IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT)

The IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) is one of the critical tools for any company using IBM Software in a complex environment, ILMT is a system that helps businesses measure and monitor software usage.

ILMT is designed to assist you in managing your IBM software license requirements and ensuring that you are audit-ready. Customers are responsible for providing the necessary hardware and installation services for the tool to be installed. The IBM License Metric Tool helps you keep track of the PVU-based software that’s been installed in your Full Capacity or Virtualization (Sub-) Capacity environment, as well as the PVU licences that the software Product requires.

At Pronteff, we’ve been using ILMT since version 9.2 was released on March 17, 2015, via Software Announcement 215-076, and we’ve been quite familiar with all of the subsequent releases. Customers have 90 days after the deployment of their first qualifying Virtualization (Sub)-capacity product to install and use IBM License Metric Tool for supported virtualization.

Use of IBM License Metric Tool

The use of IBM License Metric Tool is recommended for Full Capacity PVU environments and is mandatory for use with PVU sub-capacity licensing. Exceptions to this requirement are:

1. when IBM License Metric Tool does not yet provide support for the Eligible Virtualization Environment

  • (In order to be notified when IBM License Metric Tool support for eligible virtualization technologies become available, customers need to subscribe to “My Notifications”.

2. if your Enterprise has fewer than 1,000 employees and contractors, you are not a Service Provider (an entity that provides information technology services for end user customers, either directly or through a reseller), and you have not contracted with a Service Provider to manage your environment, and the total physical capacity of your Enterprise servers measured on a full capacity basis, but licensed under Sub-Capacity Licensing terms, is less than 1,000 PVUs.

3. if your servers are licensed to full capacity.

For the above exceptions, customers must manually manage, track, and prepare a Manual Calculation of Virtual Capacity worksheet for each server. For more details about the requirements for this worksheet, go to Virtualization Capacity License Counting Rules.

Customers must maintain documentation for at least two years to demonstrate ongoing compliance with these Sub-Capacity Licensing terms.

For information about supported platforms and hardware requirements for use of IBM License Metric Tool administrative server and its agents, visit the IBM License Metric Tool Knowledge Center.

For listings of current technologies supported by IBM License Metric Tool, consult the list of technologies supported by License Metric Tool.

Use of IBM validated BigFix Inventory

BigFix Inventory is now an HCL product and the latest BigFix Inventory product release level delivered by IBM is BigFix Inventory 9.2.15.

IBM and HCL have established a collaboration agreement aimed to continue to have BigFix Inventory accepted as an alternate solution to IBM License Metric Tool for IBM Virtualization Capacity reporting.

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