IBM Support

IBM License Key Server and IBM LKS Administration and Reporting Tool (ART) and Administration Agent Version 9.0

Download


Abstract

This is a major release of IBM License Key Server and its related components, IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool, and IBM License Key Server Administration Agent. It provides several useful enhancements and fixes that simplifies the overall administration of the License Key Server.

Download Description

Table of Contents
Sections Description

The What's new section provides an overview on what is new in this release with a description of any new functions or enhancements when applicable.

The Impact assessment section provides information related to the impact of this release to allow you to assess how your environment might be affected.

The Prerequisites section provides important information to review before the installation of this release.

The Download package section provides the direct link to obtain the download package for installation in your environment.

The Installation instructions section provides the installation instructions necessary to apply this release into your environment.

The Known limitations section contains a link to the known problems (open defects) identified at the time of this release.

Supporting Documentation
Document Description

Click to review the detailed system requirements information for a complete list of hardware requirements, supported operating systems, prerequisites, and optional supported software, with component-level details and operating system restrictions.

IBM Knowledge Center provides an entry point to product documentation. You can view, browse, and search online information related to the product.

Click to review a complete list of the defects (APARs) resolved in this release, including a list of resolved defects for the entire version family.

For fixes for security vulnerabilities, see Security Bulletin.

Prerequisites

Attention: IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool (ART) and IBM License Key Server Administration Agent MUST BE CONFIGURED according to the following hardware and software specifications. Otherwise, failure might occur during license administration and usage reporting.

Prerequisites include:

The version of IBM Installation Manager required: IBM Installation Manager 1.9.1.3 or higher.

DB2 Advanced Workgroup Server Edition version 11.1

Hardware requirements:

IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool

  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Disk space: 100 GB

IBM License Key Server Administration Agent

  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Disk space: 100 GB

Software requirements:

Web browser requirement for IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool

  • Mozilla Firefox: 50 ESR and future fix packs
  • Microsoft Edge

IBM License Key Server

  • Operating systems: ONLY 64-BIT ARCHITECTURE OF AIX, LINUX AND WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE SUPPORTED.

IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool

  • Operating systems: ONLY 64-BIT ARCHITECTURE OF AIX, LINUX AND WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE SUPPORTED.
For more information about operating systems supported, see Operating systems for a specific product.

IBM License Key Server Administration Agent

  • Installation prerequisite: The Server Administration Agent MUST BE COLLOCATED with the IBM License Key Server.
  • Operating Systems: Both 32-BIT and 64-BIT ARCHITECTURE OF AIX, LINUX AND WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE SUPPORTED.

For more information about operating systems supported, see Operating systems for a specific product.

Other

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6 will no longer be supported as of September 2020
  • The following platforms will be dropped in September 2021:
    • AIX 5
    • Solaris 10
    • HP-UX 11i

Special characters supported by reports

  • For a list of special characters that are supported by report definitions and reports in ART, see the technical document.

Back to top

Installation Instructions

Installation scenarios

In all scenarios, the order of update/fresh installation, as per requirement, must be as follows.
  1. LKS
  2. Agent
  3. ART
In all scenarios, the order of starting/stopping the tools, as per requirement, must be as follows.
  1. LKS
  2. Agent
  3. ART
Scenario 1: Fresh Installation
Existing Installations: None
  1. Install LKS 9.0.
  2. Install Agent 9.0.
  3. Start Agent 9.0.
  4. Access the Agent Web UI via http://<hostname>:4080/iclagent.
  5. Import licenses via the Import and overwrite licenses menu icon button on the Deployed Licenses panel.
  6. Once the licenses are successfully imported, the LKS will automatically start with the newly imported licenses.
  7. Repeat the same for any other Agent required.
  8. Start Reporting Tool 9.0.
  9. Configure the database and restart Reporting Tool 9.0.
  10. Add the Agent 9.0 via the Server Administration page.
Scenario 2: No LKS upgrade; Fresh Installation of ART/Agent
Existing Installations: LKS 816, no ART and no Agent
  1. Make sure LKS 816 is running with some licenses.
  2. Install Agent 9.0.
  3. Start Agent 9.0.
  4. Repeat the same if another Agent required.
  5. Install Reporting Tool 9.0.
  6. Start Reporting Tool 9.0.
  7. Configure the database and restart Reporting Tool 9.0.
  8. Add the Agent 9.0 via the Server Administration Page.
Scenario 3: No LKS upgrade; Upgrade of ART/Agent
Existing Installations: LKS 816, ART 8165, and Agent 8165
  1. Make sure LKS 816 is running with some licenses.
  2. Stop Agent 8.1.6.5.
  3. Stop the Reporting Tool 8.1.6.5
  4. Update the Agent to 9.0.
  5. Start Agent 9.0.
  6. Repeat the same for any other Agent required.
  7. Upgrade the Reporting Tool to 9.0.
  8. Start Reporting Tool 9.0.
  9. Configure the database and restart Reporting Tool 9.0.
  10. No further action is needed as the Agent is already added to Reporting Tool.
Scenario 4: LKS upgrade; Upgrade of ART/Agent
Existing Installations: LKS 816, ART 8165, and Agent 8165
  1. Stop the LKS 8.1.6.
  2. Upgrade the LKS to 9.0.
    Note: If all the reporting log files, also known as Hook Logs, whose names start with the prefix rlks_, are present in the common folder of the LKS 8.1.6. installation, they will be automatically copied to the logs folder of the LKS 9.0 installation. If the Hook Logs are placed anywhere else in LKS 8.1.6 installation, they must be manually copied to the logs folder of the LKS 9.0 installation.
  3. Stop Agent 8.1.6.5.
  4. Stop Reporting Tool 8.1.6.5.
  5. Update the Agent to 9.0.
  6. Start Agent 9.0.
  7. Access the Agent Web UI via http://<hostname>:4080/iclagent.
  8. Import licenses via the Import and overwrite licenses menu icon button on the Deployed Licenses panel.
  9. Once the licenses are successfully imported, the LKS will automatically start with the newly imported licenses.
  10. Repeat the same if another Agent required.
  11. Upgrade the Reporting Tool to 9.0.
  12. Start Reporting Tool 9.0.
  13. Configure the database and restart Reporting Tool 9.0.
  14. No further action is needed as the Agent is already added to Reporting Tool .
Scenario 5: LKS upgrade after Upgrade of ART/Agent
Existing Installations: LKS 816, ART 9.0, and Agent 9.0
If the ART/Agent are currently at 9.0 level, the LKS is at 816 level, and now you decide to upgrade the LKS to 9.0. In this case, the LKS 9.0 and the ART/Agent 9.0 will be out of sync. You must restart the Reporting. Follow the steps that are mentioned below in the same order.
  1. Uninstall ART and Agent 9.0.
  2. Open Db2 Admin command prompt. Execute the following commands one by one in the given order.
    db2 drop database artdata
    db2stop
    db2start
    db2 create database artdata using codeset UTF-8 TERRITORY DEFAULT with 'LKS Administration/Usage Data'
  3. Install Agent 9.0.
  4. Start Agent 9.0.
  5. If licenses are not imported to the LKS 9.0, follow the steps to import the licenses.
    • Access the Agent Web UI via http://<hostname>:4080/iclagent.
    • Import licenses via the Import and overwrite licenses menu icon button on the Deployed Licenses panel.
    • Once the licenses are successfully imported, the LKS will automatically start with the newly imported licenses.
  6. Repeat the same for any other Agent required.
  7. Install the Reporting Tool 9.0.
  8. Start Reporting Tool 9.0.
  9. Configure the database and restart Reporting Tool 9.0.
  10. Add the Agent 9.0 via the Server Administration page.
Instructions for installing IBM License Key Server on Windows
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Download IBM_Rational_License_Key_Server_VVV.zip file against required operating system from IBM Fix Central.
  2. Log in as a user with administrator rights on the local computer where the License Key Server will be installed.
  3. Extract the installation files for License Key Server. The extracted files are the repository for License Key Server. The installation files include Installation Manager. You do not need to download Installation Manager separately. 
  4. Go to the //LKS_MASTER_DISK/disk1 directory.
  5. Double-click launchpad.bat. The IBM Common Licensing splash screen opens.
  6. Refer to release information section for more details.
  7. Click Install IBM License Key Server to open the Installation Manager interface.
    If Installation Manager is not installed or the installed version of Installation Manager is an earlier version than the Installation Manager version included with License Key Server, you must install Installation Manager before you install License Key Server:
    Installation Manager opens to the Install Packages window. Only Installation Manager is listed. License Key Server is not listed.
    To install Installation Manager, follow the instructions in the Install wizard.
    When the installation finishes, click Restart Installation Manager.
  8. Click Install to install License Key Server.
  9. Select License Key Server and click Next.
  10. After the prerequisites are validated, click Next. To validate prerequisites again, click Recheck Status in the lower right corner.
  11. Accept the license agreement and click Next.
  12. For both the Shared Resources directory and Installation Manager directory locations, either accept the default value or enter a different directory location and click Next. 
    Note: You cannot change the location of the Shared Resources directory after Installation Manager is installed.
    Default values:
    Shared Resources directory: C:\Program Files\IBM\IMShared
    Installation Manager directory: C:\Program Files\IBM\Installation Manager\eclipse
  13. Accept the default installation directory for the license server or enter a different installation directory.
    Default installation directory: C:\Program Files (86)\IBM\LKS
  14. In Packages, click Install to start the installation.
  15. Click Finish to close the installation wizard.
  16. Import the license keys and start the server. The license server will not start until license keys are installed. See the Starting the Windows license server topic.
Instructions for installing IBM License Key Server on AIX/LINUX
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Download the software IBM_Rational_License_Key_Server_VVV.zip from IBM Fix Central.
  2. Extract the IBM_License_Key_Server_<Platform>.zip into an appropriate directory.
  3. Go to the disk1 directory.
  4. Extract the installation files for License Key Server. The extracted files are the repository for License Key Server. Add this repository to the IM.
  5. Accept the default installation directory for the license server or enter a different installation directory. The default installation directory is /opt/IBM/LKS.
  6. Review the features to install and click Next.
  7. Click Install.
  8. Click Finish.
Instructions for installing IBM License Key Server Administration Agent
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Download the IBM_LKS_Administration_Agent_90.zip media file from the IBM Fix Central.
  2. Create a temporary directory (for example, ../agent-installer/90/) and extract the downloaded .zip file into this directory.
  3. Install the IBM Installation Manager V1.9.1.3 for installing License Key Server Administration Agent 9.0.
    • Update the Installation Manager if the installed version is V1.8.5 or earlier.

       The Installation Manager restarts after you complete the installation process.

  4. Open the Installation Manager, click File > Preferences > Repositories, add extracted location of downloaded media file, and click OK.

  5. From the main Installation Manager window, click Install.

  6. In the Install Packages window, select the IBM License Key Server Administration Agent > Version 9.0 package and click Next.
  7. Accept the license agreement and click Next.
  8. Select Create a new package group to create a package group to install the agent into and click Next.

    The agent is supported on 32-bit and 64-bit computers. By default, the package is installed in this directory location:

    • Windows: C:\Program Files\IBM\ICL\LKSAdminAgent
    • UNIX: /opt/IBM/ICL/LKSAdminAgent

    Note: Because multiple installations of the agent can be installed on one machine, the installer installs each agent with a profile name that reflects the order of its installation. For example, if two agents are installed on one machine, the profile name of the first agent installation is IBM LKS Administration Agent. The profile name of the second agent installation is IBM LKS Administration Agent_1.

  9. Select IBM License Key Server Administration Agent feature to proceed with agent installation and click Next.
  10. Use the applicable table in Agent configuration to determine the server type, server location, license server log file, and license files.
    • Specify an HTTP and an HTTPS port number that the agent will run on. You must install an agent for each license server on the computer. If you select a port number that is already in use, Installation Manager alerts you with an error message. If you receive this error, select another port number.
    • Select the license server type:
      • IBM License Key Server
      • ELM server - Floating licenses
      • ELM server - Authorized user licenses
    • Perform one of the following actions:
      • Windows platform with License server type selected as LKS: Select a Windows service name from the list of the License Key Server services that are installed on the machine. Selecting a service displays the corresponding location of LKS, location of the lmgrd.log file, and location of license files as read only information. If you do not want to use this service, or if you want to manually provide user input, from the list, select --Configure manually--.
      • For platforms other than Windows, with License server type selected as LKS: Select a License Key Server installation location from the list of servers that are installed on the machine. Selecting an installation location populates these corresponding input fields: Location of LKS, Location of the lmgrd.log file, and location of license files.
    • If you are not using the pre-populated values, you must enter the location of the IBM License Key Server (lmgrd application) that you want to administer with the IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool. You can either browse for the license server location or enter the location. By default, License Key Server is installed in one of these directories:
      • Windows: C:\Program Files\IBM\LKS\common
      • Linux:/opt/IBM/LKS/bin
    • If you are not using the prepopulated values, you must enter the location of the license server Hook log file. The agent uses the log file to gather license usage data. You can either browse for the license server log file or enter the location.
    • Specify the license key file that is configured with the selected License Key Server. You can select multiple files. For Windows operating systems, separate multiple license files with semicolons (;). For Linux operating systems, separate the names with colons (:).
  11. Click Next.
  12. Review the installation summary and then click Install. A summary list of installed packages displays.
  13. Select IBM License Key Server Administration Agent to start the application. The agent is installed by default as a Windows service and can be configured as a service on UNIX platforms. If you select None in this step, you can start the application manually as a Windows or UNIX service. See Starting License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool on system startup.
  14. After the installation process completes, click Finish to close the Installation Manager.
 

Instructions for installing/upgrading the IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1. Download the IBM_LKS_Administration_And_Reporting_Tool_90.zip media file from the IBM Fix Central.
  2. Create a temporary directory (for example, ../ART-installer/90/) and extract the downloaded .zip file into this directory.
  3. Install the IBM Installation Manager V1.9.1.3 for installing License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool 9.0.
    • Update the Installation Manager if the installed version is V1.8.5 or earlier.

  4. Open the Installation Manager, add the extracted location of downloaded media file, File > Preferences > Repositories, and click Ok.

  5. From the main Installation Manager window, click Install.

  6. In Install Packages window, select the IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool > Version 9.0 package and click Next.
  7. Accept the license agreement and click Next.
  8. Select Create a new package group to create a package group to install the reporting tool into and click Next.

    Note: IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool and IBM License Key Server Administration Agent cannot be installed in the same directory. By default, the package is installed in this directory location:

    • Windows: C:\Program Files\IBM\ICL\LKSAdmin
    • UNIX: /opt/IBM/ICL/LKSAdmin
  9. Select IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool feature to proceed with reporting tool installation and click Next.

  10. Review the installation summary and then click Install. A summary list of installed packages displays.

  11. After the installation process completes, click Finish to close the Installation Manager.
  12. Select IBM License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool to start the application. The reporting tool is installed by default as a Windows service and can be configured as a service on UNIX platforms. If you select None in this step, you can start the application manually as a Windows or UNIX service. See Starting License Key Server Administration and Reporting Tool on system startup.

Back to top

Download Package

The following sections provide detailed information that is related to this release.

Click here to obtain the release from Fix Central.

How critical is this fix?

Impact Assessment
Impact Description

Corrective

This release is a service release of IBM License Key Server. It contains new features and fixes for client-reported and internally found defects.

Test Results

Close [x]

Definitions

Regression: An error in the Maintenance Delivery Vehicle (MDV) that produces incorrect or unexpected behavior causing a supported feature to stop functioning as designed.
This includes:

  • Coding errors that cause a regression
  • Documentation or packaging problems that cause a regression
  • Errors reported in a new function delivered in a MDV that cause a regression

Incomplete: An error in the MDV has not regressed, but does not work as designed.
This includes:

  • Fixed APARs which did not solve the original problem but did not break anything new
  • APARs reporting documentation errors, such as readme errors, that cause problems applying an MDV but do not lead to a regression

Notes:
  • Regression and incomplete APARs are considered fix-in-error or MDV-in-error
  • Definitions above apply only to valid APARs that result in product fixes (APARs returned as working-as-designed are not assessed for being fix-in-error)
  • Issues in major releases due to new functionality do not apply in this definition

There are no known regressions to report.

Back to top

Problems Solved

Defects resolved

Click the Fix List link in the table of contents above to review a list of the problems solved in this release.

Known Side Effects

The following are known limitations in this release:
  1. On the Live Reports page, if a user name contains multiple words, only the first word is displayed.
  2. On the Live Reports page, the ELM products usage records do not consider the Role information. The highest Token count among the Token counts for each Role of the respective products is displayed under the "Tokens per license" column.
  3. If the license server has more than a thousand check-outs and the IBM License Key Administration Agent is processing them as part of the conversion cycle, the Live Reports page might not show any information. You can refresh the page after few minutes.
  4. If the same license definitions are present in more than one license files that are used by the license server, the quantity of license, as shown in the License Details report, might be more than the actual available quantity of license.
  5. When you start or stop the server from a redundant server triad and if the network connectivity is poor, the license server status and therefore the reporting operation might be incorrect.
  6. When you save and run a report on the create report definition page, the report definition name does not appear in the exported parameters file.
  7. For the scenarios with a chargeback group where duplicate users have different cases. If you generate a group-based chargeback report with this group and the user name case sensitivity is Off, the information in the report for such duplicate users generates incorrectly.
  8. For "IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody Architect for Software" and "IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody Tool & Utilities Add On" products, you might see a difference in token counts between the token value and the user-based reports. Because of this difference, the license hours in the user-based report cannot be matched with the product usage hours in the token value report.
  9. The data displayed in the "License Hours" column for user-based report and the "Product Usage Hours" column for token value report for the same set of parameters might be inaccurate. This inaccuracy arises when the products are part of the IBM Engineering portfolio and a user re-attempts the login after a web session timeout.

Open defects

Review the following list of open defects for License Key Server on the IBM Support Portal.

Back to top

Change History

What's New
New in LKS:
  1. The installed directory structure has been revamped to remove redundant artifacts and simplify the organization of artifacts.
  2. LKAD has been removed. Its useful functionalities, e.g. importing licenses, starting/stopping LKS, can now be accessed via the Agent.
  3. Some redundant lines are no more logged into the Hook Logs thereby reducing the log file size.
New in Agent:
  1. The Agent provides a web-based UI that allows the user to start or stop the LKS, import license files, and manage LKS configuration options. The Agent is the replacement for LKAD.
  2. The Agent allows users to administer the LKS from anywhere in the world through its web-based UI.
  3. The Agent includes fixes for a couple of minor usability issues.
New in ART
  1. The ART includes fixes for a couple of minor usability issues.
  2. ART can now report against the following additional products.
            a). IBM Maximo Scheduler Optimization
            b). IBM Engineering Requirements Quality Assistant
            c). IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management Automotive Compliance

Here is a list of IBM Knowledge Center topics created/updated for the 9.0 fix pack release:

Back to top

Deprecated items
  • The Concurrent Peak denial metric has been removed. You cannot generate reports for this metric anymore.
  • The agent does not support reporting based on the traditional LKS Debug logs anymore since it is known to be error-prone and the new computational logic is not compatible with them.
  • The IBM Common Licensing Client is no longer available on MAC platforms.

Back to top

DB2 value add statement

IBM DB2® technology significantly offers increased data protection, scalability, and performance for all its database-intensive operations.  It is designed to manage data more effectively and efficiently.  Greater availability is delivered through enhancements such as online, automated database reorganization.  In addition, the increased scalability and the ability to leverage the latest in server technology helps deliver the increased performance of backup and recovery processes.
 

Back to top

On
[{"DNLabel":"IBM Common Licensing 9.0","DNDate":"16 Dec 2020","DNLang":"English","DNSize":"1 B","DNPlat":{"label":"Windows","code":"PF033"},"DNURL":"http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/swg/quickorder?parent=ibm%7ERational&product=ibm/Rational/Rational+Common+Licensing&release=All&platform=All&function=all&source=fc","DNURL_FTP":"","DDURL":null}]

Technical Support

Tab navigation

IBM Software Support Communities

  • Visit the IBM Support Portal to configure your support portal experience and review FAQs, lists of known problems, fixes, and a wealth of important support information.
     
  • Visit the IBM RFE Community to submit an enhancement request.
     
  • Visit the Jazz Community if you use a IBM product that is created by using the Jazz platform to interact directly with the Jazz development team and other community members, download product trials and betas and track development progress.

Helpful Hints For Obtaining Technical Assistance:

Before you contact IBM Software Support, gather the background information that you need to describe the problem. When you describe a problem to an IBM software support specialist, be as specific as possible and include all relevant background information so that the specialist can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:

  • What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
  • Do you have logs, traces, or messages that are related to the problem?
  • Can you reproduce the problem? If so, what steps do you take to reproduce it?
  • Is there a workaround for the problem? If so, be prepared to describe the workaround.

If you have helpful information to diagnose or identify the problem on your system, you can provide this data by following the instructions to exchange information with IBM Technical Support.

Follow IBM Client Support on Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | devWorks Blog

Back to top

[{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Product":{"code":"SSFT2B","label":"IBM Common Licensing"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z000000cvSXAAY","label":"Rational licensing"}],"Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"9.0.0"}]

Document Information

Modified date:
04 June 2021

UID

ibm16347644

Page Feedback