Managing licenses

Workstation-based licensing

The trial license that is provided with IBM Developer for z/OS expires 90 days after installation. You must activate a permanent license to use the product after the expiration date. You can upgrade the license by installing a product activation kit. You can also use floating license keys from a license server. For more information about managing licenses for the product, see IBM Support - Licensing.

You can see the client-based license type and status by using the Help > Manage Licenses menu action in the IBM Developer for z/OS client.

Authorized user license

An IBM Authorized User license permits a single, specific individual to use a software product. Purchasers must obtain an Authorized User license for each individual user who accesses the product in any manner. An Authorized User license cannot be reassigned unless the purchaser replaces the original assignee on a long-term or permanent basis.

For example, if you purchase one Authorized User license, you can assign that license to one specific individual, who can then use the software product. The Authorized User license does not entitle a second person to use that product at any time, even if the licensed individual is not actively using it.

Floating license

An IBM floating license is a license for a single software product that can be shared among multiple team members; however, the total number of concurrent users cannot exceed the number of floating licenses that you purchase. For example, if you purchase one floating license for a software product, any user in your organization can use the product at any given time. Another person who wants to access the product must wait until the current user logs off.

To use floating licenses, you must obtain floating license keys and install them on the IBM Common Licensing License Key Server. The server responds to end-user requests for access to the license keys; it grants access to the number of concurrent users that matches the number of licenses the organization purchased.

Note: If you use floating licenses for IBM Developer for z/OS (including token licenses), before installing the product you must upgrade the license key server to IBM Common Licensing, Version 9.0 or later. IBM Common Licensing, Version 9.0 or later can be used with earlier versions of the product. For more information about IBM Common Licensing, see IBM Common Licensing.

Token license

The token-based license model means that you can buy a certain number of token licenses. If you use a tool that checks out a FEATURE that is token-based, the FEATURE line in the license file specifies the number of tokens that are checked out.

Token-based licenses can only be used with floating licenses. They cannot be used for authorized user license.

Note: If you use token licenses for IBM Developer for z/OS (including token licenses), before installing the product you must upgrade the license key server to IBM Common Licensing, Version 9.0 or later. IBM Common Licensing, Version 9.0 or later can be used with earlier versions of the product. For more information about IBM Common Licensing, see IBM Common Licensing.

For more details about token licensing, contact your local IBM marketing representative.

z/OS-based licensing

z/OS-based licensing is available only for IBM Developer for z/OS Enterprise Edition, and allows a workstation to receive an activation code from the RSE daemon upon connection. No action is required on the workstation to enable this, but the z/OS host must be configured to enable provisioning of activation codes. Because the IBM Developer for z/OS Enterprise Edition server is built on IBM Explorer for z/OS, the z/OS-based licensing is configured as part of Explorer for z/OS host configuration. For information about configuring security on the host, see Security definitions in the IBM Explorer for z/OS Host Configuration Guide.

z/OS-based licensing relies on workstations being able to uniquely identify themselves to the host. For this purpose, each workstation client generates a unique token upon first connecting to the host. When a client is cloned to another workstation, the existing unique token must be removed so that the new client can generate its own unique token. The resetting of the token is described in Value Unit client licensing considerations in the IBM Explorer for z/OS documentation.

When the client connects to a host system that is configured for VU licensing, and the user selects the MVS Files node in the Remote Systems view, the Properties view shows the status of the VU license (Active, Expired, or Not Available) and the registered VU Offering (for example, IBM APP DLIV FND). 

This list describes each VU license status and its meaning:

Active

The client is connected to the z/OS system and the VU license is active. Client-based licensing is not used. If users connect to the host at least once every 30 days, the VU license remains Active.

Expired

The VU license is expired and client-based licensing is used until the client reconnects to the z/OS system. After the client reconnects to the host, the VU license status is set to Active again.

Not Available

The VU license status cannot be determined. This status can have several causes. The following table describes symptoms and possible solutions for an unavailable VU license status.