IBM License Use Mangement is the IBM product for technical license management.
IBM License Use Management allows other software products to be license-enabled. The execution of a license-enabled software is subject to some restrictions, like the availability of a key or product password.
Licensing systems are usually used by software vendors to protect their intellectual property while providing cusotmers with a software asset management tool. The license enablement process is based on the addition of some API calls into the product code.
License Use Management components
License Use Management Application Developer's Toolkit (ADK)
- Required to develop license-enabled applications
- Provides the License Use Management API and supporting libraries
- Includes License Use Management Runtime
License Use Management Runtime Kit (ARK)
- Provides runtime support for License Use Management license-enabled applications
- Implements the Licensing System: License Servers and administration tools
- Operates on a stand-alone machine or in a LAN/WAN
- Is free of charge, you can download it from License Use Management Support
License Creation Tool (LCT) for AIX
- Generates Enrollment Certificate Files (ECF) which contain the product password that must be installed into the License Server database
The software vendor uses the License Use Management Application Developer's Toolkit (ADK) to license-enable the application, which is later shipped to the customer. The vendor also generates the Enrollent Certificate File (ECF) with the use of License Creation Tool. The ECF contains the product password which specifies all license information, such as product identifier, license type, the number of license units, validity period, etc. The ECF is a text file that you can ship to the customer either with the product or separately.
The customer needs to install and configure the ARK only once. ARK can be freely distributed with the product or can be made available any other way. You can also download it from License Use Management Support.
The customer enrolls the product by importing the Enrollment Certificate File using the Basic License Tool (BLC), which is the graphical interface provided by the ARK to the License Server. Once the product has been enrolled, licenses are added to the License Server database. Then the application can check the entitlement by requesting a product-specific license from the License Server.
The customer accesses the License Server using the BLT to obtain all the information about the licensing activity and to access the log files.
The ADK
The Application Developer's Toolkit (ADK) contains the tools needed to implement licensing technolgy in an application program. Software vendors code API calls in their products and embed the code that services the API calls to license-enable the product.
The ADK offers great flexibility as to the level of control to be exercised over the enabled application, the type of customer licensing environment for which the application is intended, and the implementation of various policies.
The ARK
License Use Management Runtime contains the tools needed to manage licenses and obtain up-to-date information about license usage. The ARK is free of charge and can be downloaded from License Use Management Support. The ARK includes the License Server and the Basic License Tool (BLT).
The LCT
LCT is a command line interface program, which creates Enrollment Certificate Files (ECF), according to the specified parameters.
The ECF
The ECF is a text file generated by the License Creation Tool. It contains an encoding of all the information related to the technical license. The ECF is usually imported during the enrollment of the product by means of the BLT. License Use Management also supports automatic enrollment (no user intervention is required). The ECF can be distributed in the same media along with the product or as a separate file.
Licenses
In order to run, the application requests one or more licenses. The application specifies a set of parameters which define the product password installed in the license server database and passes them on to the License Server.
The License Server then checks the existence and the validity of the product password and returns a status code to the application, which takes appropriate actions. The License Server does not enforce any policy, it only describes the current situation.
Depending on the terms of the software product acquisition, vendors can implement two kinds of licenses - nodelocked licenses and network licenses. A nodelocked license is stored on the workstation where the license-enabled product is installed, for the exclusive use of that node.
With network licenses, a full client/server configuration must be set up for License Use Managment as the License Server grants licenses to any client in the network. A license, in the context of License Use Management, is permission to use an instance of a licensed software product or service, according to the basis on which the vendor charges for the product or service. Note that the term license does not refer to the license agreement that governs the use of and rights to a product.
The BLT
The Basic License Tool (BLT) is a powerful tool that interfaces the License Use Management licensing system. The BLT is a part of ARK and it is responsible for:
- Product enrollment in the License Use Management licensing system
- License distribution to License Use Management license servers
- Administration of all the license servers that have been set up in the network
- Network-wide view of the license activity for all the License Use Management - enabled products
- Monitoring usage data and setting customizable tresholds to provde instantaneous view of license entitlement use and license trespassing
- Management of specific license types that need to be reserved for specific users or nodes
- Exercising customer-controlled policies
- Providing access to all the information logged by the License Server, including a convenient full reporting on all the usage data and administration activities occurring during specified timeframes
The License Server
The License Server is the heart of the licensing system. It is where all the licenses are stored. The main purpose of the License Server is to grant licenses to clients. The License Server is a part of ARK and it can be configured to be either or both:
- Network License Server which grants licenses to any client
- Nodelock License Server which grants licenses only to clients running on the local node.
There is also a third kind of license server configuration which is only required to manage special license types. It is the Central Registry License Server. The central registry is a repository of information that all the other network license servers can use. If you plan to install customer-managed products with network licenses, or products with reservable licenses, you must identify one central registry. Otherwise, the central registry license server is not required.
The Enabled Application
To enable an application, software vendors code API calls in their products and embed the code that services the API calls. The products become license-enabled.
The Runtime Libraries
The Runtime Libraries provide the enabled application with a means of accessing all servers supported by the License Use Management licensing system.
License Use Management deployment architecture
The diagram below is an example of licensing network architecture on a LAN/WAN.
In this example, a License Use Management-enabled application runs on the same host as the Nodelocked License Server. A Network License Server is available on a separate host and there is also a machine that accommodates the Central Registry.
The application gets its license either from the Nodelocked License Server or the Network License Server, depending on the type of the license requested. The Central Registry is involved in the process of acquiring the license only in particular cases.
The vendor perspective
License Use Management enables software vendors to:
- Ensure that customers use software licenses in accordance with the agreement
- Base product prices on the actual usage of the product
- Protect intellectual property from unauthorized use
- Distribute software for a trial period with trial licenses that can be replaced with production license, thus minimizing distribution cost
In the license-enabling process, the software vendor can:
- Select among various types of licenses
- Decide whether to distribute licenses one-by-one or in packages of multiple licenses from which individual ones can be extrated
- Execute control over the use of enabled products, or make it possible for the customer to control the use of the products
- Impose or allow the user to impose various types of control over how licenses are administered
A customer perspective
License Use Management enables the customers of software vendors to:
- Ensure that they have enough licenses to satisfy their business requirements and, at the same time, that they are not paying for more licenses than they need
- Base software charges within the enterprise on the actual usage
- Demonstrate license use compliance to internal and external auditors
- Protect organizations from inadvertent violations of license agreements
- Change software assets to alternative pricing policies offered by the vendor