Tracking z/OS Cloud Broker license usage

IBM License Service collects and stores license usage data for z/OS® Cloud Broker and other IBM Z and Cloud Modernization Stack component applications, based on specified per application metrics. For z/OS® Cloud Broker, IBM License Service reports on the number of z/OS endpoints defined in z/OS Cloud Broker for a given cluster.

How it works

IBM License Service is provided with IBM Cloud Pak foundational services. It works in the background and does not require any configuration or user engagement. The data it collects and stores can be used for audit purposes and for tracking license usage in cloud environments and on premises.

Prerequisites

Before installing a z/OS Cloud Broker Operator, ensure that you meet all of the hardware requirements and recommendations for IBM Cloud Pak foundational services.

In addition, the IBM Operator Catalog must already be installed. For more information, see Preparing to install IBM z/OS Cloud Broker offline.

Setup

IBM License Server integration for z/OS® Cloud Broker is tied to installation of the z/OS® Cloud Broker Operator and creation of a z/OS® Cloud Broker instance in a user-defined namespace. When installation of the z/OS® Cloud Broker Operator is initiated, a series of automated actions takes place:

  • The IBM Cloud Pak foundational services operator is installed in the user-defined namespace.
  • The IBM Cloud Pak foundational services operator in that namespace creates a namespace called ibm-common-services (if it does not already exist) and then installs a copy of the IBM Cloud Pak foundational services operator in that namespace.
  • Upon installation of the IBM Cloud Pak foundational services operator in ibm-common-services, other operators are installed, and an OperandRequest CRD is made available in that namespace.
  • The necessary resources are created to enable gathering of license usage data for z/OS® Cloud Broker.

After that, once creation of a z/OS® Cloud Broker instance is initiated, the following actions take place:

  • An OperandResource resource is created that makes a request to the IBM Cloud Pak foundational services operator to install the IBM Licensing operator in ibm-common-services.
  • Once the IBM Licensing operator is installed, the IBMLicensingQuerySource CRD is made available, and an instance of it is created. This instance includes annotations for z/OS® Cloud Broker license usage metrics as well as the query to gather the required data.

Validating IBM License Service deployment

To ensure license reporting continuity for license compliance purposes, you need to confirm that the license service is successfully deployed and periodically verify that it is active by logging in to the cluster and running the following command:

kubectl get pods --all-namespaces | grep ibm-licensing | grep -v operator

The following response is a confirmation of successful deployment:

1/1 Running

Retrieving license usage data

You can use dedicated API calls to retrieve license usage data for your cluster. By default, the API call retrieves the license usage for the last 30 days. You can change that period by using the relevant parameters.

For more information about using API calls to retrieve license usage date, see Retrieving license usage data in the IBM License Service documentation.

Archiving license usage data before you decommission the cluster

Before you decommission a cluster where IBM License Service is running, you need to archive the license metric utilization evidence. Retrieve the audit snapshot for the period when it was running on the cluster and store it for audit purposes.

For more information about the IBM License Service, see the IBM License Service documentation.