IBM i software keys - Interim keys
Interim keys have a duration of up to 40 days for a single key. They are available for emergencies stemming from ordering or licensing issues in various situations, such as orders are pending or transfer of entitlements is pending in IBM records. For these situations, interim keys can be generated and downloaded to allow time for the situation to be resolved.
Caution
Note: Interim keys are not a substitute for temporary licensing. You still need to purchase temporary licensing.
Note: You cannot use Interim keys for testing, demonstration purposes, trial use or system migration.
Availability
You can request up to two interim keys per product per year.
- The first interim key is valid for 40 days.
- The second interim key is valid for 21 days.
- If you request the second key while the first is still active, the expiration periods are combined for up to 61 days of interim key coverage.
- After the second key expires, you must wait 12 months from its expiration date before requesting another.
- If interim keys are unavailable, you can view product details to see when you will be eligible to request the next interim key.
Conditions
The availability of self-served Interim keys for a machine serial number depends on several conditions.
- Active IBM i operating system license. The system must have at least one active per-processor IBM i operating system license, which can be perpetual, subscription, or temporary.
- No pending or available temporary licenses. There cannot be any available or scheduled 5733-ITL temporary licenses waiting to be activated. Any existing temporary license should be activated before requesting any interim keys.
- No active entitlements for the requested product. Any active perpetual, subscription, or temporary license for the specific product will prevent issuance of an interim key for that product.
- Valid machine serial - The machine type and serial number must be valid and recognized by Entitled Systems Support (ESS).
Rules that apply for interim keys
- Interim keys are automatically be generated for all IBM i operating system VRMs, which the selected machine supports.
- No interim keys can be generated for IBM i OS Per Processor, User and Application Server.
- The start date is immediate as the keys are acquired on ESS.
- Processor group is by default to P60 but can be manually changed.
- Quantity-based products have a default quantity assigned. If a key is required with a quantity higher than the default, contact ESS Support
Generate Interim keys
- Access your machine
Registration for the customer number for the machine is optional if you need to create interim keys.
- Select your machine
You can select your machine using more methods.
- By machine type model serial
- By customer
- Find customer
Click "Next" to see a list of supported Products for interim keys.
- Product details
The table provides details about products supported for interim keys.
- Product ID
- Product title
- Code install
- Function title
- Expiration date
- Status - Available (allows interim keys creation) or Unavailable
- Last interim key created on
- Default quantity
- Next interim key available on
- Interim keys in last 12 months
- Expiration date on active interim key
- Select products
Interim keys cannot be issued if the machine already has an active perpetual, subscription, or temporary key.
- You find if any active temporary keys exist.
- You find details about the existing key such as activation and expiration date.
- If the limit of allowed interim keys has been exceeded on the product function, it cannot be selected for Interim key generation.
Select a product and click "Next" to continue.
- Terms & conditions
- Review the provided information.
- Accept the terms and conditions.
- Key generation may take up to a minute.
Note: Once interim keys are generated, their expiration date is fixed and cannot be modified, even if they are ultimately not used.
- Download keys
Interim keys are generated for all operating system releases supported on your machine. Use the filter to download keys for a specific OS release, if required.
- Options for accessing keys
- Installing directly via a Java Web Start applet from the ESS website
- Viewing the keysheet to copy ADDLICKEY commands into the IBM i license manager
- Downloading a Word document (.doc) containing the ADDLICKEY commands
- Downloading a text file (.lickey) with the lickey format for each key
- Receiving the ADDLICKEY commands via email
Supported products
You can find all supported products for interim keys after selecting your serial number.
| Product ID | Product title | Code install | Function title |
| 5722IP1 | Infoprint Server for iSeries | 5050 | InfoPrint Server for iSeries |
| 5722IP1 | Infoprint Server for iSeries | 5101 | PS to AFP Transform |
| 5733ICC | Cloud Storage Solutions for i | 5101 | Cloud Storage Solutions for i |
| 5733ICL | DATAMIRROR ICLUSTER | 5050 | IBM DataMirror iCluster |
| 5733ICL | DATAMIRROR ICLUSTER | 5051 | IBM DataMirror iBalance |
| 5733ID1 | Infoprint Designer/400 | 5050 | InfoPrint Designer for iSeries |
| 5733OAR | IBM Rational Open Access RPG Edition | 5050 | IBM Rational Open Access RPG Edition |
| 5733QU2 | DB2 Web Query for System i | 5050 | IBM DB2 Web Query for System i |
| 5733QU3 | DB2 Web Query Report Broker | 5050 | IBM DB2 Web Query Report Broker |
| 5733QU4 | DB2 Web Query Software Development Kit | 5050 | IBM DB2 Web Query SW Dev Kit |
| 5733WQX | IBM Db2 Web Query for i | 5101 | Web Query for System i Express |
| 5733WQX | IBM Db2 Web Query for i | 5102 | Web Query for System i Standard |
| 5733WQX | IBM Db2 Web Query for i | 5108 | IBM Web Query DataMigrator for i |
| 5761AP1 | Advanced DBCS Printer Support for iSeries | 5050 | Advanced DBCS Printer Support |
| 5761AP1 | Advanced DBCS Printer Support for iSeries | 5101 | IPDS |
| 5761CM1 | Communications Utilities for System i | 5050 | Communication Utilities |
| 5761DP4 | DB2 DataPropagator for iSeries V8.1 | 5050 | DB2 DataPropagator for iSeries V8.1 |
| 5770AF1 | Advanced Function Printing Utilities | 5050 | AFP Utilities |
| 5770BR1 | Backup Recovery and Media Services for i5/OS | 5050 | BRMS |
| 5770BR1 | Backup Recovery and Media Services for i5/OS | 5101 | BRMS Network Feature |
| 5770BR1 | Backup Recovery and Media Services for i5/OS | 5102 | BRMS Advanced Functions |
| 5770DE1 | DB2 Extenders Version 9.5 for i | 5050 | DB2 Extenders V9.1 for iSeries |
| 5770HAS | PowerHA SystemMirror for i | 5052 | PowerHA SystemMirror i - Standard |
| 5770HAS | PowerHA SystemMirror for i | 5051 | PowerHA SystemMirror i - Enterprise |
| 5770HAS | PowerHA SystemMirror for i | 5053 | PowerHA SystemMirror i - Express |
| 5770JS1 | Advanced Job Scheduler for i5/OS | 5050 | Advanced Job Scheduler |
| 5770PT1 | Performance Tools for i5/OS | 5050 | Performance Tools |
| 5770PT1 | Performance Tools for i5/OS | 5101 | Performance Tools Manager |
| 5770PT1 | Performance Tools for i5/OS | 5102 | Performance Tools Agent |
| 5770PT1 | Performance Tools for i5/OS | 5103 | Performance Tools Job Watcher |
| 5770QU1 | Query for i5/OS | 5050 | Query |
| 5770SS1 | IBM i | 5050 | IBM i |
| 5770SS1 | IBM i | 5103 | Media & Storage Extensions |
| 5770SS1 | IBM i | 5112 | Print 1-55 Impressions/Minute |
| 5770SS1 | IBM i | 5113 | Print 1-100 Impressions/Minute |
| 5770SS1 | IBM i | 5114 | Print Anyspeed Impressions/Minute |
| 5770SS1 | IBM i | 5116 | HA Switchable Resources |
| 5770SS1 | IBM i | 5117 | HA Journal Performance |
| 5770ST1 | DB2 Query Manager and SQL Development Kit for i5/OS | 5050 | DB2 and SQL Dev Kit |
| 5770WDS | WebSphere Development Studio for System i | 5101 | ILE Compiler |
| 5770WDS | WebSphere Development Studio for System i | 5102 | Heritage Compiler |
| 5770WDS | WebSphere Development Studio for System i | 5103 | Application Development ToolSet |
| 5770XW1 | System i Access Family | 5101 | iSeries Access Family Proc Based |
PID 57xx-HAS (PowerHA for i) - Versions and Editions:
- To generate interim keys for PowerHA V7R5 or higher, select PowerHA (no edition)
- To generate interim keys for PowerHA Enterprise/Standard/Express Edition (V7R4 and lower), select the keys with the corresponding edition name
- To generate interim keys for PowerHA V6R1, select 5761HAS
For other non entitled keys, you can contact ESS support.