IBM Support

How to move licenses to a new server

Question & Answer


Question

How do you migrate/move IBM Rational Software license keys to a new server in the IBM Rational License Key Center?

Answer

The following steps describe how to transfer your licenses to a new server.
  1. Log in to (or register for, using the Don't have a password link) your company's IBM Rational License Key Center account(s) via the IBM Support - Licensing page.
  2. Click on the link Return keys in the left margin.
  3. On the Return Keys page select the relevant product line of which you wish to move the license keys to the new server.
  4. On the My License Keys page select the relevant license key name.
  5. On the Select License Keys page look for the keys that were generated for the old license server host.
  6. Click the button Return next to the licenses that you want to move to the new IBM License Key Server (LKS).

These steps return the license keys created for the old server to the Rational License Key Center pool of available licenses. You repeat these steps for the various product lines and license keys you wish to move.

Once you completed returning all the licenses you want to move, you can generate new license keys for these licenses, using the host details of the new License Key Server (LKS).


IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT RETURNS:
  1. The return operation returns the total quantity of license keys to the available pool.

    For example, You have a key with a quantity of 10 and you only want to return 3 back to the available pool. If you click the Return button, you return the key for all 10 licenses. Therefore, you would then need create a license key for the 7 licenses that continue to be hosted by the original server and a license key for 3 licenses that will be hosted by the new server.
     
  2. By returning the keys back to the available pool, you tell IBM Rational that you no longer use the actual license keys that you downloaded. To ensure your host computers have the same keys and quantities as the License Key Center shows, follow the guidelines below.
  • FLEXlm keys
    • If you returned FLEXlm keys and no longer have any keys on that host, remove the keys.

      For Windows delete the files:
      \Program Files\Rational\Common\rational_*.dat (for RLKS v7.0.1 and earlier )
      or

    • \Program Files\IBM\RationalSDLC\Common\rational_*.dat ( for RLKS v7.1 )
      or

      \Program Files\IBM\RationalRLKS\Common\rational_*.dat ( for RLKS v8.1.x )

      For Linux and UNIX remove the Rational keys from the files:
      /config/license.dat .



    •  
    • If you returned FLEXlm keys that were assigned to a specific host, but you still have one or more keys registered to that host, you need to download and import an updated license file for that host. To do so:
      1. Click View keys by host from the left navigation bar in the License Key Center.
      2. Click the host name from the list, which will take you to the View Licenses by License Hosts page.
      3. Click the View Details button,which will take you to the View Licenses By Host page.
      4. Click the Download Keys button at the top of the page.
      5. Rename or Remove above mentioned existing license files (example: \Program Files\IBM\RationalRLKS\Common\rational_server_perm.dat), import the license.upd or license.dat file with the IBM Rational License Key Administrator (LKAD) on the host machine.

    Classic ClearCase keys
  • If you returned classic IBM Rational ClearCase keys, you need to remove the license strings. These licence strings are associated with the keys, that you returned from the file.
Generating license keys for the new License Key Server
Once you have returned the license keys:
  1. Click on the link "Get keys".
  2. Select the product line for which you wish to create a new license key, which will take you to the My License Keys page.
  3. Select the relevant license key name, which will then take you to the Select License Keys page.
  4. Mark the check box next to the available licenses that you want to use for the new server and click Next.
  5. You should now have arrived at the Required Information page, where you will need to enter all information needed to create new license keys.
  6. Enter the quantity of licenses you want generate for the new server in the Number of keys to generate field.
  7. Leave Use existing host as the default in the Existing Hosts field.
  8. For Host ID, select the correct host id type from the drop-down list and then enter the matching host id of the new server in the field next to it. 
  9. For Host name enter the name of the new License Key Server machine that will serve the licenses.
  10. Port is the port number used by the lmgrd daemon. By default 27000. Only change it if the port is already in use.
  11. Description is a free-form optional field you can use to enter meaningful information about the host for future reference within the License Key Center.
  12. For a Single Server, only complete the first part of the form.
    For a Redundant Server, complete the whole form.
  13. When all required fields have been filled in and verified, click the button Generate.
     
Now you can download the license key file and save it to a new RLKS machine.
Import the newly generated key file on the new License Key Server by using the Rational License Key Administrator (LKAD).

To stay compliant don't forget to remove the old license files from the old License Key Server. R (example: \Program Files\IBM\RationalRLKS\Common\rational_server_perm.dat).


Note on evaluation and temporary keys:

For evaluation keys or temporary keys, you do not need to follow the previous migration steps.

The reason is that these license keys have the host id: ANY; therefore, you can use the keys on any single server computer.

Important: Evaluation or temporary keys are not suitable for redundant server configurations.


Client configuration

To configure the Common Licensing FLEXlm clients to obtain license keys from the new license server, the IBM Rational License Key Administrator > Settings > Client / Server Configuration should be used. Alternatively, for those products that make use of the IBM Installation Manager, Manage Licenses can be used to point the client to the license server host.


Maintenance agreements versus licenses

A license purchase and it's use are independent of any maintenance agreement for the software concerned. If the maintenance agreement expired you will still be allowed to use the product, be it only for the software versions that were released during the time the software was under an active maintenance agreement. You are allowed and able to create / migrate / use license keys for the software (versions) you purchased and downloaded during your maintenance window.

Related Information

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Document Information

Modified date:
25 May 2020

UID

swg21308308