System Software Maps Provide Quick Answers on OS Support

Edit: I still look at these from time to time.

Originally posted February 12, 2019 on AIXchange

Some weeks back Nigel Griffiths tweeted something that seemed familiar. 

He noted that IBM Support has system software maps for AIX, IBM i, VIO server, SUSE, Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux. The maps allow you to quickly locate all the IBM Power Systems server models that support these operating systems. 

Seeing Nigel tweet about this reminded me that I wrote about the software maps in 2015

These pages are regularly updated and of course now include the POWER9 servers. But as I noted then, you don’t need to be on the latest and greatest hardware to benefit from this information. For instance, the AIX maps extend all the way back to RS/6000 models. Being able to easily determine supported OS versions is especially helpful should you need to deploy workloads on older repurposed hardware. 

As Nigel says, this is a useful webpage, so bookmark it. Don’t wait for us to remind you about this great tool again. You may not need it on a daily basis, but you’ll want this information at your fingertips.