Licensing a virtual server

If your program is installed on a virtual machine or virtual cloud server, you must pay for the number of virtual processor cores.

The number of virtual cores is equivalent to the number of VPCs used by the program. You can determine the number of virtual cores in four ways:

  • IBM License Metric Tool
  • db2pd –osinfo command
  • db2diag command
  • Db2® Env_Get_System_Resources environment variable

Using the IBM License Metric Tool to determine the number of VPCs to license

The IBM License Metric Tool reports the CPU core subcapacity count for each virtual server. This count defines the number of VPCs you must license.

Using the db2pd command to determine the number of VPCs to license

Run the db2pd –osinfo command to return the operating system information of the server. If you have multiple servers, you must run the command on each server.

The value that is returned for OnlineCPU equals the number of VPCs that you must license on each server.

Using the db2diag command to determine the number of VPCs to license

If you are on Windows, run the following command to determine the number of VPCs to license:
db2diag -g data:=“System Info”
If you are on Linux or Unix, run the following command: 
db2diag -g data:='System Info'

Similar to the db2pd command, the value that is returned by the db2diag command for online CPUs equals the number of VPCs that you must license on each server.

Using the Db2 Env_Get_System_Resources table function to determine the number of VPCs to license

The Db2 Env_Get_System_Resources table function is a monitoring function that you can call from an SQL query.

To find the resources for one or more Db2 servers, or each member in a Db2 pureScale® cluster, run the following query:
Select MEMBER, varchar(HOST_NAME,12) as HOST_NAME, CPU_TOTAL,CPU_online, CPU_HMT_Degree 
from table(SYSPROC.ENV_GET_SYSTEM_RESOURCES()) 
order by MEMBER
The value that is returned for CPU_Online equals the number of VPCs you must license.

Examples

A user purchases a virtual cloud server that is hosted on a private cloud or by a managed service provider. The virtual cloud server is using eight virtual CPUs.

To determine how many virtual CPUs are available, the user can run the db2pd -osinfo command.

The value 8 is returned for OnlineCPU. As a result, the user needs to license eight VPCs for this environment.