ULTRIX Guide to Software Licensing

This document, "Guide to Software Licensing," published in May 1990 by Digital Equipment Corporation, is intended for ULTRIX system managers. It describes the Digital Distributed Software Licensing Architecture (DDSLA), its key components, and how to manage software licenses on ULTRIX systems (Version 4.0).

Key aspects covered:

1. DDSLA Overview: DDSLA is an architecture that uses "license units" to size software product use in distributed computing environments.
2. License Management Facility (LMF): This is a software tool within ULTRIX for license checking and management. It utilizes:
   • A License Database (LDB) to store registered license information.
   • License Unit Requirement Tables (LURTs) to determine the number of license units required for a product based on the system's performance (System Marketing Model).
   • License-checking functions embedded in licensed products.
3. Product Authorization Keys (PAKs): These are unique sets of data provided by Digital that confirm a product is licensed. Different types include standard License PAKs, Service Update PAKs (SUP), Temporary Service PAKs (TSP), and Product Authorization Amendments (PAAM). PAKs contain various fields like Issuer, Product Name, Number of Units, Version, Release Date, and Termination Date.
4. Types of Software Licenses:
   • Availability (Capacity) Licenses: Allow a product to run on specific hardware types; once licensed, users have unlimited access.
   • Activity (Per-user) Licenses: Restrict the number of simultaneous users.
5. License Checking: The LMF loads license details from the LDB into the kernel cache. When a user attempts to access licensed software, the system checks the kernel cache for a valid license, comparing license units to system requirements. Insufficient units or invalid license details prevent product access.
6. License Management Activities (using the lmf utility): The guide details how system managers (superusers) can perform a variety of tasks, including:
   • Registering new licenses (PAKs) into the LDB.
   • Loading/Unloading licenses into/from the kernel cache.
   • Enabling/Disabling licenses.
   • Issuing (moving) licenses to other systems.
   • Cancelling and Deleting licenses.
   • Updating licenses (modifying units, amending with PAAMs).
   • Monitoring the LDB and kernel cache.
   • Reviewing license management activities through a history file.
   • Combining multiple licenses for the same product.

The document emphasizes that while LMF helps with compliance, the ultimate responsibility for adhering to license terms lies with the customer. It also notes that software released after ULTRIX V4.0 generally provides full LMF support.