The POWER hypervisor is partly implemented in the form of system firmware on the managed systems. From time to time, IBM may release new versions of the system firmware with bug fixes and new PowerVM features. Which system firmware is installed on a managed system, IBM speaks of the so-called Licensed Internal Code (LIC), can be displayed with the command “ms lslic“.

$ ms lslic
NAME  LIC_TYPE        ECNUMBER  INSTALLED  ACTIVATED  ACCEPTED  DEFERRED  IPL  UAK
ms01  Managed System  01AL770   126        126        116       None      126  -
ms03  Managed System  01SV860   215        215        138       None      215  08/07/2021
ms04  Managed System  01SV860   215        215        138       None      215  07/24/2021
ms05  Managed System  01SV860   215        215        138       None      215  08/14/2021
ms06  Managed System  01SV860   215        215        138       None      215  10/03/2021
ms07  Managed System  01VL940   50         50         50        None      50   11/05/2021
ms08  Managed System  01VL940   50         50         50        None      50   01/27/2022
$

Managed systems can also be specified explicitly here, otherwise all managed systems are listed.

In addition to the installed system firmware, e.g. SV860_215 for the managed system ms04, the output also shows which version is activated (ACCEPTED). For POWER8 or higher, the expiration date of the update access key (UAK) is also shown in the last column.