IBM licensing

IBM licensing for distributed software (programs that run on Linux, UNIX, Windows and IBM i, as distinct from z/OS mainframe software) is organised around the Passport Advantage program. IBM’s program page states that the Client Relationship Agreement (CRA) and applicable Product Attachments “contain the terms for acquiring Products under the Passport Advantage Program and incorporates the terms of the previous Passport Advantage agreements”. Under it, clients acquire and renew non-expiring and term licences, Software Subscription and Support, cloud services and appliances.^[2] Passport Advantage does not itself define licence metrics. The rules for each program are in the International Program License Agreement (IPLA) and that program’s License Information (LI) document, and IBM describes its metric pages as “for informational purposes only”.^[1] IBM’s portfolio has grown through acquisitions, among them Red Hat, completed on 2019-07-09.^[17] Red Hat subscriptions and z/OS software have their own terms and are not covered here. This article summarises the distributed estate; the detailed articles are listed under Guides.

Editions

IBM has no single edition ladder. Each program is sold in editions set in its LI, and IBM groups its commercial constructs as follows:

Db2 illustrates how editions differ. IBM states that “the technical differences among editions are resource limitations and advanced features or tool sets”. The Standard and Advanced editions are priced per VPC for production and non-production, with an Authorized User metric “exclusively for non-production settings”.^[16]

Licences are sold as non-expiring (perpetual) licences with 12 months of Software Subscription and Support, and as fixed-term, monthly or subscription licences for many programs. Under the 2017 version of the International Passport Advantage Agreement (IPAA), fixed-term licences and Software Subscription and Support renew automatically at then-current charges unless the client gives notice before the term ends.^[5]

Metrics

IBM’s common metrics, each a catalog row, are:^[1]

• Processor Value Unit (PVU). Core-based. The PVUs required per core depend on the processor vendor, brand, type, model and maximum socket count in IBM’s PVU tables. The x86 table (as of 2024-05-08) rates AMD EPYC at 70 PVUs per core and post-Nehalem Intel Xeon at 70, 100 or 120 PVUs per core by maximum socket count. The RISC and System z table is dated 2024-09-25.^[11] See IBM Processor Value Unit tables.
• Virtual Processor Core (VPC). Core-based. “A Virtual Processor Core is a Processor Core in an unpartitioned Physical Server, or a virtual core assigned to a Virtual Server.”^[1] VPC is the metric for Cloud Paks and most newer programs.
• Resource Value Unit (RVU). Entitlements “are based on the number of units of a specific resource used or managed by the Program”, converted through a table in each program’s LI.^[1] The core-based variant, RVU MAPC, is eligible for sub-capacity.
• Authorized User and Concurrent User. An Authorized User is a unique person given access to the program, including access through multiplexing, and the entitlement may be reassigned only by permanent transfer to another person. A Concurrent User is a person accessing the program at a given moment.^[1]
• User Value Unit, Install, Virtual Server, Terabyte and the Cloud Pak Resource Unit, each defined in the programs that use them.

Counting / floors

Full capacity. Under full capacity licensing, PVU entitlements must cover “all activated processor cores in the physical hardware environment made available to or managed by the Program”.^[11] IBM defines an activated processor core as one available for use “regardless of whether the capacity of the processor core can be or is limited through virtualization technologies, operating system commands, BIOS settings, or similar restrictions”.^[6] Full capacity is the default when sub-capacity conditions are not met.

Sub-capacity. Eligible programs may instead be licensed to the lower of the maximum virtual cores available to the program at any time, or the physical capacity of the server where the virtual capacity exceeds it. The core count is then converted: PVUs from the PVU table, “1 VPC equals 1 virtual CPU (vCPU)”, and RVUs from the program’s LI. IBM also states that “SMT/hyperthreading ratios are not adjusted for with sub-capacity licensing”.^[6]

Floors and peaks. “The minimum requirement for software licensing is the appropriate number of license entitlements for one whole processor core.” IBM’s terms “do not allow for averaging processor core capacity nor do the terms offer any grace periods for temporary spikes in workload”, so entitlements must cover the high-water mark.^[7]

Cloud Pak conversion. Programs in a Cloud Pak draw on the Cloud Pak’s VPC entitlement at ratios set in its LI. In Cloud Pak for Integration 16.2.0, for example, “3 VPCs of Cloud Pak for Integration are required for 1 VPC of App Connect Enterprise deployment”.^[15] Where a Cloud Pak deployed in containers does not specify a ratio, “it is assumed to be 1:1”.^[9]

Sub-capacity and ILMT

IBM announced sub-capacity licensing in 2005, and “since July 18, 2011, Sub-capacity terms have been included in the base IBM Passport Advantage agreement”.^[7] IBM’s page now states that the terms “are documented in the Client Relationship Agreement”. Clients must use eligible sub-capacity products, eligible virtualization and processor technologies, and “the IBM License Metric Tool or other approved validated tools”. A configuration of ILMT Lite with the ILMT Disconnected Scanner is pre-approved for fewer than 5,000 virtual machines or LPARs in scope.^[6]

Clients have 90 days from their first eligible sub-capacity deployment to install and begin using ILMT.^[8] The 2017 IPAA required reports at least quarterly, kept for at least two years, and stated that failing to generate or provide reports “will cause charging under full capacity for the total number of physical processor cores activated and available for use on the server”.^[5] The same agreement forbade altering ILMT audit records or reports. It also required clients to name a person to resolve report questions and to order promptly when reports showed use above the authorised level, with support charged from the date the level was exceeded.^[5] The detailed rules are in IBM sub-capacity licensing and ILMT.

Virtualization & partitioning

Virtual machines and logical partitions are licensed under sub-capacity rules, with counting scenarios published for IBM Power Systems, IBM i, Linux on IBM Z, Solaris and x86 hypervisors. The counting rules apply to servers within the same ILMT Region, of which IBM defines three: the Americas, Europe and Africa, and Asia and Australia.^[6] When an operating system or virtualization technology stops being eligible, IBM’s page cites Passport Advantage Agreement v12 §9.2.2.e. Under that section, a client that wants to stay on sub-capacity terms submits a migration plan for IBM’s approval and keeps generating ILMT reports during the migration.^[6]

Containers are separate. IBM’s container guidance states that “1 VPC is equal to 1 vCPU and 70 PVUs is equal to 1 vCPU”, counts pod CPU limits, and adjusts for hyperthreading (for example two vCPUs per core as one VPC or 70 PVUs). Entitlements are “measured by the IBM License Service”.^[9] These container ratios do not apply to virtual machine sub-capacity, for which IBM publishes no general PVU to VPC conversion. For the general concepts see Virtualization and partitioning.

Cloud / BYOL

IBM’s Eligible Public Cloud BYOSL policy lets Passport Advantage entitlements be deployed on listed public clouds. It states that “when you use a license entitlement according to this policy, you may not use such entitlements for any other purpose or in any other place at the same time”. The policy does not apply to z/OS software or to IBM software sublicensed by a third party.^[10] Its licensing footnotes, which apply only where a cloud provider section refers to them, set 1 vCPU = 1 Core = 1 VPC = 70 PVUs, and 2 vCPUs = 1 Core for containers with hyperthreading enabled.^[10] Cloud Paks include a restricted Red Hat OpenShift entitlement: the Cloud Pak for Integration licence includes OpenShift “at a 3:1 ratio” with the licensed Cloud Pak VPCs.^[15]

Programs

• Passport Advantage and Passport Advantage Express are the enrolment programs. IBM describes the CRA as “our single agreement used to procure most IBM offerings”, with the IPAA and the Express agreement still listed on IBM Terms.^[4]
• Enrolment is by site. An enterprise’s sites share one agreement number and one annual anniversary date for renewals, and points earned on purchases across sites set the Relationship Suggested Volume Pricing level.^[3] See IBM Passport Advantage program structure.
• Virtualization Capacity (Sub-capacity) Licensing, Container Licenses and Eligible Public Cloud BYOSL are policies attached to the Passport Advantage relationship, described above.

Support and maintenance

IBM Software Subscription and Support (S&S) is included with each program licensed under Passport Advantage. It gives access to new versions and releases, fixes, and technical support while it is in effect.^[12] The first term ends on the last day of the corresponding month in the following year. For enrolled sites, renewals fall on the site’s anniversary date, and IBM sends renewal quotes about 105 days in advance.^[13]

The 2017 IPAA sets two rules with a direct effect on renewals. First, “If Client elects to continue IBM Software Subscription and Support for an IBM Program at a designated Client Site, Client must maintain IBM Software Subscription and Support for all uses and installations of the IBM Program at that Site”. Second, renewing at a lower quantity requires a report that verifies current usage and installation.^[5] Expired coverage cannot be renewed. The client must instead buy Software Subscription and Support Reinstatement.^[5] For versions past their Base Support completion date, IBM offers Extended Support, and for products with no supported release left it offers Sustained Support. Advanced Support gives shorter response times.^[14] For the general practice see Software maintenance and support.

Audit and compliance

The 2017 IPAA’s Compliance Verification clause required the client to “create, retain, and provide to IBM and its auditors accurate written records, system tool outputs, and other system information sufficient to provide auditable verification” of compliance.^[5] Upon reasonable notice, IBM may verify compliance “at all Sites and for all environments”, on the client’s premises during normal business hours, and may use an independent auditor bound by a confidentiality agreement.^[5] If verification finds use beyond the authorised level, the client pays for the excess use, plus Subscription and Support for it “for the lesser of the duration of such excess use or two years”, plus any other charges and liabilities determined by the verification.^[5] The current CRA text is on IBM Terms and was not reproduced here. Commentary: in practice the evidence an IBM verification relies on for core-based programs is the ILMT or License Service report history, so missing or incomplete reports expose a client to full capacity charging. For the general practice see Software license audit.

Recent licensing changes

• VPC and ILMT (2022). Effective 2022-05-10, IBM required ILMT or an approved tool for all VPC sub-capacity deployments, and “manual capacity counting will no longer be permitted”. Container licensing was excluded.^[6]
• Passport Advantage v11 (2023). IBM removed the exceptions to sub-capacity reporting and extended the PVU and RVU reporting rules to VPC for new customers from 2023-02-01 and existing customers from 2023-05-01.^[6] Clients reporting manually under the former v10 exceptions could continue until 2024-01-01, when “all prior exceptions are no longer applicable”.^[8]
• Client Relationship Agreement. IBM’s Passport Advantage page now names the CRA as the agreement containing Passport Advantage terms.^[2]
• PVU tables. The x86 table was last updated on 2024-05-08 and the RISC and System z table on 2024-09-25.^[11]

Guides

Articles on this wiki about IBM licensing:

• IBM Passport Advantage licensing: metrics, container counting and Cloud Pak topology.
• IBM Passport Advantage program structure: agreements, sites, anniversary dates and RSVP levels.
• IBM Processor Value Unit tables: the PVU ratings by processor.
• IBM sub-capacity licensing and ILMT: eligibility, counting and reporting.
• IBM Cloud Pak licensing: VPC pools, conversion ratios and OpenShift entitlements.
• IBM Db2 editions licensing: Db2 12.1 and Db2 AI editions.

Archived white papers, kept as sources: IBM DB2 licensing white paper, IBM white papers and IBM (ITAM Handbook vendor rules).

Court cases involving IBM licensing are listed in the Litigation section of the IBM vendor page, including IBM United Kingdom v. LzLabs and IBM v. Micro Focus (reverse engineering of mainframe software), BMC v. IBM (outsourcing agreement) and SCO v. IBM.

Out of scope

This article does not cover z/OS and other IBM Z software licensed by MSU or under separate monthly licence charges; Red Hat, HashiCorp and Apptio subscriptions; IBM Cloud and SaaS services under the Cloud Services Agreement; IBM prices and RSVP discount levels; or the full text of the CRA, the IPAA v12 and the IPLA, which are published on IBM Terms.