IBM Cloud Pak License Consumption Report
Generating the report
- Navigate to .
- If necessary, use the two date pickers labeled Reporting period (in the top left corner) to adjust the reporting period. The default values are based on the current reporting period, set in the IBM sub-capacity calculation settings page as the calculation period, and either set manually there, or automatically rolled over on the settings you declared there.
- The report controls include a search field labeled
Licenses, which for audit reporting defaults to
All IBM Cloud Pak licenses. For special
purposes, to narrow your report to one or several candidate licenses:
- Click the edit icon in the field to open a search panel.
- Type all or part of a license name in the License search field, and click Search. Results display in the list at the bottom of the panel (across multiple pages, if your search returned a large number of licenses).
- Select the check box to the left of the license (or licenses) to include in the report. Your current selection(s) are displayed in the Selected license box, and also in the Licenses text box.
- Close the search panel. for example by again clicking the Licenses field.
- Click Run report.
Reading the report
The following columns are available. By default, all available columns are displayed in the report (although for special purposes, you may move any columns that you do not want included into the column chooser).
- Application
- Host
- Inventory device
- License
- Product
- Region
- Resource pools.
Column name | Description |
---|---|
Application properties | |
Application name |
The application's name, which may be:
|
Edition |
The edition of an application. These editions, for example, Lite or Pro, describe different levels or groupings of functionality. |
Primary | Describes whether this product is primary for this license. The default value of this field is Yes for a single-product license. In case of licensing product bundles, you can select one or more primary product(s) for this license. When the application displays No in this column, the installation does not consume any points, as its licensing is covered by the primary product(s) on the same license. |
Host properties | |
Computer type |
Specifies the type of the accessing device, which may be any of the
following values:
Most commonly, this displays VM Host. However, if it happens that a stand-alone device (neither a VM nor a VM host) is included in the report for its full capacity contribution, its details are repeated in both the host section and the inventory device section of the report. In this case, the Computer type typically displays Computer. |
Host consumption |
The total points consumed for all of the relevant software
installations on this host (both on its hosted VMs and directly on this server). The
simple sum of points for all installations may be modified in either of two ways:
|
Host corporate unit |
The corporate unit responsible for all costs incurred for this host server. This same value may also flow through to all guest VMs on this host (for example, for a departmental server); or the guest VMs may have independent values (for example, for a server room host that runs VMs for several different corporate units). This choice is determined by the setting for Update virtual machine cost center and corporate unit to match host properties in the system menu ( in the top right corner) > tab. Be aware that changes to the host's corporate unit are data corrections, and that the current value is always reflected in the report regenerated as part of each night's license compliance calculations. Compare with Corporate unit for the inventory device. Editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties. |
Host cost center |
The cost center responsible for all costs incurred for this host server. This same value may also flow through to all guest VMs on this host (for example, for a departmental server); or the guest VMs may have independent values (for example, for a server room host that runs VMs for several different cost centers). This choice is determined by the setting for Update virtual machine cost center and corporate unit to match host properties in the system menu ( in the top right corner) > tab. Be aware that changes to the host's cost center are data corrections, and that the current value is always reflected in the report regenerated as part of each night's license compliance calculations. Compare with Cost center for the inventory device. Editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties. |
Host licensing |
Displays one of the following values:
A host may be forced to consume to its full capacity for either
of the following reasons:
|
Host location |
The location within your enterprise that is responsible for this host device. The settings for guest VMs on this host may or may not inherit this value, depending on the setting for Update virtual machine location to match host location in the system menu ( in the top right corner) > tab. Be aware that changes to the location are data corrections, and that the current value is always retroactive for the entire reporting period in the report regenerated as part of each night's license compliance calculations. Because the ownership location is used to link each inventory device to the appropriate IBM region, such a change may alter either the size or the date of regional peaks in the consumption report. Compare with Location for the inventory device. Editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties. |
Host manufacturer |
The company making and selling the computer hosting the relevant virtual machine. |
Host model |
The manufacturer’s model name or number for this device. |
Host name |
The system name of this device. You may click the hyperlinked name to open the inventory device properties for this host. |
Max clock speed |
The maximum clock speed displayed in the computer’s own property sheet. The Clock speed value is not directly editable. See the property sheet for the computer. |
Physical server CPU core sub-capacity |
The number of processor cores used in the consumption calculation
for this row of the report.
Tip: When Host licensing is
Full capacity or blank, this figure is the same as
Physical server CPU core sub-capacity limit. In contrast, when
Host licensing is Sub-capacity, this
figure is the same as the Cores count displayed for the inventory
device (guest VM) in this row.
|
Physical server CPU core sub-capacity limit |
The total number of processor cores available in the host, which acts as a cap or upper limit on the sum of possible cores assigned to its guest VMs. |
Processors |
The total number of central processing units (CPUs) available in this host. |
Processor type |
The type of processor installed in this host. Populated and (by default) updated by inventory imports, this value can be manually overwritten in the Hardware tab of the inventory device properties. |
Inventory device properties | |
Allocated |
Indicates whether this row of the table records an allocation of a license entitlement to the inventory device or user. (Allocations are independent of installations.) The Allocated value is editable in the Consumption tab of the license properties. Furthermore, the type of allocation can be adjusted on the Licenses tab of the inventory device properties. |
Computer |
The name of the device consuming from this IBM license. Click to open the properties of this inventory device. Editable in the Name field in the General tab of the inventory device properties (for manually-created records). |
Computer deleted |
Displays No when this virtual machine is still fully operational and reporting inventory. Displays Yes when an operator has attempted to delete the record for this device — strictly speaking, the device has been given a status of Archived, and its historical records are maintained for retroactive consumption calculations. In all other respects, it acts as if deleted. (Its complete deletion follows when the historical records of consumption are no longer required, because they fall outside the data retention period.) |
Cores |
When the inventory device is a guest VM on the host in this row, this is the number of processor cores assigned to the VM. If the Host licensing column displays Sub-capacity, this count of assigned cores matches the Physical server CPU core sub-capacity value used to calculate the points consumed for this row. However, where the Host licensing was forced to Full capacity, those two values are different, with this column still showing the cores assigned, even though that number had to be ignored for full capacity calculations. (In those cases where this row is reporting consumption for the host itself, or for a stand-alone server, this is the number of processor cores available in the physical inventory device.) |
Corporate unit |
The corporate unit responsible for all costs incurred for this inventory device. If this device is a virtual machine, it may inherit the value from its host (for example, from a departmental server); or it may have an independent value. This choice is determined by the setting for Update virtual machine cost center and corporate unit to match host properties in the system menu ( in the top right corner) > tab. Independent (non-inherited) values are editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties. Be aware that changes to the corporate unit are data corrections, and that the current value is always reflected in the report regenerated as part of each night's license compliance calculations. |
Cost center |
The cost center responsible for all costs incurred for this inventory device. If this device is a virtual machine, it may inherit the value from its host (for example, from a departmental server); or it may have an independent value. This choice is determined by the setting for Update virtual machine cost center and corporate unit to match host properties in the system menu ( in the top right corner) > tab. Independent (non-inherited) values are editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties. Be aware that changes to the cost center are data corrections, and that the current value is always reflected in the report regenerated as part of each night's license compliance calculations. |
Domain name |
The domain for this inventory device reported in its inventory. Often blank for guest VMs hosted on UNIX-like servers, unless the configuration has been especially set up to report a Windows domain for the non-Windows device. Information only, and does not affect device matching or consumption calculations, nor the attribution of device consumption to an IBM region (which is handled through locations). |
Eligible for sub-capacity |
Displays Yes when all of the
following are true:
Tip: Check this value against the results for
other VMs on this host, and also against the Host
licensing column. Even though this
individual VM may qualify for sub-capacity calculations, the
presence of any one or more VMs that are ineligible (for
example, because they are not reporting FlexNet inventory)
forces calculations for the entire host and all its VMs to
be Full capacity.
Inconsistencies in this value for VMs on a common host can
help you diagnose where you are missing installations of
FlexNet inventory agent.
|
Exempted |
Displays Yes when an Exemption reason is set, meaning that the use of the licensed application on this inventory device does not count towards points consumed for the license. Displays No in the normal case, where the points consumed by the inventory device are calculated, and used in deriving the peak consumption for the appropriate IBM region. |
Exemption reason |
The reason why the individual computer or user is exempt from consuming an entitlement under this license, even though the application is in use. When this column is blank, application use on this computer, or by this user, can count towards consumption of the license. The Exemption reason may be set on the Consumption tab of the license properties; or it may be based on the setting of the device role which matches an exemption reason identified in the product use rights of the license. |
Inventory source |
The most recent source of inventory that reported the majority of the hardware properties for this device (if a device is reported by multiple inventory sources, some details may come from the main or primary source, and other details may be augmented from other sources). For VPC licenses for Cloud Paks, this column should always represent FlexNet inventory, collected and uploaded by the locally-installed FlexNet inventory agent. (The column may also display ManageSoft, a legacy name for FlexNet inventory agent.) |
IP address |
The IPv4 address (if any) reported in inventory from this device. Reflects the IP address shown in the General tab of the inventory device properties, and may be blank if the device reports an IPv6 address as its first or only IP address. |
Last inventory date |
The date when inventory information was most recently collected by the Inventory source for the inventory device. |
Location |
The location within your enterprise that is responsible
for this inventory device. If this device is a virtual machine, it may inherit this
value, depending on the setting for Update virtual machine location to
match host location in the
system menu (
in the top right corner) > tab.
Note: In the unlikely case that this virtual machine is linked
to an asset, then the value remains independent of the virtual host, regardless
of the system setting.
Independent (non-inherited) values are editable in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties. Be aware that changes to the location are data corrections, and that the current value is always retroactive for the entire reporting period in the report regenerated as part of each night's license compliance calculations. Because the ownership location is used to link each inventory device to the appropriate IBM region, such a change may alter either the size or the date of regional peaks in the consumption report. |
Operating system |
The operating system that this inventory device reports in inventory. In the case of a virtual machine, this is the guest operating system. |
License properties | |
License consumption |
The total number of points consumed for this IBM VPC
license, which is the sum of:
|
License name |
The license name may be:
|
License publisher |
The name of the software publisher (responsible for its development and distribution), as shown in the license properties. |
License version |
The version assigned to the license. This may be tracking versions of a linked application, or may an independent value. |
Product properties | |
Metric type |
For an IBM VPC license, the metric used in calculating license consumption is the number of VPCs available to run the licensed product on each device. Therefore the Metric type column shows VPC. |
Product conversion ratio |
For an IBM VPC license, this ratio defines the factor used to
move from the total number of virtual processor cores (VPCs)
assigned in all devices running the same product (on this
license), to the number of license entitlements consumed. For
example, a ratio of 2 : 1 means
that every two assigned cores (of the total here shown in the
Product peak metric quantity column)
consume a license entitlement – or expressed the other way
around, the license consumption is half of the peak VPC
quantity.
Tip: At this product level, the result
must always be rounded up to a whole number of license
entitlements. For example, a peak VPC quantity of
2, with a ratio of
4 : 1, calculates to a half
of a license entitlement, but this must be rounded up to one
single license entitlement.
|
Product name |
IBM's name for this product. |
Product peak consumption |
The highest level of license entitlements consumed for this product within the reporting period. This is the sum of the peak values from each of the mandatory IBM regions (on whatever date the peak value occurred for each region), plus any nominal peak from devices not yet assigned to a location mapped to an IBM region (any unassigned devices should be corrected as soon as possible, and before the final run of this report for the period is archived for delivery to IBM). |
Product peak metric quantity |
This is the highest number of VPCs committed to running the product shown in this row. Calculated in a similar manner to the license consumption result, this is the sum of the corresponding peak values from each of the mandatory IBM regions (on whatever dates those peaks were recorded), plus any nominal value from devices not correctly assigned to one of those IBM regions. (Assigning these devices to the correct regions may correct the peak values and peak dates in the regions for the next run of this report.) |
Region properties | |
Region consumption |
The peak consumption (the highest number of points consumed on an individual day) for the IBM region identified in this row, being the region to which consumption by the host server contributes. |
Region name |
Shows, for each device, the region in which its license points are
included (or, if the device is not yet assigned to a region, Unknown
region is displayed, and this should be corrected as soon as
practical). This is one of the three regions of the world that IBM makes mandatory
for reporting points consumption on IBM sub-capacity licenses.
Tip: In any list of inventory devices, a virtual machine
shows the IBM region linked to its
host server. This is because an IBM sub-capacity license licenses the
host, and therefore the total consumption for the host is rolled up into
the IBM region that is linked to the host (through its owning location). This
total consumption includes both software installed on the host and/or on any
guest VMs running on that host. (In contrast, if the host for the VM is unknown,
the VM displays its own properties, so that in this case, the location and its
mapped IBM region are those from the orphan VM.)
Values may be:
|
Region peak consumption time |
The last date (within your chosen reporting period) when the peak
value for the named region occurred. If the system is widely
stable, the peak value may be sustained for a long time, so that
this value may well be the date of your last license
reconciliation (possibly today or yesterday). If the date is
earlier than that, the current consumption is lower than the
peak for that region.
Tip: To synchronize reporting
for the three regions worldwide, dates are UTC (that is, the
date rolls over at midnight UTC).
|
Resource pools properties | |
Pool 1 |
The name of the (first or only) resource pool on the host shown
in the current row, to which the inventory device (virtual
machine) on the same row belongs. Be aware that if there is a
similar value for Pool 2, then pool 1 is
the higher-level or parent pool in the hierarchy, and pool 2 is
the lower-level or child pool that typically contains the
virtual machines. This column only shows a value for host
platforms that support resource pools with hard limits,
including:
Tip: Resource pools in VMware ESX servers do
not impose hard limits (capping), and therefore do not
appear in these Resource pools
properties.
The resource pool data in this report is historical: that is, it shows the resource pool capping applicable to the host and VM (inventory device) in this row of report as at the date when the inventory device contributed to the peak consumption for its IBM region. Current resource pools are visible in the Management view under . |
Pool 1 core sub-capacity limit |
The total number of cores available for all virtual machines in this pool (where there is only one level in the pool hierarchy), or available for all its child resource pools (where there are two levels in the pool hierarchy). This capping applied when the inventory device contributed to the peak consumption in its IBM region. |
Pool 2 |
The name of the child (or lower level) resource pool, to which
virtual machines are typically assigned when there is a
hierarchy of resource pools. (Where a host has only a single
level of resource pools, this column remains blank.)
Tip: If you create an unusual hierarchy with more than
two levels, only the lowest level (containing VMs) and the
second-lowest level (the immediate parent) appear in this
report.
This is the pool (and its associated
capping) that applied when the inventory device contributed to
the peak consumption in its IBM region. For more details, see
Pool 1 above. |
Pool 2 core sub-capacity limit |
The total number of cores available for all virtual machines in this pool. (Where a host has only a single level of resource pools, this column remains blank.) This capping applied when the inventory device contributed to the peak consumption in its IBM region. |
FlexNet Manager Suite (On-Premises)
2020 R2