including the operating system the instance is running and the network connectivity available. Remote login tools like Secure Socket Shell (SSH), telnet, and other console emulators can be used to access instances. PowerVS also provides access to running instances by using a web-based console tool. Usually, clients deploy PowerVS instances that use a secured network like Direct Link or Virtual Private Network (VPN). Learn more about the PowerVS network connectivity options here.

For this exercise, the IBM Cloud Shell is used so no additional software is needed. IBM Cloud Shell gives users complete control of their cloud resources, applications, and infrastructure, from any web browser. IBM Cloud Shell provides pre-authenticated access to the tools and programming languages for secure, cloud-based development, deployment, and management of services and applications. IBM Cloud Shell is instantly accessible from the IBM Cloud portal. Learn more about IBM Cloud shell here and here.

To quickly demonstrate the value of PowerVS, this demonstration environment and all running instances are provisioned with a public, internet facing network interface.

Use the following steps to log in to a PowerVS instance by using the IBM Cloud Shell and SSH. Learn more about SSH and SSH keys here.

Change to the ITZ - ADHOC03 account by using the drop-down switcher.

Tip

If the browser window is narrow, this icon: appears instead of the current account name as shown in the previous screen capture.
Click the IBM Cloud Shell icon (A).

Get an error opening IBM Cloud Shell?

If the following error occurs when attempting to open IBM Cloud Shell, fix it by either deleting the browser cookies for cloud.ibm.com and log back into cloud.ibm.com, or try using a private/incognito browser window.
A new IBM Cloud shell window should open.

Use the IBM Cloud Shell window that was opened in the next steps.

In the upper-right of the IBM Cloud Shell window is a square icon with an "up" arrow. Click this icon (A) and upload the SSH key downloaded earlier.

Did you record the file name and location?

Earlier, when the key was downloaded the filename may have been different than ssh_private_key.pem. In the next steps, be sure to use the name the file was saved as when downloaded. If the file was saved with any special characters (e.g. ssh_private_key (1).pem) it is recommended to change the filename to something without any special characters to avoid issues when uploading the file to the IBM Cloud Shell environment.
Locate the .pem (A) file in the Downloads folder, select it and click Open (B) and wait for the transfer to finish.
A dialog box appears in the lower-right of the IBM Cloud Shell window when the upload is complete. Click X (A) to close the dialog.
In the IBM Cloud shell, run the following command to adjust the access permissions on the ssh_private_key.pem file:
```
chmod 600 ssh_private_key.pem
```
You are now ready to remotely connect (SSH) to the PowerVS demonstration environment. Do so with the following command, substituting <your_user_id> for the User ID value recorded in Part 1 - Step 7. If a prompt asks whether to continue connecting type Yes and then press Return or Enter. Ignore the message about the authenticity of the host not being established.
```
ssh -i ssh_private_key.pem <your_user_id>@150.239.228.4
```
Sample output
Try running a few OS-level commands by using the following commands.
```
ls -laR
```
```
who
```
```
ps -ef
```
All of these commands are basic OS commands. If you are familiar with AIX or Linux, try out other commands. Remember, your permissions in the shared environment are limited. Administrative access is not provided.
Close the SSH connection by running the exit command. Control will return back to the IBM Cloud shell.
```
exit
```

To explore further, use the following public IP addresses to access the other VSIs:

Instance name	Instance public IP address
AIX-VM	150.239.228.4
Linux-VM	150.239.228.2

Use the ssh -i ssh_private_key.pem UserName@IPaddress command to connect to the other servers. Be sure to replace UserName with the UserName field found in the TechZone reservation, and IPaddress with the instance's public IP address from the preceding table.

Access to IBM i VSI

At this time, this environment does not allow users to access the VSI running IBM i. IBM i access is typically done using a terminal emulator and would require additional software and setup. If you need to demonstrate accessing an IBM i system, you will need to provision an instance in an IBM Cloud account where you have full access.

Ended: Part 5 - Accessing PowerVS instances

Part 6 - Explore other PowerVS topics ↵

Introduction

Mentioned earlier throughout this Level 3 course are the variety of features available for managing PowerVS instances after the infrastructure and services are deployed. The ability to customize and scale these environments post-provisioning are precisely the cloud benefits that draw clients toward an investment in PowerVS. Next, dive deeper into the following advanced topics.

Specifically, explore each of the following categories in turn:

Virtual appliances
Shared processor pools and server placement groups
SSH keys
Boot images
Networking
Storage volumes
Event logs
Additional products and services

Setting the workspace to PowerVS-L3-2025

For this section of the demonstration guide, at the start of every activity, Please ensure the workspace is set to PowerVS-L3-2025. To do so, follow the steps below...

Change to the 2305900 - ITZ - ADHOC03 (B) account by using the drop-down switcher (A).
Navigate to https://cloud.ibm.com/power/workspaces (A) URL in the browser window to open the PowerVS workspaces view.
Click PowerVS-L3-2025 (A).
Click View virtual servers (A) to open up the virtual server instances view.
The Virtual Server Instances (VSI) view opens under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace, displaying the three VSIs created so far.

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. In the steps that follow, you will NOT have the ability to create, edit, or delete resources in the IBM Technology Zone environment. Steps are provided to get familiarity with different PowerVS feature(s).

Virtual appliances in IBM Power Virtual Server are pre-configured virtual machines designed to simplify the deployment and management of applications and services. Virtual appliance also allows ISVs to bring-your-own license model, where independent software vendors (ISV) can offer OVA (ISV software plus operating system of your choice) for quick deployment of IBM Power Virtual Server workloads. It is an appliance-as-a service that allows seamless management and metering of PowerVS. Software support is handled directly by the ISVs for virtual appliances.

Click Virtual appliances (A) option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace.
Click Create from catalog + (A). A new browser window or tab opens all products in the catalog.
Navigate to the newly opened browser window or tab. Scroll down to Deployment target filter and select Power Systems Virtual Server (A).
The currently available virtual appliances that can be deployed on PowerVS are displayed. As of April 2025, 2 virtual appliances are available: FalconStor StorSafe VTL for PowerVS Cloud and Open XLC Compiler for AIX.
Click the FalconStor StorSafe VTL for PowerVS Cloud tile.

FalconStor StorSafe Virtual Tape Library (VTL) is a software solution that optimizes backup and restore to improve performance and significantly reduce backup storage costs, all without requiring changes to the existing requirement. With its integrated deduplication, the solution removes redundant copies of data, reduces capacity requirements, decreases storage costs, and minimizes replication and restore times. StorSafe VTL can be used with all leading backup solutions, enables both hybrid and cloud native backup, and supports both workload and tape migration to the cloud.

Review the provisioning page for FaclonStor StorSafe VTL for PowerVS Cloud. Notice the Required input variables and Optional input variables sections and the values that are used to configure the virtual appliance. These include parameters like the number of vCPUs, memory, and storage tier. Click the About (A) tab to get a summary of this virtual appliance along with links to additional information.

After all required fields are defined, clients can provision the virtual appliance. The automation provisions the required virtual server instance by using a base image with the FaclonStor software already installed and configured. When complete, the FalconStor solution is ready to be used.
Click Catalog (A) to return back to the PowerVS deployment target specific catalog view.
Click the Open XLC Compiler for AIX tile.

IBM® Open XL C/C++ for AIX is IBM’s next-generation C/C++ compiler that facilitates the creation and maintenance of applications that are written in C/C++ for IBM Power. Taking advantage of the Power10 architecture, IBM Open XL C/C++ for AIX can generate code that uses the capabilities of Power10 to maximize hardware utilization.

Explore the provisioning page and additional information available for this virtual appliance.

Recall, the virtual appliance catalog was opened in a new browser tab or window. When ready, close the current browser tab or window to return to the IBM Cloud Portal virtual appliances page.

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. In the steps that follow, you will NOT have the ability to create, edit, or delete resources in the IBM Technology Zone environment. Steps are provided to get familiarity with different PowerVS feature(s).

A shared processor pool is a pool of processor capacity used by a group of virtual server instances. Its reserved cores guarantee capacity at the pool level which allows individual virtual servers in the pool to use a dynamic amount of resources in a shared model, and can help reduce licensing costs.

Click the Shared processor pools (A) option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace.
Click Create pool + (A).
Enter a name in the Name (A) field and then click Continue (B).
Select a machine type (A) and specify the number of reserved cores (B). Reserved cores is the total number of cores reserved for the processor pool's usage. Click Finish (C).

When actually provisioning an SPP, you would next accept the terms and conditions and create the SPP. After the SPP is provisioned, clients specify the SPP when a new VSI is created.

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Any attempt to complete an action, will result in an error. Click Cancel (A) to return back to the shared processor pools main view page.
Click the Pool placement groups (A) tab.

Pool placement groups are a set of shared processor pools with a single colocation policy, which determines the host in which a shared processor pool in the group is deployed in relation to others in the group.

Learn more about pool placement groups here.
Click Create group + (A).
Enter a Name (A) for the pool placement group.
Select the colocation policy (A) of either same server or different server.

The same server option specifies that all VSIs in this placement group are placed on the same server. This is known as an affinity policy.

The different server option specifies that all VSIs in this placement group are placed on different servers. This is also known as an anti-affinity policy.
In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Any attempt to complete an action, will result in an error. Click Cancel (A) to return back to the shared processor pools main view page.

Affinity and anti-affinity policies are used to help build high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) deployments. Learn more about High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) options in PowerVS here.

Learn more about SPPs here.

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. In the steps that follow, you will NOT have the ability to create, edit, or delete resources in the IBM Technology Zone environment. Steps are provided to get familiarity with different PowerVS feature(s).

Secure Shell also known as Secure Socket Shell (SSH) is a network protocol that is used to securely control access to computers over an unsecure network. In simple words, SSH is a secure way to remotely access and manage computers, encrypting your data to keep it safe from eavesdroppers. It's like having a private, encrypted chat with another computer.

Recall from the click through demonstrations to provision a virtual server instance, the PowerVS-key was specified as the SSH key for the server. The PowerVS-key was added to the workspace before those instances were created.

Note

It is unlikely you would demonstrate this aspect of the PowerVS offering during a client demonstration unless you had a very targeted and technical audience. It is added here to provide you a complete understanding of the offering and what is required to provision and manage a PowerVS environment.

Click the SSH keys (A) option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace.
Click Create SSH key (A).

The use of the term Create is a misnomer. This step provides the ability to upload the public part of an existing SSH key into the PowerVS workspace. The key can then be pushed to VSIs provisioned in the environment and used to access those VSIs.
In the New SSH key dialog, the user specifies a Key name (A) and then pastes the public key part of the SSH key previously created, in the Public key (B) textbox. The How do I get a public key link provides information on how to generate a key on a Linux-based system.
In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Any attempt to complete an action, will result in an error. Click Cancel (A) to return back to the SSH keys page view.

After the key is loaded into the workspace, it appears in the list of available keys to use when a new PowerVS VSI is provisioned. It is the client's responsibility to securely manage their keys. If a key is compromised, a new key should be created and added to the existing VSIs. The old key should be removed from the VSIs and the PowerVS workspace.

Learn more about SSH here.

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. In the steps that follow, you will NOT have the ability to create, edit, or delete resources in the IBM Technology Zone environment. Steps are provided to get familiarity with different PowerVS feature(s).

Every instance of IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) consists of a mandatory boot volume. Boot images come from the PowerVS image catalog or are imported by clients. After a virtual server instance (VSI) is provisioned, a copy of the boot image is added to the client's boot image catalog.

Click the Boot images option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace.

Notice the existing 3 boot images in the list.

These 3 boot images are used by the 3 VSIs running in this demonstration environment. The Active status means that the image is actively used by a running VSI.
Click Import image + (A).
PowerVS allows clients to add their own boot images to their PowerVS workspace. Only AIX, IBM i, and Linux on IBM Power images are supported. To add an image to the PowerVS workspace image catalog, the image must first be uploaded to a bucket in IBM Cloud Object Storage (COS). Supported image file types include: .ova, .ova.gz, .tar, .tar.gz, and .tgz. To access the image in COS the file name, bucket name, hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) access key, and secret access keys must be specified. Learn more about COS here .
You are now in the page where you need to enter the Source image details. Select an Image OS and Region and enter some temporary text in the remaining fields in order to proceed to the next page. After all these fields are specified, Next button gets enabled. Click Next (A).
You are now in the page where you need to enter the Destintion image details. Enter some temporary text for Custom image name, select a storage tier and storage pool. Click Import Image (A).
Click Import (A) in the "Limited action available during import" popup window.
An error message like the following one is encountered if an attempt is made to complete an action. An error is expected, as full access to the shared environment is not provided. During a live client demonstration, or for an IBMers Stand and Deliver, tell the audience why the error is being seen but explain what happens when the action is successfully completed.

Learn more about importing boot images here.

Note: This feature is applicable for IBM i virtual server instances (VSI) only.

A virtual serial number (VSN) can be assigned to a VSI to keep track of the installation, support entitlements, and licensing compliance for IBM i software. The VSN has seven digits and it is a unique string. A VSI is moved across systems with its associated VSN. Hence, when a VSN is associated with a VSI you need not pin the VSI to a host for licensing or entitlement purpose.

Click Virtual serial numbers (A) option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace. You will see an empty list as the VSN feature is not used in this demonstration. When VSN feature is used, this page will show the VSN, the IBM i VSI associated with the VSN, and the VSN description.

VSN details available on the VSI details page as well

The details of a VSN associated with an IBM i VSI can also be seen on the IBM i VSI details page.

Learn more about VSNs here

Networking

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. In the steps that follow, you will NOT have the ability to create, edit, or delete resources in the IBM Technology Zone environment. Steps are provided to get familiarity with different PowerVS feature(s).

A good network design for any cloud deployment is critical. This includes IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) deployments. Many options are available for clients for both the connectivity from their on-premises environments to the cloud and within their PowerVS workspaces. Only the creation and management of private subnets within a PowerVS workspace is covered in this activity. Learn more about IBM PowerVS networks here.

Viewing and configuring network subnets

Clients can configure a private network subnet when they create an IBM Power Virtual Server, providing a subnet name and specifying a Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR). How the private network subnet is configured, depends on the networking configuration of the Power Virtual Server Workspace.

Expand the Networking (A) section and click the Subnets (B) option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace.
Two subnets are listed. One is the public subnet, public-192_168_222_224-29-VLAN_2060 for the workspace PowerVS-L3-2025. This public subnet was created when the public network option was selected when the first virtual server instance (VSI) in the workspace was provisioned. The private subnet, private-powervs-2025 was created before the first VSI was provisioned.

In the next steps, explore how to create a private subnet.
Click Create subnet + (A).
To create a new subnet, the details about the subnet need to be specified.

These details include:
- Name
The name of the subnet. Enter a unique name for the subnet.
- Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR)
CIDR is a method for allocating Internet Protocol (IP) network addresses for routing. The CIDR notation is a compact representation of an IP address and its associated network mask. For the sake of this demonstration enter 192.168.200.14/24 in CIDR field. The Gateway and IP ranges fields are auto-populated based on the entered CIDR value.
- Gateway
The gateway address is typically the first address in the CIDR range of available addresses; however, the address can be changed.
- IP ranges
The IP range allows the user to specify either the full CIDR range as being available or a subset.
- Domain Name Server (DNS)
The DNS server is used for name resolution for the VSIs in the subnet. Up to 20 DNS servers can be specified.
- Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU)
MTU is used to specify the largest data packet size allowed over a network. A larger MTU produces less overhead, and a smaller value can reduce network delay. If Red Hat OpenShift is deployed on VSIs in the subnet, the recommendation is to set the MTU size to 1450. To support jumbo frames (often required for applications with large data transfers), the MTU should be set to 9000.

Existing subnets can be edited; however, modifications are limited to changing the gateway, the IP ranges, and adding or removing DNS servers.
In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Any attempt to complete an action, will result in an error. Click Cancel (A) to return back to the subnets list page.

Learn more about configuring subnets here.

Network security groups

A network security group (NSG) is used to define security rules to allow or deny specific network traffic that is related to resources provisioned in an IBM Power® Virtual Server workspace. You can create NSGs in the Power Virtual Server environment to inspect and filter network traffic between resources in Power Virtual Server workspaces.

Expand the Networking (A) section and click the Network security groups (B) option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace. You will see an empty list as the NSG feature is not enabled and used in this demonstration.

Learn more about NSG here.

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. In the steps that follow, you will NOT have the ability to create, edit, or delete resources in the IBM Technology Zone environment. Steps are provided to get familiarity with different PowerVS feature(s).

As mentioned earlier IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) supports multiple tiers of storage. Learn more about the available storage tiers here.
Every PowerVS virtual server instance consists of a boot volume and optionally other storage volumes. While IBM manages the underlying physical storage, it is the client's responsibility to manage and protect the data on instances.

Click the Storage volumes option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace.
Click Create volume + (A).
Before continuing, review the parameters for creating a storage volume.

To create a new storage volume, a few parameters must be specified. The first 4 parameters are the name of the volume, the storage tier, the number of volumes to create, and the size.
- Each storage volume in a workspace must have a unique name.
- A tier of storage must be specified. The storage tier can change later. The storage tier represents the performance characteristics of the volume and directly relates to the cost of the volume. See the earlier link for more information on the 4 storage tiers supported by PowerVS.
- It is possible to create up to 10 storage volumes at a time. Each of these volumes has the same attributes as far as tier, size, shareability, storage pool, and affinity rules.
- The size of a volume can range from 1 Gigabyte (GB) up to 238,705 GB. Storage volumes can be increased after they are provisioned but NOT decreased.
The second set of parameters that need to be specified for a storage volume relates to the volumes shareability, storage pool, affinity rules, and volume replication.
- Storage volumes can be marked as shareable. The shareable attribute allows a single volume to be shared between multiple PowerVS virtual server instances. The attribute is typically used in highly available (HA) deployments, for instance when PowerHA system mirroring capabilities are used. Learn more about HA and Diaster Recovery (DR) in PowerVS here.
- A storage volume must be assigned to a storage pool. By default, the volume is assigned to any pool that has sufficient capacity. The volume can be controlled by affinity rules. The volume can be assigned to an affinity pool or an anti-affinity pool. Affinity can be based on either other storage volumes or upon virtual server instances (VSIs), also known as virtual machines (VMs). If a storage volume is marked with an affinity policy, it is created in the same pool as other volumes with which it needs to have affinity. An affinity policy is typically used for cloning and snapshots. If a storage volume is marked with an anti-affinity policy, it is created in a different pool from other volumes with which it needs anti-affinity. The anti-affinity policy is typically used for HA and logical mirroring of volumes.
- The affinity and anti-affinity object can be either another storage volume or a VSI. Depending on the affinity or anti-affinity object selection, the menu is populated with the existing volumes or VSIs that the policy is to be applied with or against. Learn more about affinity and anti-affinity policies here.
- Volume replication with Global Replication Services (GRS) when enabled, provides asynchronous replication at the storage level to maintain a consistent and recoverable copy of the data at the specified secondary location. Learn more about GRS here.
In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Any attempt to complete an action, will result in an error. Click Cancel (A) to return back to the storage volumes list page.
Click Edit under the icon for one of the existing storage volumes.
Note: In this demonstration environment, edit access to storage volumes is not provided, hence the option will be seen disabled. The next steps will explain the different attributes of this option.
Although the edit storage volume option is disabled, the modifiable attributes of a storage volume are provided here for reference.
- The name of the volume can be modified after it is provisioned. Remember, the name must be unique within the PowerVS workspace.
- The storage tier can be modified. However, if the volume is set to Fixed IOPs or is being changed to the Fixed IOPs tier, the size of the volume cannot be changed at the same time.
- The size of the volume can be increased from its current size up to the maximum of 238,705 GB. The size of the volume cannot be decreased.
- Non-bootable volumes can be toggled between shared and unshared.
- A volume can be marked as bootable. Bootable volumes cannot be shared. It is possible for a single VSI to have multiple bootable volumes. PowerVS randomly selects a bootable volume as the instance's boot volume if the original is no longer bootable. VSIs must have at least one bootable volume.

Storage volumes that are not actively in use by VSI can also be deleted from the edit menu. Learn more about managing storage volumes here.

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. In the steps that follow, you will NOT have the ability to create, edit, or delete resources in the IBM Technology Zone environment. Steps are provided to get familiarity with different PowerVS feature(s).

The IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) logs all the events and notifications from the IBM Cloud console. You can access these events and notifications in the Event logs page.

The Event logs pages for PowerVS workspace provides a view of the 400 most recent logs within the current and previous month. These logs show the recent activities, and provide details (like who performed the action) about the event.

You can choose to enable or disable notifications for events on all workspaces. If you disable the notifications, you can still access the logs from the Event logs page.

Click the Event logs (A) option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace.
Click Log notification settings (A).
Review the Log notification settings and then click Cancel (A).

Don't see any notifications?

Since event logs only displays events in the current and previous month, it is possible that you may not see any events. If that is the case, you won't be able to follow the steps below; however, the images below will help you understand the type of information that is logged and to what level of detail.
Expand (A) one of the events in the table. This event is related to a Virtual Server Instance (VSI) resource type and was triggered when an IBM i VSI was created. Note, if no events have been generated in last 60 days, there may not be an event to examine.
The next image lists the events that were triggered when the AIX VSI in the demonstration environment was provisioned (Hint: Notice the date/time stamps). As part of the AIX VSI provisioning, a storage volume powervs-volume-2025 was also created and the VSI was attached to a public network public-192_168_222_224-29-VLAN_2060, both of those events are seen in the event logs.

For more information on event logs and notifications, refer to this link.

PowerVS clients can use IBM Cloud Monitoring and IBM Cloud Logs services to monitor and log events that are related to their PowerVS deployments. Learn more about these options in Part 8 - Observing PowerVS resources.

Important information about the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. In the steps that follow, you will NOT have the ability to create, edit, or delete resources in the IBM Technology Zone environment. Steps are provided to get familiarity with different PowerVS feature(s).

Complimentary products and services are available for IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS).

Click the Additional products and services (A) option in the side menu under the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace. Each of the tiles that are listed represents products and services that can be integrated with PowerVS. You are encouraged to click each of the tiles to learn about these products and services.

Note, these are not all the products and services available for PowerVS. Others can be found by going to the IBM Cloud catalog and searching on either PowerVS or Power Virtual Server.

Ended: Part 6 - Explore other PowerVS topics

Part 7 - Use the PowerVS command line interfaces (CLI) ↵

IBM Power Systems Virtual Server (PowerVS) provides command-line interfaces (CLI) as a plug-in to the IBM Cloud CLI. The PowerVS CLIs provide system administrators the ability to manage their PowerVS environment through command-line and scripting. Usually a seller would not demonstrate this capability unless they were doing so to a technical audience, like system administrators that are responsible for provisioning PowerVS resources.

PowerVS provides application programming interfaces (APIs) to automate these actions within an application. The PowerVS APIs are not covered in this demonstration guide. Learn more about the PowerVS APIs here.

PowerVS has published a Terraform provider to allow administrators to use infrastructure as code (IaC) to automate the provisioning of PowerVS resources. The Terraform provider is outside of the scope of this demonstration guide. Learn more about the PowerVS provider here.

Next, explore various CLI instructions that can be issued by using the IBM Cloud Shell to administer a PowerVS instance. Topics include:

Inspecting all PowerVS services provisioned
Setting the service target of the IBM Cloud Shell to the instance ID of the PowerVS environment
Setting the target of future PowerVS plug-in commands to an environment variable
Inspecting the four virtual machines (VMs) provisioned as part of the PowerVS environment, including AIX and RHEL
Restarting a virtual machine programmatically
Generating an SSH private key for managing the PowerVS environment

Hundreds of CLI instructions are available. The goal is not to be exhaustive and not go into every command in detail, but rather to provide a representative sampling of jobs that can be run programmatically with the CLIs. Using this foundational knowledge, more tailored demonstrations can be crafted for specific client needs.

Now, explore several of the IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) command-line interfaces (CLIs).

For this exercise, the IBM Cloud Shell is used. IBM Cloud Shell gives users complete control of their cloud resources, applications, and infrastructure, from any web browser. IBM Cloud Shell provides pre-authenticated access to tools and programming languages for cloud-based development, deployment, and management of services and applications. IBM Cloud Shell is instantly accessible from the IBM Cloud portal. The IBM command-line interface (CLI) along with all the IBM Cloud CLI plug-ins are preinstalled in IBM Cloud Shell, including the PowerVS CLIs.

It is also possible to install the IBM Cloud CLIs and PowerVS CLI plug-in on other systems, like personal desktop and development servers. Learn more about installing the PowerVS CLI locally here.

To get started, first open the IBM Cloud Shell from the IBM Cloud portal:

Open the IBM Cloud Portal: https://cloud.ibm.com/ and authenticate with your IBM Cloud credentials.
Change to the 2305900 - ITZ - ADHOC03 account.

Tip

If the browser window is narrow, this icon: is seen instead of the current account name as shown in the preceding screen capture.
Click the IBM Cloud Shell icon .

The next steps are run in the IBM Cloud Shell window that was opened.

To avoid typographical errors copy the command line by using the icon when it is available. Then paste the contents into the IBM Cloud Shell using keyboard shortcuts (operating system specific, for example, Ctrl-V for Windows OS), or right click in the IBM Cloud Shell and select Paste or "Paste as plain text" option.

To display a concise list of all command-line options for the PowerVS plug-in, use the pi argument, which stands for power-iaas. This command provides a summary of available options and their functionalities. Note that pi is also referred to as a plug-in for the ibmcloud command.
```
ibmcloud pi --help | more
```
Tip for novice Linux users!

If you are not familiar with Linux commands, don't worry. The preceding command is two commands. The first is ibmcloud pi --help. This command runs the help option of the PowerVS plug-in. The second command is more. This command pauses the output being displayed. The "|" or pipe character takes the output from the first command and sends it as input to the second command. Search the internet for Linux primer to learn more about Linux commands.
Press the space bar to continue the output. Continue to press space bar several times to scroll through the complete output.

Notice the last part of the message: Use "pi [command] --help" for more information about a command. Use this to get more help on individual PowerVS plug-in commands.
For example, to list detailed help on PowerVS images, use the image plug-in command.
```
ibmcloud pi image --help
```
List all the PowerVS workspaces provisioned in the account.
```
ibmcloud pi workspace ls
```
Sample output

To view the PowerVS virtual server instances (VSI) in the workspace, the workspace target must first be set for the PowerVS plug-in.
Set the workspace target by using the instance ID of the workspace.
```
workspaceID=`ibmcloud pi workspace ls 2>&1 | grep PowerVS-L3-2025 | awk '{print $NF}'`
```
Tip for novice Linux users!

The command above did 3 actions...
- ibmcloud pi workspace ls 2>&1: Lists all workspaces in IBM Cloud PowerVS and redirects both standard output and standard error to standard output.
- grep PowerVS-L3-2025: Filters the output to include only lines containing the string PowerVS-L3-2025.
- awk '{print $NF}': Uses awk to print the last field of the filtered line.
Finally, the output was stored in an environment variable called workspaceID. Why? Because no one wants to type crn:v1:bluemix:public:power-iaas:wdc07:a/ba0e33c9056f470ca19de009747ec654:3e5453c4-6adb-46be-b25d-417adcec9dbb:: to run the next command.
Use the $workspaceID environment variable to set the target of future PowerVS plug-in commands to the PowerVS-L3-2025 workspace (workspace used in this demonstration).
```
ibmcloud pi workspace target $workspaceID
```
Sample output
List all the PowerVS instances provisioned in the targeted PowerVS workspace.
```
ibmcloud pi instance list
```
Sample output
View the details of the AIX-VM instance.
```
ibmcloud pi instance get AIX-VM
```
Sample output

Thus far, all of these commands are read commands. The PowerVS CLIs also support create and update commands, but remember user IDs have access restrictions in this shared environment. Try the instance update command and see what happens.

Recall that the Power environment consists of three PowerVM instances: AIX-VM, Linux-VM, and IBMi-VM. Up until now, commands were issued against AIX-VM. Given that the testing environment is primarily limited to read-only actions, try inspect one of the other VMs and determine what (if any) differences exist between the various instances.

Issue the following command to the IBM Cloud Shell:
```
ibmcloud pi instance get Linux-VM
```
And then issue a second command:
```
ibmcloud pi instance get IBMi-VM
```
Notice that the two tables are nearly identical, but differences do exist due to the operating systems used on each VSI.
There are numerous reasons why one might want to generate an SSH private key for managing a PowerVS environment. In fact, that's exactly what the service's administrators did to authorize your access to the PowerVS instances. Recall when first connecting to the PowerVS virtual machines remotely through the IBM Cloud Shell using the Secure Socket Shell (SSH) command with the supplied key information, in Part 5 - Accessing PowerVS instances section.

The IBM Cloud Shell can generate an SSH key that can be used to configure password-less authentication (in other words, allowing users to authenticate without needing to also supply a password). Using IBM Cloud Shell, or any Linux environment, run the following ssh-keygen command:
```
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N '' -f newKey
```
Tip for novice Linux users!

The above command performs the following 4 actions...
- ssh-keygen: Invokes the SSH key generation tool.
- -t ed25519: Specifies the type of key to generate, in this case, an Ed25519 key, which is known for its high security and performance.
- -N '': Sets an empty passphrase for the key, meaning no passphrase is required to use the key.
- -f newKey: Specifies the filename for the generated key, which will be newKey for the private key and newKey.pub for the public key.
In summary, this command generates a new Ed25519 SSH key pair without a passphrase and saves the keys to files named newKey and newKey.pub. newKey is the private key and newKey.pub is the public key.
After the SSH key pair is generated, it can be listed using the following command:
```
ls -l
```
Sample output

Next, use the PowerVS CLIs to create a key for the VSI by using an imported RSA public key. Specify the key pair that was generated as the source (newKey). Do so by using the following command. (Note: newKeyPOWER is the name of the CLI-generated key that is to be created; newKey is the SSH key generated earlier by using the IBM Cloud Shell).
```
ibmcloud pi ssh-key create newKeyPOWER --key newKey
```
SSH keys

The SSH key-pair generated and assigned by this step is specific to IBM Power Systems. These are distinct from ones generated previously by using the IBM Cloud Shell.

Sample output

As expected, the instruction fails to run because of insufficient (locked down) permissions within this demonstration environment. Next, experiment with other IBM Power CLIs.
For example, restart the Linux-VM instance, and see what happens.
```
ibmcloud pi instance action -o soft-reboot Linux-VM
```
Sample output

There are over 100 PowerVS CLIs. Explore more CLIs by using the ITZ environment. Remember, use ibmcloud pi --help or ibmcloud pi <command> --help to get detailed information on a command's usage.

Ended: Part 7 - Use the PowerVS command line interfaces (CLI)

Part 8 - Observing PowerVS resources ↵

IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) deployments can take advantage of many other IBM Cloud services and products. One area of particular interest to many clients is around observability of resources and activity.

In the next chapters, examine how PowerVS clients can use IBM Cloud Monitoring and IBM Cloud Logs to monitor and log events that are related to their PowerVS deployments.

IBM Cloud Monitoring offers visibility into the performance and health of cloud-based infrastructure and applications, with in-depth troubleshooting and alerting. Learn more about IBM Cloud Monitoring here.

For this demonstration guide, an IBM Cloud Monitoring instance is already provisioned. This instance monitors the resources that are part of the PowerVS-L3 resource group in the shared cloud account. Your user ID has permission to open and view the IBM Cloud Monitoring dashboard.

In the steps that follow, learn how to:

access the IBM Cloud Monitoring instance by using the IBM Cloud portal
open the IBM Cloud Monitoring dashboard
view the standard PowerVS dashboard that shows the performance and health of the PowerVS resources

Note, this demonstrate guide does not provide detailed information on provisioning, configuring, and customizing IBM Cloud Monitoring. Nor does it provide details on the meaning of individual performance metrics that are reported.

Click the IBM Cloud portal menu icon (A).
Expand the Observability (A) menu and click Monitoring (B).
Click PowerVS-L3-Monitoring (A).

Explore the settings for this monitoring instance.
Click Dashboard (A).

The IBM Monitoring dashboard opens in a new browser tab or window. You may be asked to reauthenticate to IBM Cloud when the new window is opened.
Navigate to the new browser tab or window and click Dashboards (A) in the side menu.
Click IBM Power Systems Virtual Server Overview (B) dashboard under the IBM (A) section.

Your view looks different?

The images that follow were captured when both the new and old PowerVS workspaces existed for this learning plan. Your view will likely only show a single Power Instance and three Power Virtual Server instances.
Notice that the bottom of the dashboard provides controls to adjust the time frame for the charts presented on the dashboard. The default is set to one hour (1H). To see more data and make the charts appear more interesting, consider changing the time setting to two weeks. Click 2W (A).

Now, explore the various charts (also known as panels) that make up the default PowerVS overview dashboard. Understand that IBM Cloud Monitoring has many more capabilities like the ability to customize dashboards, create new dashboards and panels, monitor for specific events, and send alerts when events occur.

Refer to the link provided earlier to learn more about all the capabilities of IBM Cloud Monitoring.

IBM Cloud Logs is a scalable logging service that persists logs and provides users with capabilities for querying, tailing, and visualizing logs.

Logs are comprised of events that are typically human-readable and have different formats, for example, unstructured text, JSON, delimiter-separated values, and key-value pairs. You can use the events to investigate abnormal activity and critical actions and to comply with regulatory audit requirements. IBM Power Virtual Server automatically generates events so that you can track activity on your service.

IBM Cloud Logs replaces IBM Log Analysis and IBM Cloud Activity Tracker

As of 30 March 2025 the IBM Log Analysis and IBM Cloud Activity Tracker services are no longer supported. IBM Cloud Logs replaces these two services. For information about IBM Cloud Logs, see the IBM Cloud Logs documentation. Also it is important to note that while IBM Cloud Activity Tracker is being deprecated, activity tracker events will be supported in both the new IBM Cloud Logs service and with the existing IBM Cloud Activity Tracker Event Routing service. See Deprecation FAQ for more details. You may also refer to this blog for guidance on migrating your Activity Tracker instances to Cloud Logs.

For this demonstration guide, an IBM Cloud Logs instance is already provisioned. This instance tracks activities for the resources that are part of the PowerVS-L3 resource group in the shared cloud account. Your user ID has permission to open and view the IBM Cloud Logs dashboard.

In the steps that follow, learn how to:

Access the IBM Cloud Logs instance by using the IBM Cloud portal
Open the IBM Cloud Logs dashboard
Explore activities that are related to the PowerVS resources in this environment

Note, this demonstration guide does not provide detailed information on provisioning, configuring, and customizing IBM Cloud Logs, nor does it provide details on the meaning of individual activities.

Click the IBM Cloud portal hamburger (A) menu, expand the Observability (B) menu and click Logging (C).
The Observability page will open. Expand Logging (A) menu and click Instances (B).
All the Cloud Logs instances will be displayed. As mentioned earlier, an IBM Cloud Logs instance (CL-PowerVS-L3 (A)) already provisioned can be seen here. Click Dashboard (B).
Cloud Logs dashboard page will open up in a new browser tab or window. Navigate to the new browser tab or window, click Explore Logs (A) and select Logs (B).
Configure the filters to view only PowerVS specific logs. To do that, select the checkbox ibm-audit-event (A) under Application section, enter power-iaas (B) in the search box under Subsystem section and click Select All (C) to select all the power-iaas checkboxes that appear. These settings narrow the events in the current view to those related to the PowerVS infrastructure resources. IBM Cloud Logs can also filter based on the severity level of the event. For example, informational, debug, warning, errors, and critical events.
The search results window (A) displays PowerVS activity events. If no events are visible, click the Timeline (B) option and choose a different timeline, by expanding the time range or selecting an earlier time period, until the events appear.
Double-click (A) anywhere on an event to open it and view the details. The Text column provides finer details about the selected event. This includes information like what the event was (action), who initiated it, the outcome of the event and many more. Explore a few of the different events that exist.

For a complete list of all IBM Cloud Logs events for IBM Power Virtual Server, visit this page

Ended: Part 8 - Observing PowerVS resources

Part 9 - New features ↵

In the following chapters, learn about new features that were added to the PowerVS offering while or after this course was developed.

The dedicated host capability on IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) offers clients the ability to provision an entire Power server for their exclusive use. Clients can handle mission-critical workloads with complete isolation, control, and security.

The hourly billing for a Dedicated host on PowerVS covers the entire server. Using a dedicated host provides extra flexibility to create virtual server instances and control their placement, along with a shared processor pool capability. This means clients can optimize their cloud infrastructure by using single-tenant servers to manage software licensing costs. Most importantly, dedicated hosts increase isolation from other cloud tenants, allowing their operations to run smoothly and securely.

Important information regarding the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Users do NOT have the ability to step through the provisioning process for a dedicated host in the demonstration environment. The following click through demonstration covers the provisioning steps of a dedicated host.

Due to the limited number available dedicated hosts and associated costs, a dedicated host was not reserved for this demonstration environment in IBM Technology Zone.

Note, fields that require a text entry (for example workspace name) are pre-populated in the click through demonstration.

Tip

Not sure where to click or what to do next? Click anywhere on the screen and the next spot to click is highlighted.

Open the following link and then click play button to begin the demonstration.

Click through demo: Provision a Dedicated Host

Tips for maximizing the click through experience

Follow this click through guide to complete the demonstration. In case of uncertainty regarding the next click, clicking anywhere on the screen will prompt a green highlight box to indicate the next clickable area. For optimal performance, adjust the browser’s zoom percentage to ensure the entire demonstration screen fits within the viewable area.
Click Dedicated hosts in the left menu bar.
Click Reserve host +.
Click Create new +.

Dedicated host groups can be shared with other workspaces to share the capacity of reserved dedicated hosts.

Dedicated hosts can only be reserved into host groups that are created by the current workspace. After a dedicated host is reserved, it cannot be moved between host groups.

Click in the Dedicated host group name field.

Note the ability to share the Dedicated host group between workspaces. Selected workspaces have secondary access to all dedicated hosts within the group and are able to use and view their capacity. Secondary workspaces cannot reserve dedicated hosts into the group, or share with other workspaces.

Click Save.
Click in the Host name field.
Click the Machine type pull-down menu.

As of April 2025, PowerVS supports reserving either Power S922, S1022, E1050 or E1080 servers as dedicated hosts. Availability of dedicated hosts varies by data center. At the time this click through demonstration was created, the data center specified by the workspace only had S922 servers available.

Click S922 (15 cores | 1.02 TB).
Click Finish.
Click I agree to the Terms and conditions.
Click Create.

A dedicated host is now being provisioned. This process took approximately 10 minutes.

After a host is reserved, users are able to provision virtual server instances by using either the provided standard operating system images or imported custom images. Shared processor pools (SPPs) can also be created in a dedicated host.

That concludes the click through demonstration. Remember, you can use your active ITZ reservation to explore the pre-created dedicated host in the PowerVS workspace: PowerVS-L3-workspace

Learn more about dedicated hosts here.

A deployable architecture is cloud automation for deploying a common architectural pattern that combines one or more cloud resources. It is designed to provide simplified deployment by users, scalability, and modularity. A deployable architecture incorporates one or more modules. Deployable architectures are coded in Terraform, which you configure with input variables to achieve a wanted behavior. Learn more about deployable architectures here.

As of April 2025, IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) has 2 deployable architectures in the IBM Cloud Catalog.

Power Virtual Server with VPC landing zone

Provisioning Power Virtual Server with Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) landing zone by using deployable architectures provides an automated deployment method to create an isolated PowerVS workspace and connect it with IBM Cloud services and public internet. Network management components like DNS, NTP, proxy servers, and NFS as a Service might be installed. Comparing the provisioning through the projects UI, user interaction is minimized and ready-to-go deployment time of a PowerVS workspace is reduced from days to less than 1 hour. Learn more about this deployable architecture here.
Power Virtual Server for SAP HANA

SAP solution provisioning on PowerVS using deployable architectures provides an automated deployment method to create a PowerVS landscape with SAP HANA systems. User interaction is minimized and SAP system deployment time is reduced from weeks to days. This deployable architecture is a composition or stack of this deployable architecture and the Power Virtual Server with VPC. Learn more about this deployable architecture here.

The click through demonstration that follows steps through the provisioning of the Power Virtual Server with VPC landing zone deployable architecture. A brief tour of the environment is also provided in the click through demonstration. The deployed solution is available in the IBM Technology Zone environment that is associated with this demonstration guide. You have view-only access to the PowerVS workspace and the associated virtual private cloud (VPC).

Several prerequisite steps were completed before provisioning the deployable architecture. These include creating an IBM Cloud application programming key (API) and an IBM Cloud Secrets Manager instance. The API key was also added to the secrets manager instance. In addition, an SSH public and private key pair was created to enable access to the VSI create by the deployable architecture.

Use the click through demonstration to experience provisioning a deployable architecture for PowerVS.

Note, fields that require a text entry (for example workspace name) are pre-populated in the click through demonstration.

Tip

Not sure where to click or what to do next? Click anywhere on the screen and the next spot to click is highlighted.

Open the following link and then click play to begin the demonstration.

Click through demo: Provision the Power Virtual Server with VPC landing zone Deployable Architecture
Click Catalog.
Select Deployable architectures under Type.
Click the **Power Virtual Server with VPC landing zone tile.
Click See more.
Click See less.

The Power Virtual Server with VPC landing zone as 'Quickstart' variation of 'Create a new architecture' option deploys VPC services and a Power Virtual Server workspace and interconnects them. It also creates one Power virtual server instance of chosen t-shirt size or custom configuration.
Click Add to project.
Click the Name field.

IBM Cloud projects are a named collection of configurations that are used to manage related resources and deployments across accounts, embracing an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach to deployments. They enable teams to configure, deploy, and monitor deployments by using DevOps best practices. Each project includes tools to scan for potentially harmful resource changes, compliance, security, and cost, tracking configuration versioning, and governance. They are designed with an IaC and a compliance-first approach that helps to ensure that a project is managed, secure, and always compliant. Learn more here.
Click the Description field.
Click the Region drop-down.

Note, the availability of deployable architectures vary by data center based on resource availability.
Click Dallas.
Click the Resource group drop-down.
Click Create.

The next steps specify required configuration parameters for deploying the resources that are defined by the deployable architecture. In addition to the security and other required parameters, optional parameters can be specified. All these parameters are saved with the project and can be used to consistently deploy the same configuration and to manage drift of deployments.

Click the method drop-down in the Authentication section.

Both Trusted profiles and Secrets Manager are supported for providing authentication credentials.
Click API key using Secrets Manager.
Click the key icon.

Note, the recording did not capture properly here. In short, the previously uploaded API key was selected from the secrets manager instance.

Click the Required tab.
Click the powervs_zone drop-down.
Click Dallas (dallas).
Click the prefix field.

The prefix is used in naming resources created during the automation for the deployable architecture.
Click the tshirt-size field.

Recall with this deployable architecture, a PowerVS VSI is provisioned. The configuration of the VSI needs to be specified. In addition, although not shown in this click through, the operating system image for the VSI can be specified in the optional parameters.
Click AIX-XS.
Click the pencil icon under ssh_public_key.
Click the Edit secure value field.

As mentioned earlier, an SSH public and private key pair must be created before starting the deployable architecture. This key pair might also be stored and retrieved from the secrets manager instance.
Click OK.
Click the pencil icon under ssh_private_key.
Click the Edit secure value field.
Click OK
Click the powervs_resource_group_name drop-down.
Click PowerVS-L3

Note the external_access-ip addressed specifies the IP address that can be used to access the PowerVS address. A specific route entry is created in the associated VPC network to allow this connection.
Click Save
Click Validate.

This step validates the configuration and parameters that were set. The scan looks for code errors, compliance, issues, and calculates the cost of the deployment. The scan took about 15 minutes to complete.
Click the Add a comment field.
Click Approve.
Click Deploy.

The actual deployment of the architecture takes about 30 minutes to complete. While this is processing, examine the underlying activities.
Click the plus icon to open a new tab to the IBM Cloud portal.
Click the hamburger menu.
Click Projects.
Click da-pvs-l3.
Click the Configurations tab.

Notice the deployment status of the configuration.
Click the hamburger menu.
Click Workspaces in the Schematics menu.
Click deploy-arch-ibm-pvs-inf-c0aa.
Click Expand.

The log entries that are shown are all the steps that are processed as part of the deployable architecture. You don't need to read them. Understand the automation is creating and validating all the resources that are defined by the deployable architecture. Including the VPC and associated networks, the VSIs in the VPC, and the PowerVS VSI.
Click the deploy-arch-ibm-pvs-inf-c0as browser tab.

Notice the information and options presented. The deployment succeeded. It took 29 minutes to complete.
Click the x to close the dialog.

Important

The next steps are specific to the click through demonstration, but they can also be used with an active IBM Technology Zone (ITZ) reservation associated with this demonstration guide. You can proceed with the click through demonstration or switch to the IBM Cloud portal. Make sure you are using the 2305900 - ITZ - ADHOCO3 account.

Click the hamburger menu.
Click Resource list.
Click the da-pvs-l3-us-south-power-workspace entry under Compute.

Notice that the workspace name has the prefix that was specified during the configuration steps of the deployable architecture. Also, the extra small AIX VSI has been provisioned and is active.
Click Subnets.

Notice, like shown in the architecture diagram of the deployable architecture, two subnets are created for the workspace. One for a management network and one for a backup network.
Click the hamburger menu.
Click VPC Infrastructure.
Click VPC layout.

In the next steps, examine the resources that are associated with each subnet.

Click da-pvs-l3-edge-vsi-edge-zone-1.
Click da-pvs-l3-edge-vpn-zone-1.
Click da-pvs-l3-edge-vsi-management-zone-1.
Click da-pvs-l3-edge-vpe-zone-1.
Click Virtual server instances.

Notice the two VSIs provisioned in the VPC for the deployable architecture.

That concludes the click through demonstration. Remember, you can use your active ITZ reservation to explore the deployed architecture in the PowerVS workspace: da-pvs-l3-us-south-power-workspace and the provisioned VPC: da-pvs-l3-edge-vpc.

Important information regarding the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Provisioning a Power edge router is not permitted within this environment. The following activity offers an overview of the Power edge router and includes links for further information.

A Power Edge Router (PER) is a high-performance router that provides advanced routing capabilities for IBM® Power Virtual Server users.

PER improves network communication across different parts of the IBM network. The PER solution creates a direct connection to the IBM Cloud Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) backbone, making it easy for different parts of the IBM network to communicate with each other. The PER solution consists of two routers that enable an aggregate connectivity of 400 Gbps to each Power Virtual Server Performance Optimized Data (POD) center. A POD is a modular data center.

Availability of PER capability

The PER capability will be deployed in all the data centers over time. See Data centers that support PER for more information.

By using PER solution, as a Power Virtual Server user you can access other IBM Cloud services, such as IBM Cloud domain name server (DNS), Network Time Protocol (NTP), and Cloud Object Storage. You can connect to these services without having to use proxies or virtual routers, as the PER solution includes a Network Address Translation (NAT) device that simplifies the access process.

The following network architecture diagram explains how the PER is integrated into the IBM Cloud environment:

For more details on PER, refer to this link

Important information regarding the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Provisioning a SAP or SAP HANA on Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) is not permitted within this environment. The following activity offers an overview of the RISE with SAP on PowerVS capability and includes links for further information.

For over half a century, enterprises have used IBM's infrastructure to host their mission-critical SAP systems, for round-the-clock operations while safeguarding sensitive business data.

RISE with SAP helps clients modernize their ERP landscape and migrate it to the cloud. It combines outcome-driven services, cloud ERP on SAP S/4HANA® and other key platforms that can help transform the enterprise operating model. However, transitioning to a cloud ERP solution can be complex.

To help accelerate client's move to cloud ERP, SAP® will offer RISE with SAP on IBM® Power® Virtual Server. IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) offers a unique advantage to these enterprises: It is designed to let them migrate to RISE with SAP with less disruption by keeping their applications and databases on the same hardware architecture they currently use. This helps them execute a swift transition to RISE with SAP and be on a highly resilient and secured cloud platform.

Because multi-model, in-memory databases like SAP HANA place high demands on underlying infrastructure, running SAP HANA on powerful, reliable servers is essential to achieving optimum performance. Created to support data-intensive workloads, IBM Power® provides an outstanding platform for SAP HANA, is certified by SAP, and offers key business advantages.

By running SAP HANA on IBM Power servers, enterprises can also significantly strengthen business continuity and protect against downtime. In its latest Server OS Reliability Report, Information Technology Intelligence Consulting (ITIC) discovered that 91 percent of all IBM Power servers they tested delivered 99.999 percent reliability¹. And in its most recent Server OS Security Report, ITIC found that IBM Power customers reported an average downtime of less than 3.3 minutes over a 12-month period².

This level of rock-solid reliability has made IBM Power a staple for every organization that drives its critical business processes with SAP HANA.

The below infographic shows the benefits enterprises can get by running SAP HANA on IBM Power:

For more information on RISE with SAP on IBM PowerVS, refer to the seismic sales kit page here

Important information regarding the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Provisioning a IBM Cloud® Security and Compliance Center Workload Protection (SCC WP) is not permitted within this environment. The following activity offers an overview of the SCC WP and includes links for further information.

IBM Cloud® Security and Compliance Center Workload Protection (SCC WP) offers a comprehensive suite of security solutions to help your organization secure its cloud environments. Security and Compliance Center Workload Protection centrally manages your organization’s security, risk, and compliance with regulatory standards and industry benchmarks.

In highly regulated sectors such as financial services, continuous compliance in the cloud environment is crucial to protect customer and application data. Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) is one of the key features of the Security and Compliance Center Workload Protection service. When this feature is enabled, the CSPM ensures that automatic compliance checks are integrated in your development workflow to mitigate such risks on a daily basis.

CSPM helps with:

Continuous validation of compliance
Vulnerability prioritization
Detection and response to runtime threats
Forensics and incident response

Clients can enable the CSPM feature in their new and existing Power Virtual Server workspaces. CSPM provides a unified platform to manage security and compliance across hybrid and multicloud environments and services.

After provisioning an instance of the Security and Compliance Center Workload Protection service in IBM Cloud, clients can deploy the Workload Protection agent on their Linux or AIX hosts on IBM® Power® Virtual Server (PowerVS). Workload Protection provides the following features to protect their stand-alone Linux or AIX hosts on Power Virtual Server:

Posture management
Host scanning
Threat detection and response

For more information on integrating IBM Cloud SCC WP with IBM PowerVS, refer to this document.

Important information regarding the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Provisioning a Cobalt Iron backup service is not permitted within this environment. The following activity offers an overview of the Cobalt Iron backup service and includes links for further information.

IBM Cloud® Partner Cobalt Iron® provides an automated backup offering for AIX and Linux instances of IBM® Power® Virtual Server. The backup offering is called Secure Automated Backup with Compass® from now on referred as “Backup Offering”.

The Backup Offering is powered by Cobalt Iron Compass and is accessible from the IBM Cloud catalog. By ordering from the IBM Cloud Catalog, IBM Power Virtual Server customers get a simple, secure, and automated backup and restore experience that turns on within minutes of ordering.

Secure Automated Backup with Compass automates all operational tasks and complexities, allowing customers to protect their data quickly and securely. Prior to this offering, customers had to manually select, install, configure, optimize, manage, monitor, maintain, and secure all components of a backup infrastructure in order to protect their workloads in Power Virtual Server (PowerVS).

Learn more about this backup offering announcement here.

Learn more about PowerVS backup strategies for AIX and Linux operating systems, here.

Learn more about PowerVS backup strategies for IBM i operating system, here.

Important information regarding the demonstration environment!

In this demonstration environment, full access to the IBM Cloud account is NOT provided. Provisioning a DR automation service is not permitted within this environment. The following activity offers an overview of the DR automation and includes links for further information.

IBM Power Virtual Server DR Automation® simplifies disaster recovery by automating the recovery of virtual machines, leveraging IBM Cloud infrastructure to offer a flexible, scalable, and efficient DR process. DR Automation provides a single interface to manage DR processes for IBM PowerVS environments. Use DR Automation to ensure the continuity of operations with minimal manual intervention.

Key features include:

Automated failover and failback: Automate the failover process, ensuring that workloads resume quickly in the backup environment.
Monitoring and recovery: Monitor the health and status of DR sites.
Customizable recovery settings: Define recovery priorities and configurations for different VMs.

Deploy DR Automation from the IBM Cloud Catalog UI, which provides an intuitive interface for selecting and configuring recovery services. The solution automates the recovery of virtual machines (VMs) and workloads, synchronizing data and managing replication between sites to protect critical operations.

IBM Power Virtual Server Public Cloud officially supports Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), IBM i, and IBM AIX® operating systems for creating virtual servers and configuring them as managed virtual machines to enable DR.

With robust automation, DR Automation minimizes downtime, reduces manual tasks, and enhances business resilience.

For more information on DR automation, refer to this document.

Ended: Part 9 - New features

Part 10 - Next steps ↵

This Level 3 demonstration guide showed how easy it is to provision resources with IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS). Users learned the basics for managing PowerVS resources. But there is still more to learn about PowerVS. Links to specific PowerVS topics were provided throughout this demonstration guide. Take the time to read the official PowerVS documentation to learn the full capabilities of the offering.

Finally, remember to complete the IBM Power Systems Virtual Server - Level 3 learning plan.

IBMers sales must complete a Stand and Deliver exercise to validate their ability to demonstrate PowerVS to potential clients. Refer to the evaluation rubric in the learning plan to prepare your Stand and Deliver.

Business Partners must pass the PowerVS quiz from learn.ibm.com. Remember, take the quiz while the reservation to the TechZone environment is active. The Business Partner quiz verifies use of the demonstration environment and not general knowledge of the PowerVS offering.

Ended: Part 10 - Next steps

Support

Think something is down? Check the applicable status pages for any known issues like a site or service not available:

For issues with provisioning the ITZ environment for this lab (for example, a failed reservation request due to insufficient quota capacity) open a ticket with ITZ support:

!!NEW!! - AI chatbot support: AskTZ: Your Fastest Path to Support
Web: IBM Technology Zone
Email: techzone.help@ibm.com

For issues related to specific steps found in the demonstration guide after the ITZ environment is provisioned, contact the author:

Email: deepakcshetty@in.ibm.com
Email: andrewj@us.ibm.com

Business Partners can also use the IBM Training live Chat Support service or other support methods that are found on the IBM Training portal here.