Db2

 View Only

 BYOL Licensing Question: Temporary Instance Overlap during AWS RDS for Db2 Migration

Hoang Tran's profile image
Hoang Tran posted 02/02/26 02:58 AM

Hello,

I have a question regarding IBM Db2 license compliance in a Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) model on AWS RDS.

Our Environment and Process:

  • We run a production IBM Db2 database on an Amazon RDS instance.
  • We have one (1) IBM Db2 license for this instance.
  • Once or twice a year, we need to recreate this database instance for maintenance or refresh purposes.
  • Our procedure is as follows:
    1. We create a new RDS for Db2 instance by restoring it from a snapshot of the original production instance.
    2. For a very short period—typically less than an hour—both the original instance and the new instance are running simultaneously. This overlap is necessary for us to validate the new instance and prepare for the cutover.
    3. As soon as the new instance is confirmed to be healthy, we permanently shut down and delete the original instance.
    4. The new instance then takes over the production workload.

My Question:

From an IBM licensing perspective, does this brief, temporary overlap for migration purposes require a second Db2 license? Or is this activity considered a standard license reassignment where the single license temporarily covers both machines during the transition, provided the original is decommissioned promptly?

We want to ensure we remain fully compliant with our IBM licensing agreement.

Thank you for your guidance.

Related Content