The information contained here is for informational purposes only and pertains specifically to software licensing within the IBM Passport Advantage Program.

For the exact terms and conditions which govern the usage of a specific software program, refer to the software's License Agreement including the International Program License Agreement (IPLA), License Information Documents and any additional agreement under which the software was obtained such as the IBM International Passport Advantage Agreement

User Based Licensing

Authorized user

Authorized User is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. An Authorized User is a unique person who is given access to the Program. The Program may be installed on any number of computers or servers and each Authorized User may have simultaneous access to any number of instances of the Program at one time. Licensee must obtain separate, dedicated entitlements for each Authorized User given access to the Program in any manner directly or indirectly (for example: via a multiplexing program, device, or application server) through any means. An entitlement for an Authorized User is unique to that Authorized User and may not be shared, nor may it be reassigned other than for the permanent transfer of the Authorized User entitlement to another person.

Note: Some programs may be licensed where devices are considered users. In that case the following applies: Any computing device that requests the execution of or receives for execution a set of commands, procedures, or applications from the Program or that is otherwise managed by the Program is considered a separate User of the Program and requires an entitlement as if that device were a person.

Concurrent user

Concurrent User is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. A Concurrent User is a person who is accessing the Program at any particular point in time. Regardless of whether the person is simultaneously accessing the Program multiple times, the person counts only as a single Concurrent User. The Program may be installed on any number of computers or servers, but Licensee must obtain entitlements (Proof of Entitlement(PoE)) for the maximum number of Concurrent Users simultaneously accessing the Program. Licensee must obtain an entitlement for each simultaneous Concurrent User accessing the Program in any manner directly or indirectly (for example: via a multiplexing program, device, or application server) through any means.

Note: Some programs may be licensed where devices are considered users. In that case the following applies: Any computing device that requests the execution of or receives for execution a set of commands, procedures, or applications from the Program or that is otherwise managed by the Program is considered a separate User of the Program and requires an entitlement as if that device were a person.

User Value Unit (UVU)

User Value Unit (UVU) is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. UVU Proof of Entitlement (PoE) are based on the number and type of Users for the given Program. Licensee must obtain sufficient entitlements for the number of UVUs required for Licensee's environment as defined by the specific software terms. The UVU entitlements are specific to the Program and type of user and may not be exchanged, interchanged, or aggregated with UVU entitlements of another program or type of user.

To understand these benefits of User Value Unit licensing and to determine how many User Value Units to obtain, please refer to the program specific User Value Unit table.

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Capacity Based Licensing

Install

Install is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. An Install is an installed copy of the Program on a physical or virtual disk made available to be executed on a computer. Licensee must obtain an entitlement for each Install of the Program.

Managed Virtual Server

Managed Virtual Server is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. A server is a physical computer that is comprised of processing units, memory and input/output capabilities, and that executes requested procedures, commands or applications for one or more users or client devices. Where racks, blade enclosures, or other similar equipment is being employed, each separable physical device (for example, a blade or a rack-mounted device) that has the required components is considered itself a separate server. A virtual server is either a virtual computer created by partitioning the resources available to a physical server or an unpartitioned physical server. Licensee must obtain Managed Virtual Server entitlements for each virtual server managed by the Program

Processor Value Unit (PVU)

Processor Value Unit (PVU) is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. The number of PVU entitlements required is based on the processor technology (defined within the PVU Table by Processor Vendor, Brand, Type and Model Number) and the number of processors made available to the Program. IBM continues to define a processor, for the purpose of PVU-based licensing, to be each processor core on a chip. A dual-core processor chip, for example, has two processor cores.

Licensee can deploy the Program using either Full Capacity licensing or Virtualization Capacity (Sub-Capacity) licensing according to the Passport Advantage Agreement Terms. If using Full Capacity licensing, Licensee must obtain PVU entitlements sufficient to cover all activated processor cores* in the physical hardware environment made available to or managed by the Program, except for those servers from which the Program has been permanently removed. If using Virtualization Capacity licensing, Licensee must obtain entitlements sufficient to cover all activated processor cores made available to or managed by the Program, as defined according to the Virtualization Capacity License Counting Rules.

* An Activated processor core is a processor core that is available for use in a physical or virtual server, regardless of whether the capacity of the processor core can be or is limited through virtualization technologies, operating system commands, BIOS settings, or similar restrictions.

Note: Some programs may require licenses for the Program AND what is being managed. In that case, the following applies: In addition to the entitlements required for the Program directly, Licensee must obtain PVU entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the processor cores for the systems on which the resources managed or processed by the Program reside.

Note: Some programs may be licensed on a managed basis ONLY. In that case, the following applies: Instead of the entitlements required for the Program directly, Licensee must obtain PVU entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the processor cores for the systems on which the resources managed or processed by the Program reside.

Note: A few programs on an exception basis may be licensed on a referenced basis. In that case, the following applies: Rather than obtaining entitlements for the activated processor cores available to the Program, Licensee must obtain PVU entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the environment made available to the Referenced Program as if the Program itself were executing everywhere the Referenced Program was executing, independent of the basis on which the Referenced Program is licensed.

PVUs in Containers

Processor Value Unit (PVU) is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. The number of PVU entitlements required is based on the processor technology (defined within the Processor Value Unit (PVU) licensing for Distributed Software website) and the number of processors made available to the Program. IBM continues to define a processor, for the purpose of PVU-based licensing, to be each processor core on a chip. A dual-core processor chip, for example, has two processor cores.

Licensee can deploy the Program (if supported) using either full capacity licensing, sub-capacity licensing, or container licensing

Licensee must obtain entitlements sufficient to cover all activated processor cores made available to or managed by the Program.

Terabyte

Terabyte is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. A Terabyte is 2 to the 40th power bytes. Licensee must obtain an entitlement for each Terabyte available to the Program.

Note: Some programs may require licenses for the Program and what is being managed. In that case, the following applies. In addition to the entitlements required for the Program directly, Licensee must obtain Terabyte entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the Terabytes managed by the Program. Some programs may be licensed on a managed basis only. In that case, the following applies. Instead of the entitlements required for the Program directly, Licensee must obtain Terabyte entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the Terabytes managed by the Program 

Virtual Processor Core (VPC)

Virtual Processor Core (VPC) is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. A Physical Server is a physical computer that is comprised of processing units, memory, and input/output capabilities and that executes requested procedures, commands, or applications for one or more users or client devices. Where racks, blade enclosures, or other similar equipment is being employed, each separable physical device (for example, a blade or a rack-mounted device) that has the required components is considered itself a separate Physical Server. A Virtual Server is either a virtual computer created by partitioning the resources available to a Physical Server or an unpartitioned Physical Server. A Processor Core s a functional unit within a computing device that interprets and executes instructions. A Processor Core consists of at least an instruction control unit, and one or more arithmetic or logic unit. A Virtual Processor Core is a Processor Core in an unpartitioned Physical Server, or a virtual core assigned to a Virtual Server.

Licensee can deploy the Program (if supported) using either full capacity licensing, sub-capacity licensing, or container licensing.

Notes:
  • Some programs may require licenses for the Program of the lesser of the sum of all virtual cores or all physical cores. In that case, the following applies. For each Physical Server, Licensee must have sufficient entitlements for the lesser of 1) the sum of all available Virtual Processor Cores on all Virtual Servers made available to the Program or 2) all available Processor Cores on the Physical Server.
  • Some programs may require licenses for the Program and what is being managed. In that case, the following applies. In addition to the entitlements required for the Program directly, Licensee must obtain entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the Virtual Processor Cores for the systems on which the resources managed or processed by the Program reside.
  • Some programs may be licensed on a managed basis only. In that case, the following applies. Instead of the entitlements required for the Program directly, Licensee must obtain entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the Virtual Processor Cores for the systems on which the resources managed or processed by the Program reside.
  • A few programs on an exception basis maybe licensed on a referenced basis only. In that case, the following applies. Rather than obtaining entitlements for the Virtual Processor Cores available to the Program, Licensee must obtain Virtual Processor Core entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the environment made available to the Referenced Program as if the Program itself were executing everywhere the Referenced Program was executing, independent of the basis on which the Referenced Program is licensed.

VPCs in Containers

Virtual Processor Core (VPC) is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. A Physical Server is a physical computer that is comprised of processing units, memory, and input/output capabilities and that executes requested procedures, commands, or applications for one or more users or client devices. Where racks, blade enclosures, or other similar equipment is being employed, each separable physical device (for example, a blade or a rack-mounted device) that has the required components is considered itself a separate Physical Server. A Virtual Server is either a virtual computer created by partitioning the resources available to a Physical Server or an unpartitioned Physical Server. A Processor Core is a functional unit within a computing device that interprets and executes instructions. A Processor Core consists of at least an instruction control unit, and one or more arithmetic or logic unit. A Virtual Processor Core is a Processor Core in an unpartitioned Physical Server, or a virtual core assigned to a Virtual Server.

Licensee can deploy the Program (if supported) using either full capacity licensing, sub-capacity licensing, or container licensing.

Licensee must obtain entitlements sufficient to cover all activated processor cores made available to or managed by the Program.

Virtual Server

Virtual Server is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. A server is a physical computer that is comprised of processing units, memory, and input/output capabilities and that executes requested procedures, commands, or applications for one or more users or client devices. Where racks, blade enclosures, or other similar equipment is being employed, each separable physical device (for example, a blade or a rack-mounted device) that has the required components is considered itself a separate server. A virtual server is either a virtual computer created by partitioning the resources available to a physical server or an unpartitioned physical server. Licensee must obtain Virtual Server entitlements for each virtual server made available to the Program, regardless of the number of processor cores in the virtual server or the number of copies of the Program on the virtual server.

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Other Licensing

Resource Value Unit (RVU)

Resource Value Unit (RVU) is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. RVU Proofs of Entitlement are based on the number of units of a specific resource used or managed by the Program. Licensee must obtain sufficient entitlements for the number of RVUs required for Licensee's environment as defined by the specific software terms. RVU entitlements are specific to the Program and the type of resource and may not be exchanged, interchanged, or aggregated with RVU entitlements of another program or resource.

Note: Some programs may require licenses for the Resources available to AND the resources being managed by the Program. In that case, the following applies: In addition to the entitlements required for the Resources used by the Program directly, Licensee must obtain entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the Resources managed by the Program.

Note: Some programs may be licensed on a managed basis ONLY. In that case, the following applies: Instead of the entitlements required for the Resources used by the Program directly, Licensee must obtain entitlements for this Program sufficient to cover the Resources managed by the Program.

To understand these benefits of Resource Value Unit licensing and to determine how many Resource Value Units to obtain, please refer to the program specific Resource Value Unit table. You may also contact your IBM Sales representative.

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Additional License Documents

Get license information documents

A searchable collection of IBM License Information documents is at License Information documents

Get base license agreements

View IBM International Program License Agreements (IPLA) Base license agreements