Container Licenses
Catalog row in Vendor License Programs · Cited
- Kind
- Cloud policy
- Term
- Educational guide effective January 2022; last update August 2026. Live PA Container Licenses page retrieved 2026-08-31. LI still governs.
- Aliases
- Container Licensing; IBM Container Licensing
- Definition
- Live Container Licenses page (retrieved 2026-08-31): “For all IBM Certified Containers, you must acquire entitlements equal to the license requirements (as derived in the vCPU Capacity Counting Methodology for IBM Programs section) and measured by the IBM License Service.” “For all IBM Cloud Paks deployed in containers, you must acquire entitlements equal to the license requirements (as derived in the vCPU Capacity Counting Methodology for IBM Programs section) and measured by the IBM License Service multiplied by the required Cloud Pak conversion ratio. Note: If the ratio is not specified, it is assumed to be 1:1.” “This guidance supports Virtual Processor Core (VPC) or Processor Value Units (PVU) core-based containerized Products supported by IBM License Service deployed with Kubernetes orchestration.” Educational Container Licensing guide (effective January 2022; last update August 2026): “The guides do not supersede your license agreement with IBM. For the exact terms and conditions which govern the usage of a specific IBM software program, refer to the specific contract terms, License Information Documents and any additional agreements under which the software was obtained.” LI still governs. “Container Licensing differs from Sub-Capacity licensing.”
- Commercial rules
- vCPU Capacity Counting Methodology (IBM): pod vCPU = sum of Kubernetes resources.limits.cpu for containers in the pod; fractions allowed; worker-node cap; cluster aggregate rounded up to nearest whole integer; pod without a CPU limit = worker node capacity. “For the purposes of this guidance, 1 VPC is equal to 1 vCPU and 70 PVUs is equal to 1 vCPU.” Guide FAQ: “The PVU table does not apply to Container Licensing. … the PVU rate is set at a single value of 70 PVUs per Virtual Processor Core (VPC) or virtual CPU (vCPU).” HT/SMT (container licensing only; does not apply to traditional sub-capacity): “2 vCPUs per 1 core as 1 VPC or 70 PVUs for license counting purposes if Hyperthreading or SMT2 is enabled (e.g., 8 vCPUs is counted as 4 vCPUs).” SMT4 = 4:1; SMT8 = 8:1; mixed SMT in a cluster → lowest factor. Identification of HT/SMT “to be done manually and assigned at a cluster level” until License Service automates it. IBM License Service “must be used to track license usage and determine your required entitlement. There are no exceptions to this rule.” License Service is a tool, not a program. Polling: available vCPU capacity polled at intervals ≤ 30 minutes; maximum of intraday values = daily available vCPU capacity. BYOSL “is also supported.” Current Cloud Pak VPC/RU ratios are set in the entitled Cloud Pak LI.
- Applies to
- IBM Certified Containers and IBM Cloud Paks deployed in containers (Kubernetes-orchestrated; VPC or PVU core-based products supported by IBM License Service).
- Related metrics