Software License


Compaq/HP software is never purchased. Instead, Compaq/HP grants a license to use the software. The license agreement must be signed by the using organization, and Compaq/HP will issue a product authorization kit (PAK). The information in the PAK is managed by the OpenVMS license management facility (LMF). LMF supports five types of licenses: availability, activity, personal use, user, and group.

  • Availability provides for limited uses (not user) for the machine type.

  • Activity provides for a specified limit of uses on the system.

  • Personal Use is keyed to unlimited use by specific users, usually for a limited amount of time.

  • User provides for limited user access.

  • Group authorizes access to a group of products, usually related. A Group license is also one of the other four: Availability, Activity, Personal Use, or User.

Entering a license is a two-step process:

  • Registering the license. The variables from the PAK are entered into the permanent database.

  • Loading the product. The license must be moved from the permanent database to the volatile one. This step is normally done when the computer is booted.

Products that require licenses access only the volatile database, not the permanent database. The permanent database contains a history of changes made to a given license as well as all of the PAK data. A typical PAK for volume shadowing would resemble the following information:

                      ISSUER: DEC        AUTHORIZATION NUMBER: ALS-WM-45789-6666                PRODUCT NAME: VOLSHAD                    PRODUCER: DEC             NUMBER OF UNITS: 400                     VERSION: 7.3        PRODUCT RELEASE DATE:        KEY TERMINATION DATE: 31-DEC-2001     AVAILABILITY TABLE CODE: E         ACTIVITY TABLE CODE:                 KEY OPTIONS: MOD_UNITS               PRODUCT TOKEN:               HARDWARE I.D.:                    CHECKSUM: 2-EBID-GOOD-NIGH-OJJG 

An OpenVMS License specifies two key quantities: availability and activity. Availability refers to the CPU "horsepower," such that more powerful CPUs require more units of availability. Activity (called Units on the PAK) refers to the number of concurrent uses (not users) of the product. Uses are counted because many products can be activated through network and batch access as well as interactive access.

To display the particular computer's License Unit Requirement Table (LURT), use the following SHOW command:

     MANAGER> show license/unit     VMS/LMF Charge Information for node BEAVER     This is a VAXstation 4000-90A, hardware model type 475     Type: A, * Not Permitted *      (VMS Capacity)     Type: B, * Not Permitted *      (VMS Server)     Type: C, * Not Permitted *      (VMS Concurrent User)     Type: D, Units Required: 100    (VMS Workstation)     Type: E, Units Required: 50     (System Integrated Products)     Type: F, Units Required: 10     (Layered Products)     Type: G, * Not Permitted *      (VMS Reserved)     Type: H, * Not Permitted *      (Alpha Layered Products)     Type: I, Units Required: 10     (Layered Products) 

Notice that the command shows not only the Units assigned to the computer, but also the computer's general characteristics.

Now, to tie the PAK and UNIT_REQUIREMENTS together: The PAK states AVAILABILITY TABLE CODE: E. The LURT shows UNIT_REQUIREMENTS for TYPE: E is 50. This is well under the PAK's NUMBER OF UNITS of 400, hence the license PAK for volume shadowing would be valid on this machine. If the number of units in the PAK is greater than required, the remainder will be shared across other nodes in the cluster automatically, or the system manager can designate which nodes are to be licensed.

The entire cluster's LURT can be displayed easily, as follows. This display conveniently shows the sum of the LURTs throughout the cluster, where EAGLE is an Alpha and the other three are VAXes:

     MANAGER> show license/unit/cluster     VMS/LMF Cluster License Unit Requirements Information    8-SEP-2002     17:33:37.11       Node                A     B     C     D     E     F     G     H     I     BEAVER                -     -     -   100    50    10     -     -    10     EAGLE                12     -     -     -     -     -     -  1050  1050     LOON                  -     -     -   100    50    10     -     -    10     CSWWW                 -   100     -     -    50    10     -     -    10     Total Cluster Unit Requirements     Type: A, Units Required:        12   (VMS Capacity)     Type: B, Units Required:       100   (VMS Server)     Type: C,   * Not Permitted *         (VMS Concurrent User)     Type: D, Units Required:       200   (VMS Workstation)     Type: E, Units Required:       150   (VMS System Integrated Products)     Type: F, Units Required:        30   (Layered Products)     Type: G,   * Not Permitted *         (VMS Reserved)     Type: H, Units Required:      1050   (Alpha Layered Products)     Type: I, Units Required:      1080   (Layered Products) 

Once the computer's LURT requirements are checked against the PAK, the next step is to register, enable, and load the license (i.e., to enter the PAK into the license database and activate it). This is commonly done with an OpenVMS script:

     $ @SYS$UPDATE:VMSLICENSE 

which presents a menu to the manager that resembles the following. The manager should select option 1 to register the PAK, answering the remaining questions as they are presented. These questions are not shown, but generally data from each line of the PAK is requested. Registering a new PAK automatically enables it, and loading the PAK is a user option.

         VMS License Management Utility Options:             1. REGISTER a Product Authorization Key             2. AMEND an existing Product Authorization Key             3. CANCEL an existing Product Authorization Key             4. LIST the Product Authorization Keys             5. MODIFY an existing Product Authorization Key             6. DISABLE an existing Product Authorization Key             7. DELETE an existing Product Authorization Key             8. COPY an existing Product Authorization Key             9. MOVE an existing Product Authorization Key            10. ENABLE an existing Product Authorization Key            11. SHOW the licenses loaded on this node            12. SHOW the unit requirements for this node            99. EXIT this procedure         Type '?' at any prompt for a description of the information         requested. Press Ctrl/Z at any prompt to return to this menu.         Enter one of the above choices [1]: 

Alternately, the LICENSE command can be used, but this is not a novice tool nor is it particularly intuitive. The VMSLICENSE script (or the LICENSE command) offers many other options to manage the license database. These include deleting licenses and assigning licenses to specific nodes in a cluster or to specific users, but details of these operations are beyond the intent of this book.




Getting Started with OpenVMS System Management
Getting Started with OpenVMS System Management (HP Technologies)
ISBN: 1555582818
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 130
Authors: David Miller

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net