Knowledge base

The knowledge base is a collection of information about software products, their components, the dependencies between them, and the means to discover them.

If your business licenses the optional Software Knowledge Base Toolkit product, you can import its knowledge base into the Maximo® database using tools like Asset Discovery for Distributed and Asset Discovery for z/OS®. The contents of the knowledge base can then be used by the Software Catalog and Computers applications.

The knowledge base in Software Knowledge Base Toolkit is an up-to-date, accurate repository of knowledge that can support the automated discovery of both installed and running software products. Information in the knowledge base can originate from software scans and human research. It can also be based on the documents and data published by software manufacturers. The content of the knowledge base can be exported to software catalogs within Software Knowledge Base Toolkit, which in turn can be imported into the Maximo database and used by the Software Catalog and Computers applications.

Currently, IBM issues software knowledge base data monthly for distributed platforms and quarterly for the System z® platform. The data is kept up to date with respect to new IBM products by the IBM® Tivoli® License (Compliance) Manager (ITLM) readiness process, which is part of the release process for new product versions and releases. Data about non-IBM products can also be maintained in the knowledge base.

While data about non-IBM products can be imported directly into the Maximo database using discovery (and importing) tools, many discovery tools have no strictly defined knowledge base. They typically rely on alternative ways to discover and report software inventory. As a result, they do not provide the additional details about the software titles that are available with the knowledge base data imported from Software Knowledge Base Toolkit. These additional details might include information about, for example, licensing or version dependency—information that can be helpful for some users.



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