Glossary

Terms commonly used in the help are defined here.

Evaluation key
The temporary key that lets you use and evaluate IBM Rational® products for a fixed period of time. They run on any host and are distributed by the Rational products sales team or through ibm.com® for certain products. Evaluation keys can be node-locked or floating.
Floating license
The license type that links product to a license server. Clients obtain licenses from the license server when they use a copy of IBM Rational software. Multiple clients can share the pool of floating license keys; one license key per client per product. Floating licenses on license servers are typically administered by system administrators.
License
A legal right to use a product. You receive licenses when you purchase Rational products. However, you must have license keys either on a license server or on clients to run the products.
License key
A term used to describe software keys that enable licenses to run the product on your computer. The types of license keys are: permanent and temporary (evaluation or emergency).
License key administrator (LKAD)
A program that provides a user interface to IBM Rational Common Licensing. LKAD is installed whenever an Rational product is installed on a Windows® computer. LKAD is also installed with the license server software.
License Key Certificate
A piece of paper or electronic file that contains your account number and other information you must have to order a permanent license key or install a temporary key.
License key type
The valid types of license keys are temporary and permanent. Evaluation and emergency license keys are variations of temporary keys. Term License Agreements (TLAs) are a variation of permanent keys. Each type of key has different business rules and policies.
License Type
License types are floating and node-locked.
Named-User Floating
Similar to a floating license type, except that the license administrator assigns licenses to specific users. That is, only specific users can request floating license keys from the license server. This license type is only available for IBM Rational Purify®, IBM Rational Quantify®, and IBM Rational PureCoverage®.
Node-locked license
A type of license that links a product to a computer. A node-locked license lets you use the software only on the computer for which it is licensed. This license does not require a license server.
Permanent License Key
A license key that lets you operate the software indefinitely. Permanent keys can be node-locked or floating. Node-locked permanent keys are installed on a client. Floating permanent keys are installed on a license server.
Temporary License Key
A short-term license key that lets you run Rational products on any system. Although they are not system-specific, they are product-specific.
Term License Agreement
Variation of a permanent license key. A Term License Agreement (TLA) lets you use a Rational product for a negotiated period of time.