Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER IBM eServer Solutions Enablement

Introduction to license management for
Linux on POWER
Clifford Spinac
Linda Kinnunen
IBM eServer Solutions Enablement
Published: June 2005
Updated: August 2005
© Copyright IBM Corporation, 2005. All Rights Reserved.
All trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.
Table of contents
Abstract......................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3
Traditional license management ................................................................................. 4
Linux on POWER partitioning and sub-capacity licensing........................................ 5
POWER5 processor partitioning ..................................................................................... 6
Shared processor partitions............................................................................................ 6
Capped and uncapped mode ......................................................................................... 7
Virtual processors........................................................................................................... 7
Processor partitioning and license management ............................................................ 8
Determining processor resources available to a partition................................................ 9
Dynamic logical partitioning and license management...................................................10
Operating system license entitlements ..........................................................................11
Sub-capacity licensing for IBM Middleware ...................................................................12
License management products available for Linux on POWER ..............................14
IBM Tivoli License Manager ..........................................................................................15
Deployment .............................................................................................................16
Product entitlement..................................................................................................17
Administering licenses and metering software use...................................................17
Reporting.................................................................................................................17
Common License Manager (CLM).................................................................................18
EasyLicenser.................................................................................................................18
FLEXnet Publisher.........................................................................................................18
Summary......................................................................................................................19
Resources....................................................................................................................19
Trademarks and special notices ................................................................................21
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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Abstract
As a Linux™ on POWER™ independent software vendor, how do you deal with the issue of
licensing your product in a manner that adequately balances your customers’ needs with
your concerns about revenue growth and the unique features of the POWER5™
architecture? Perhaps you’re wondering whether you should develop your own in-house
solution or deploy a commercially available one.
To help you answer these questions, this paper provides an overview of traditional license
management methods, discusses specific Linux on POWER features that can affect
licensing, and then lists several currently available license management solutions for you to
consider.
Introduction
License management enables independent software vendors (ISVs) to ensure that their
customers comply with the terms and conditions of their license agreements. A
successful license management solution will allow an ISV to price and package its
products with the flexibility that their customers want, while increasing revenue and
growth for its product line.
The over-head of developing and maintaining an “in-house” license management
solution can be prohibitively expensive. For this reason, many ISVs deploy commercial
software license solutions that provide the most current methodologies available today.
Not only does this provide you, the ISV, with a tested, production-ready solution, but it
also alleviates the onus of having to develop and maintain your own.
With the introduction of micro-partitioning and dynamic LPAR on POWER5 processorbased servers, licensing becomes even trickier. For example, fractional processors in a
micro-partition are usually rounded up to the next whole number to account for license
entitlements. And, for dynamic partitions, processor resources can be increased or
decreased “on the fly”, which can also affect license entitlements.
To help you make an informed decision about how to handle licensing for your software,
this paper provides an introduction to license management for Linux on POWER. It
begins by describing some of the more common license management methods, then
outlines specific Linux on POWER licensing considerations, and finally introduces
several commercially available license management solutions that run on the POWER
platform.
Throughout this paper, you’ll find that we highlight IBM Tivoli® License Manager (ITLM)
as a possible solution. We’ve done this not only because you may want to consider
using ITLM (or one of the other solutions we list) to implement license management for
your software, but we also want to illustrate specific ITLM functionality that you can use
to create your own license management models.
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Traditional license management
Most license management solutions offer support for one or more of the following license
models that you should be familiar with:
•
Metered pricing
Metered pricing is used to track and price services by usage. Typically, there is a
set amount of data transfer included in the base fee, with a per MB charge for
any data transfer beyond that base amount. Some examples of metered pricing
include, tracking requests for Web services, metering the amount of data coming
through a firewall, or counting the number of transactions processed over a
period of time for a transaction server.
•
Node-locked
With a node-locked license, an application is available only on a single machine
for which the license was created for as long as the license remains valid. Nodelocked licenses are typically used for standalone, rather than client/server,
applications, such as software development and debugging tools or specialized
industry applications.
•
Network
Also known as a floating license, a network license is stored on a network license
server and is shared among multiple network concurrent license clients. This
means that anyone on the network can use the licensed application, up to the
concurrent limit specified in the license. This model is frequently used in a
client/server or thin client environment for applications such as word processors
and productivity applications.
•
Per-processor or hardware-based
A per-processor license requires a separate license for each processor on the
server. Server operating systems and middleware (databases, application
servers, etc.) usually follow this model.
Generally, software refers to a processor as a functional unit within a computing
device that interprets and executes instructions. With multi-core chip technology,
each core is considered a processor. Usually, licensing for multi-core chips
requires a multi-processor license. For example, a dual core POWER5 chip
contains two processors and will typically require you to license your software for
two processors using a per-processor based license model.
However, some software licenses have recently started counting multi-core chips
as less than one processor license per core for software licensing purposes. An
example of this is from an April 21, 2005 announcement by IBM1 for unique
software pricing for servers and blades based on 32-bit and 64-bit x86
compatible architectures and for OpenPower™ 710 and 720 servers that
implement dual core server chips. For both the x86 Architecture and
1
http://9.45.75.143/services/passport.nsf/0E96EE0EE56582FD85256A81005FD2C3/B12A0CB8E3F634A485256FEA00
711F7E?OpenDocument
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OpenPower™ platform, only one IBM middleware software processor license will
be required for the two processors on each dual core chip.
•
User-based
A user-based license has a one-time or monthly charge for each user who
accesses the software. This model is most frequently used in a workstation
environment, such as a small office or home environment.
License management solutions also offer a choice of entitlement enforcement or
compliance methods. Examples of entitlement compliance include:
•
Allowing the product to only start if a sufficient license is available.
•
Allowing the product to run if a license is available but not the correct level or
quantity.
•
Allowing the product to always run and record the use of the product as
unlicensed for later reconciliation (or possible later license regranting).
License management entitlement enforcement is often used to assist in software
marketing. The entitlement compliance can be adjusted for marketing campaigns such
as try-and-buy, limited trial usage, and limited time demos.
In addition, license management solutions often provide reports that cover installation
history, usage, and usage trends. These reports are used by site administrators,
corporate procurement managers, and software manufacturers to track licensing
compliance.
In many cases, software vendors offer combinations of these models, compliance
techniques, and reporting functions for their customers. To realize the benefits gained
from implementing a license management solution on the POWER5 platform, you should
carefully assess the available options and understand the special considerations specific
to Linux on POWER solutions.
Linux on POWER partitioning and sub-capacity licensing
POWER processors have increased system performance capabilities over the last
several years. Each processor can handle significantly larger workloads than in the past
and can also be combined into multi-processor systems. In addition, logical partitioning
allows you to consolidate the workload of several smaller systems onto a larger system.
However, the advanced virtualization features of POWER5 such as dynamic micropartitioning make it necessary for you to consider a licensing methodology that offers
various license models, including a unique model known as sub-capacity licensing.
Sub-capacity licensing allows you to license software products on a machine that is
divided into multiple partitions. In this case, you license the software based on the
processor resources of the partitions where the software is run instead of the fullcapacity of the entire machine. To implement a complete license management solution,
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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you should offer your customers sub-capacity licensing as well as a combination of
tradition license management models.
POWER5 processor partitioning
IBM eServer™ p5, eServer i5, and eServer OpenPower™ POWER5 processor-based
systems support multiple ways to divide their processor resources across several logical
partitions. The division of resources can also be dynamic, thereby better utilizing the
resources as they are needed across the multiple partitions.
Partitions are created and configured with the Hardware Management Console (HMC).
When a partition is created, it can have system processors allocated to it in one of two
ways:
•
Dedicated processors – whole processors are allocated to a specific partition
•
Shared processors – processors are allocated to a pool, which is shared among
several partitions
Figure 1 provides a graphical view of how dedicated processor partitions and shared
processor partitions work. Partition 1 and 2 are dedicated processor partitions. Partition
3, 4, and 5 are micro-partitions, which share 7 processors from the shared processor
pool.
Figure 1. Example of POWER5 partitioning
Processor
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Shared Processor Pool
Partition
1
2
Processors 4
1
3
4
5
7 Shared processors
Shared processor partitions
Micro-partitioning allows multiple partitions to share one or more physical processors.
These partitions are called shared processor partitions. The processors in the shared
processor pool are not associated with a specific partition.
Shared processor allocations to a partition can be by whole processors or in fractional
parts. These fractional parts can be a minimum of 1/10th of a processor and can be
adjusted in increments of 1/100th of a processor (for example, 1.25 processors). Each
shared processor can be shared by up to 10 processor partitions. This concept of
allowing allocation of fractions of processors to a partition is referred to as micropartitioning. In addition, processing units are used to define the maximum amount of
equivalent processor power that a partition can use.
A partition is defined by a Logical Partition Profile, using the HMC. The profile specifies
desired, minimum, and maximum processing units for the partition. When the partition is
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activated, its allotted processor capacity is usually referred to as capacity entitlement or
entitled capacity.
The POWER Hypervisor™ continually adjusts the amount of processor capacity
allocated to each shared processor partition and any excess capacity that is unallocated.
The POWER Hypervisor also dispatches and time-slices the physical processors
between the shared processor partitions.
Capped and uncapped mode
Shared processor partitions can run in either capped or uncapped mode. In capped
mode, the processing units never exceed the assigned processor capacity. Therefore,
the capped partitions are never assigned more processing capacity than their capacity
entitlement, even if the processor capacity is going unused. In uncapped mode, idle
processor resources in the shared processor pool can be assigned to a shared partition.
In this manner, a shared partition can receive more capacity than its entitled capacity.
When an uncapped partition is created, it is also given an uncapped weight. The
uncapped weight is a whole number between 0 and 255, with a default of 128.
Distribution of idle processing units is then assigned to multiple uncapped logical
partitions based on the partitions’ uncapped weight. The higher the uncapped weight,
the more idle processing units are assigned to the uncapped partition.
Virtual processors
A virtual processor is a “virtual” representation of a physical processor to the operating
system of a logical partition that uses the shared processor pool. The processing units
that a partition receives are spread equally across the virtual processors. The optimal
number of virtual processors for a partition varies because some application
environments benefit from greater concurrence, while others require greater power with
less concurrence.
By default, the number of processing units that are specified for a partition is rounded up
to a whole number for the number of virtual processors. You can change the default
configuration to assign more virtual processors if the partition requires greater
concurrence.
Shared processor partitions have at least as many virtual processors as their assigned
processing capacity. In addition, the processing capacity of an uncapped partition cannot
exceed the number of virtual processors. Therefore, if the number of virtual processors
for an uncapped partition is set too low, the partition may not receive available unused or
idle processor capacity. Typically, the virtual processors are set to the number of
processors in the shared pool.
Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between the ways that the processors are allocated
to partitions.
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Figure 2. Relationship between partitions and allocated processors
LPAR
LPAR
LPAR
Virtual
Shared
Dedicated
Inactive
Physical
(Installed)
Processor partitioning and license management
There are several methodologies that license management can utilize in relation to
processor partitioning and entitlement capacity. Originally, license management was
done on a per system basis. As software was developed for SMP servers, licensing
based on the number of physical processors in the system was added to license
management. Then, when logical partitioning was introduced, software could be licensed
per instance of use on the same server in separate partitions. And now with micropartitioning, software can utilize an advanced license management methodology based
on sub-capacity licensing. This becomes especially important when the software product
utilizes a shared pool of processors.
Sub-capacity license management allows you to base your product license on various
partitioning, entitlement, and configuration scenarios. For example, you may choose a
license management solution based on the number of processors in dedicated
processor partitions that are using the software, added to the number of processing units
or virtual processors in shared processor partitions that are using the software.
You may also consider combining sub-capacity licensing with traditional methods of
license management. For example, you could base your license on a system wide
license charge by using one of the traditional license models and then add a charge for
sub-capacity licensing.
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Determining processor resources available to a partition
To utilize sub-capacity licensing, the licensed software must obtain information about the
processor resources of the partition on which it runs. This determination can be made at
software startup, but might also be determined on a periodic basis. On POWER5
processor-based systems, this information can be determined from the file
/proc/ppc64/lparcfg. By using this file, license management software can determine
information such as the number of virtual processors, which is located in the field
partition_active_processors.
Listing 1 shows the lparcfg for a partition that has 0.33 processing units and two virtual
processors. Notice that the partition_entitled_capacity = 33, for 33/100ths (0.33)
processing units entitled capacity. This is the number of desired processing units set for
this example’s partition profile. However, the partition_active_processors = 2 for the two
virtual processors. Also, notice that shared_processor_mode = 1 and capped = 0.
Therefore, this is a micro-partition that is uncapped and can utilize up to two processors
out of the idle shared processors in the pool.
Listing 1. Example lparcfg file for a partition
# cat /proc/ppc64/lparcfg
lparcfg 1.5
serial_number=IBM,0210BE5ED
system_type=IBM,9113-550
partition_id=4
R4=0x21
R5=0x0
R6=0x80040000
R7=0xc80000030004
BoundThrds=1
CapInc=1
DisWheRotPer=2070000
MinEntCap=33
MinEntCapPerVP=10
MinMem=256
MinProcs=1
partition_max_entitled_capacity=200
system_potential_processors=4
partition_entitled_capacity=33
group=32772
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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system_active_processors=4
pool=0
pool_capacity=300
pool_idle_time=0
pool_num_procs=0
unallocated_capacity_weight=0
capacity_weight=200
capped=0
unallocated_capacity=0
purr=8586906604
partition_active_processors=2
partition_potential_processors=5
shared_processor_mode=1
Dynamic logical partitioning and license management
When a partition is activated, multiple resources are placed under the control of that
partition. Dynamic logical partitioning (dynamic LPAR) allows processor and I/O
resources to move while the partition is running, without having to reboot the Linux
partition. Managing the resources in the system is done with the Hardware Management
Console (HMC). Dedicated and shared processor partitions allow for the following
processor resource changes:
•
Dedicated partitions allow you to dynamically add, move, or remove whole
processors.
•
Shared processor partitions allow you to add, move, or remove entitled shared
processor capacity, change the weight of an uncapped partition, add and remove
virtual processors, and change between capped and uncapped processing.
A license manager should monitor for changes in system resources made with dynamic
LPAR. The software product license entitlements can again be verified when these
resource changes are made. In addition, these resource changes can be recorded and
tracked along with the software usage.
Licensing for software products usually requires the customer to determine the
maximum number of processors on which each product runs across the potential
configurations that use dynamic LPAR.
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Operating system license entitlements
Licensing terms for Linux on eServer p5, eServer i5, and eServer OpenPower servers
are set by the Linux distributors, not by IBM. You should check with the distributors for
information about their licensing terms and conditions on their respective Web pages.
The two Linux distributions currently supported by IBM are:
•
Novell SUSE
http://www.novell.com/products/linuxenterpriseserver/pricing.html
•
Red Hat, Inc.
http://www.redhat.com/software/rhel/compare/server/
Customers license IBM AIX® or IBM i5/OS® for a machine, and they purchase license
entitlements based on the number of physical processors in an LPAR. The maximum
number of license entitlements required does not exceed the number of processors in
the system. However, if the system is partitioned with a combination of operating
systems then operating system license entitlements depend on the partition type, for
example:
Dedicated processor
The operating system license entitlement is equal to the number of processors.
Shared processor
The license entitlements are based on whether the partition is capped or
uncapped:
Capped partition
The license entitlements are equal to the processing units rounded up to the
next whole number. Rounding is performed after all of the capped partition
processing units are added together.
Uncapped partition
The license entitlements are equal to the number of the virtual processors.
On a per operating system product basis, the total entitlements for the shared processor
pool cannot exceed the number of processors in the pools, just as the total entitlements
cannot exceed the number of processors in the system.
Figure 3 shows an example of calculating operating system license requirements for AIX
and i5/OS. The licensing entitlements for this example are as follows:
•
Eleven i5/OS license entitlements – four for the dedicated partition (partition 1)
and seven for the virtual processors in the uncapped partition (partition 5)
•
Two AIX license entitlements – one for the dedicated partition (partition 2) and
one for the processing units in the capped partition (partition 3)
•
The Linux license entitlement for partition 4 is based on the Linux distributor’s
licensing model
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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Figure 3. Example calculating operating system license requirements
Processor
1
Partition
i5/OS (1)
Processors 4
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
AIX
(2)
Shared Processor Pool
1
7
10
11
Capped
Capped
Uncapped
AIX (3)
Linux (4)
i5/OS (5)
Virtual
Processors
4
4
7
Processing
Units
1.00
2.00
4.00
12
Sub-capacity licensing for IBM Middleware
To meet the needs of IBM’s on demand strategy and IBM customers’ desire for server
consolidation, IBM has announced the availability of sub-capacity software licensing for
selected IBM middleware running on Linux on POWER. Sub-capacity licensing helps to
align licensing costs with capacity requirements. However, since some customers may
not meet the eligibility requirements, which are described below, customers may still
choose to order the sub-capacity licensed products in a full-capacity environment.
The sub-capacity licensing terms on the select IBM Middleware have the following
additional eligibility requirements over a standard license:
•
IBM Tivoli License Manager for IBM Software must be installed, registered, and
configured to enable collection of program use data on all machines that are
subject to the sub-capacity terms
•
IBM Tivoli License Manager must be used to monitor program use and submit to
IBM an IBM Use Report each calendar quarter
•
Agreement to the sub-capacity attachment to a Passport Advantage program
Each supported middleware product includes a no fee entitlement for IBM Tivoli License
Manager for IBM to track the deployment of the sub-capacity licenses. However, you
must purchase a fully functional IBM Tivoli License Manager (ITLM) to monitor
additional software usage. The fully functional version and license would be desirable for
a company that wants to track the deployment and licensing of other IBM and non-IBM
software.
The quantity of sub-capacity license entitlements required for sub-capacity licensing
follows the same rules as the IBM operating system entitlement rules. To calculate the
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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required license entitlements for the IBM operating systems, you need to use the smaller
value of either of the following:
•
The total number of active processors in the machine
Or
•
The sum of the following items, with any remaining fraction of a processor
rounded up to a full processor for each machine:
1. When a program is run in partitions with dedicated processors, the sum of the
processing units of those partitions
And
2. When a program is run in partitions assigned to the processor pool, the
smaller of:
•
The number of processors assigned to the pool
Or
•
The sum of the virtual processors of each uncapped partition
plus the processing units in each capped partition
Figure 4 illustrates an example of an 8-way machine configured with a dedicated
partition with two processors. The remaining six processors are in a shared processor
pool with three partitions. WebSphere® Application Server is configured to run in the
dedicated partition. It is also configured to run in two of the partitions in the shared
processor pool – one capped at 2.2 processing units and one capped at 2.4 processors.
Figure 4. Example calculating sub-capacity license entitlements
Processor
1
Partition
Linux (1)
2
3
4
6
7
8
Shared Processor Pool
WebSphere
Processors
2
6
Capped
Capped
Uncapped
Linux (2)
Linux (3)
Linux (4)
WebSphere
WebSphere
Virtual
Processors
3
3
4
Processing
Units
2.20
2.40
0.50
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To calculate the license entitlements:
1. Calculate the shared pool requirements: 2.2 + 2.4 = 4.6, which is rounded up to
five license entitlements.
2. Add the license entitlements for the dedicated partitions (two license
entitlements) to the shared pool requirements from step one: 2 + 5 = 7
So, in this example, seven license entitlements are required for WebSphere Application
Server.
As of the writing of this article, the following middleware program products are eligible for
sub-capacity licensing (though not all of these products are available yet for Linux on
POWER):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
WebSphere MQ V5.3
WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker with Rules and Formatter
Extension V5.0
WebSphere MQSeries® Workflow V3.5
WebSphere Application Server V5.0, V5.1, V6.0
— WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V5.1, V6.0
— WebSphere Application Server V5.0, V5.1, V6.0
TXSeries™ V5.0
WebSphere Data Interchange V3.2
WebSphere Everyplace™ Connection Manager without WAP V5.1
WebSphere Business Integration Event Broker V5.0
WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker V5.0
WebSphere Portal Enable for Multiplatforms V5.0, V5.1
WebSphere Portal Extend for Multiplatforms V5.0, V5.1
DB2® Data Links Manager V8.2
DB2 Net Search Extender V8.2
DB2 UDB Data Warehouse Enterprise Edition V8.2
DB2 UDB Enterprise Server Edition V8.2
DB2 UDB Enterprise Server Edition V8.2 for Multiplatforms for Linux on zSeries®
WebSphere InterChange Server V4.3
As other products are provided with sub-capacity licensing and they are enabled with
signatures for ITLM, they will be added to the Sub-Capacity Eligible Products list, which
is available from IBM Sales Representatives or Business Partners.
License management products available for Linux on POWER
There are several commercially available license management solutions that run on the
POWER platform. This section lists some of them for your consideration. Even if you
plan to do the development in-house, you may still want to review the features and
functions of these products to use as “best practice” models for your own solution.
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IBM Tivoli License Manager
The IBM Tivoli License Manager (ITLM) is a Web-based solution that provides license
management, software usage metering, and license allocation services for software
products. ITLM has many features that exceed the standard requirements for a license
manager, including:
•
Consolidation of information about products installed and software usage
•
The capability to compare the figures for created, installed, and used licenses
•
The capability to associate contracts to licenses
•
The ability to assign licenses to a distribution quota
•
The capability to enforce licensing agreements
•
Maintenance of historical software usage information and the provision of reports
to assist in forward planning for license needs
•
Real-time reporting of software and license usage information, and an inventory
of installed software
•
Ability to export reports in standard XML interface
•
Automatic generation of alerts when license usage reaches a defined level
•
A flexible architecture that enable scaling of the installation to fit license
management needs
•
A flexible method of defining rules for license allocation, including the facility to
assign pools of licenses for specific users, nodes, and groups of nodes
•
Easy production of monthly usage and installs information reports
ITLM also provides license management for several different types of licenses including:
•
Concurrent Network, Node-lock, Users Node-lock
•
IPLA Full Capacity and Sub-capacity
•
Installs
•
Simple Node-lock
•
Users Network and Reserved
ITLM uses a policy record in a license definition to identify the required support for these
different license management models and to determine whether the use of the product
should be monitored. In addition, the compliance settings can be defined by an
administrator or corporate procurement or license administrator/manager through the
ITLM administration functions.
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Deployment
Tivoli License Manager monitors software usage through the deployment of a Tivoli
License Manager agent. The agent is installed on the computers and partitions on which
the software will be monitored. The monitored software program must be included as an
entry in the Tivoli License Manager catalog of software products. A license definition is
then created on the administration server which defines the licensing model and
determines if sub-capacity entitlement rules should apply, for example.
Figure 5 illustrates the components of Tivoli License Manager deployed in a customer’s
environment to monitor the computers, Server-A and Server-B, both of which have two
partitions. An agent is deployed to monitor the use of software products in each partition.
Figure 5. Tivoli License Manager customer environment example
The catalog of software products is a knowledge base that enables the agent to
determine which software products are present and in use on a monitored computer.
Entries in the catalog are organized into a hierarchical structure of products, product
versions, and product releases. Entries are added to the catalog by information collected
by the agents about applications, and from an IBM maintained catalog.
The product catalog is searched for one or more products, to define the policy that
servers must adopt for granting licenses and whether product use should be monitored.
Product compliance settings are then defined by the administrator using the
administration server.
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Product entitlement
ITLM allows you to define product entitlement. When the entitlement is set, ITLM can
restrict whether the product is entitled to run offline, whether the product has a high, low,
or minimum enforcement, and whether product monitoring is enabled.
When a product is enabled for disconnected use, ITLM stores usage information for the
product in the agent cache, while the agent is disconnected. When the agent
reconnects, the information is uploaded to the runtime server.
ITLM enables the following product entitlement enforcement or compliance levels:
•
High – online requests are forwarded at the application start, and the server
grants license instance only when a valid license exists for the requesting agent
and there is sufficient quantity. Set the compliance level to high when you want
starting product sessions to run only if a license can be granted.
•
Low – online requests are forwarded at application start, and the server grants a
license instance when a valid license exists and there is sufficient quantity, or
when no valid license exists for the requesting agent. Set the compliance level to
low when you want starting product sessions to run if a license is valid without
considering its availability, exists, and can be granted, or no valid license exists
for the request.
•
Minimum – usage requests are cached by the agent and no online request is
issued at application start. Set the compliance level to minimum when you want
starting product sessions to run regardless of the existence of a suitable license.
ITLM also provides the capability to enable product monitoring. Reports are then
produced based on the monitoring being performed by the various agents.
Administering licenses and metering software use
ITLM can also enforce conditions for licenses, as well as meter the usage of software by
recording and reporting their presence and levels of usage on monitored systems.
Administration of licenses and metering of software depends on license pools for a
software product. The license pools contain the number of licenses available, any
limitations on the availability of the license pools to specified users and systems and
rules that control allocation of licenses when the limit is reached. License pools are
defined on the administration server and are automatically deployed to the runtime
servers.
When software use hits the thresholds, ITLM can send automatic e-mail notifications to a
company’s license administrators. This notification can then be used to activate business
processes that help enforce license compliance.
Reporting
ITLM provides both real-time and historical reporting. Real-time reports contain the
status of software usage on a specific runtime server, and can be accessed on the
server from a Web browser. Historical reports are available on the administration server
through the administration server’s Web interface. Snapshot reports that report inventory
and software usage (at a specified time) information are also available. In addition,
reports with graphical format trends in usage of a product and summaries of the highest
and average usage are also available.
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Common License Manager (CLM)
Absoft Common License Manager (http://www.absoft.com/Products/Tools/clm.html) provides
a customizable framework for software license management. It consists of a client
library, a license server, and several management tools. License management with CLM
provides these benefits:
•
Licenses can be managed on each machine or consolidated on a single server
over a network
•
Licenses can easily be extended with information specific to your needs
•
Each installation is unique, eliminating the possibility of duplicate license key
generation
•
CLM can be used for license management of any software product or library
•
A single CLM server can manage licensing for Mac OS X, Linux and Windows
clients
EasyLicenser
Agilis EasyLicenser (http://www.agilis-sw.com/ezlm ) is a 100% Java License Manager.
Software license management with Easylicenser provides these benefits:
•
Fast integration into your applications
•
Low-cost: as economical as $2 per incremental end-user license; no other fees
•
An array of license models, with unlimited expansion
•
Robust security, even for Java applications
•
Sales opportunity management and audit capabilities that enable you to
maximize your revenue
FLEXnet Publisher
Macrovision FLEXnet™ (http://www.macrovision.com/products/flexnet) provides a broad
possible range of license management capabilities for software publishers and
enterprise customers. FLEXnet Publisher subsumes the functionality formerly offered by
Macrovision’s legacy products FLEXlm, GTLicensing and Safecast. FLEXnet Publisher
provides the following licensing capabilities:
•
Licensing Module for rapid customization of product licensing and packaging
terms
•
Utility Pricing Module for a variety of usage-based pricing models
•
Promotional Licensing Module for promotional and trial versions of software
•
Enhanced Security Module for prevention of software piracy
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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•
Operations Module for automating the entire license generation, fulfillment and
renewals process
•
Update Service Module for electronically delivering updates and messages to
customers
Summary
Whether you decide to tackle creating your own license management solution, or you
plan to deploy a commercially available one, it’s important that you be informed about
how the virtualization features of Linux on POWER can affect licensing. To that end, this
paper introduced how license management has traditionally been done; described how
the micro-partitioning and dynamic LPAR features of POWER5 have made it necessary
to implement the sub-capacity licensing model; and identified several commercially
available license management products for you to consider.
For more information about license management for Linux on POWER implementation,
methods, and products, refer to the Resources section below.
Resources
IBM Redbooks at ibm.com/redbooks
•
Partitioning Implementations for IBM eserver p5 Servers - SG24-7039
•
Advanced POWER Virtualization on IBM eserver p5 Servers: Introduction and
Basic Configuration - SG24-7940
•
Introducing IBM Tivoli License Manager - SG24-6888
IBM Web sites and articles
•
IBM Tivoli License Manager:
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/tivoli/products/license-mgr/
•
IBM Tivoli software information center:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/td/IBMTivoliLicenseManager2.1.html
•
IBM Tivoli License Manager 2.1 – Administration
•
IBM Tivoli License Manager 2.1 - Planning, Installation, and Configuration
•
License Use Management: License Types:
•
Sub-capacity licensing for select IBM Passport Advantage eligible programs
running on UNIX, IBM eServer iSeries, and Linux platforms help improve
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/lum/ltype.html
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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flexibility and price/performance:
http://www-306.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/3/897/ENUS205-093/
•
DB2 Universal Database and dual core and sub-capacity licensing - An update
on technology pricing trends:
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/db2/library/techarticle/dm0505zikopoulos/#aDLPARsubcapacityexample
•
Dual Core pricing announced -- updated 4/28/05
Middleware Software Licensing on x86 Architecture and OpenPower™ Platform
Dual Core Chips
http://9.45.75.143/services/passport.nsf/0E96EE0EE56582FD85256A81005FD2C3/B12A
0CB8E3F634A485256FEA00711F7E?OpenDocument
IBM White Papers
•
IBM Tivoli License Manager: Intelligent software license management to help
optimize business value:
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/software/tivoli/whitepapers/wp-license-mgr.pdf
•
Linux on POWER: An overview for developers:
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-pow-devoverview/
License Managers
•
Absoft Common License Manager:
•
Agilis EasyLicenser :
•
Macrovision FLEXnet:
http://www.absoft.com/Products/Tools/clm.html
http://www.agilis-sw.com/ezlm
http://www.macrovision.com/products/flexnet
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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Trademarks and special notices
© IBM Corporation 1994-2005. All rights reserved.
References in this document to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends
to make them available in every country.
AIX®
DB2®
eServer
Hypervisor
i5/OS
IBM®
OpenPower
POWER
POWER5
Power Architecture
Tivoli®
The following terms are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in
the United States, other countries, or both:
Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both.
Other company, product or service names may be trademarks or service marks of
others.
Information is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind.
All customer examples described are presented as illustrations of how those customers
have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Actual environmental
costs and performance characteristics may vary by customer.
Information concerning non-IBM products was obtained from a supplier of these
products, published announcement material, or other publicly available sources and
does not constitute an endorsement of such products by IBM. Sources for non-IBM list
prices and performance numbers are taken from publicly available information, including
vendor announcements and vendor worldwide homepages. IBM has not tested these
products and cannot confirm the accuracy of performance, capability, or any other
claims related to non-IBM products. Questions on the capability of non-IBM products
should be addressed to the supplier of those products.
All statements regarding IBM future direction and intent are subject to change or
withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only. Contact your local
IBM office or IBM authorized reseller for the full text of the specific Statement of
Direction.
Some information addresses anticipated future capabilities. Such information is not
intended as a definitive statement of a commitment to specific levels of performance,
function or delivery schedules with respect to any future products. Such commitments
are only made in IBM product announcements. The information is presented here to
communicate IBM's current investment and development activities as a good faith effort
to help with our customers' future planning.
Introduction to license management for Linux on POWER
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Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM
benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance that any
user will experience will vary depending upon considerations such as the amount of
multiprogramming in the user's job stream, the I/O configuration, the storage
configuration, and the workload processed. Therefore, no assurance can be given that
an individual user will achieve throughput or performance improvements equivalent to
the ratios stated here.
Photographs shown are of engineering prototypes. Changes may be incorporated in
production models.
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