Installation
I've sucessfully installed various versions of DB2 Enterprise Edition, DB2 Personal Edition and DB2 Express Edition on Linux and Solaris x86.
For Older Versions of DB2
Install RPM
When installing versions of DB2 below 9.1, on non-RPM based systems, you'll need to install RPM.
On Ubuntu and Debian, run apt-get install rpm. If your distribution came with RPM, you may be prompted to enter a CD. If not, it will be downloaded from the internet. Once RPM is installed, log in as root and run rpm --initdb.
On systems where the rpm command resides in /usr/bin, you need to create a symbolic link between /usr/bin/rpm and /bin/rpm as follows.
ln -s /usr/bin/rpm /bin/rpm
PATH Environment Variable
For versions 7.2 through 8.2 (though apparently not for versions above 8.2), the DB2 installer tries to run some command line programs that are found in sbin and /usr/sbin. Make sure that these directories are in the root user's PATH.
DB2 Installation
Each version of DB2 has a slightly different installation procedure. Follow the links below for the version of DB2 that you are installing.
Installing IBM DB2 Enterprise V7.2
Installing IBM DB2 Enterprise V8.1
Installing IBM DB2 Personal V8.2
Installing IBM DB2 Express V8.2.4
Installing IBM DB2 Express V9.1
Installing IBM DB2 Express V9.7.1
Installing IBM DB2 Express V10.1
Installing IBM DB2 Express V10.5
Creating a Database
Now that you have created an instance, you must create a database within the instance. Log in as db2inst1 and run the following command to create a database named testdb.
db2 "create database testdb"
(Note: Even in modern DB2, database names may only be 8 characters long, or less.)
Should you need to drop a database, the following command drops a database named testdb.
db2 "drop database testdb"
Accessing a Database
Accessing a Local Database
Accessing a local DB2 database using the db2 client tool is simple. For example, to access a database called testdb in the db2inst1 instance, owned by the db2inst1 user on the local machine, log in as db2inst1 and run the db2 command. Then use the CONNECT command to connect to a particular database.
[db2inst1@localhost db2inst1]$ db2
c(c) Copyright IBM Corporation 1993,2001
Command Line Processor for DB2 SDK 7.2.0
You can issue database manager commands and SQL statements from the command
prompt. For example:
db2 => connect to sample
db2 => bind sample.bnd
For general help, type: ?.
For command help, type: ? command, where command can be
the first few keywords of a database manager command. For example:
? CATALOG DATABASE for help on the CATALOG DATABASE command
? CATALOG for help on all of the CATALOG commands.
To exit db2 interactive mode, type QUIT at the command prompt. Outside
interactive mode, all commands must be prefixed with 'db2'.
To list the current command option settings, type LIST COMMAND OPTIONS.
For more detailed help, refer to the Online Reference Manual.
db2 => connect to testdb
Database Connection Information
Database server = DB2/LINUX 7.2.0
SQL authorization ID = DB2INST1
Local database alias = TESTDB
Accessing a Remote Database
If you want to access a database on a remote machine, the process is more complex. DB2 or "DB2 Connect" must be installed on the local and remote machines and a DB2 or "DB2 Connect" instance must be created on the local machine. "DB2 Connect" is a lightweight version of the DB2 database system whose instances cannot support a local database, and can only provide connectivity to a remote instance. In the instance on the local machine, use the CATALOG command to create aliases for the remote instance and database. Once these aliases are created, you can use the database alias to connect to the remote database.
Take the following scenario:
local machine Hostname localhost Instance db2inst1
remote machine Hostname remotehost Instance testinst
owned by user testinst with password testpassword
allows remote connections on port 50000Database testdb
On localhost, in the db2inst1 instance, to create an instance alias named remote referring to testinst on remotehost, and a database alias named remotedb referring to testdb, follow this procedure.
log in as db2inst1 on localhost
create the instance alias using the following commands:create the database alias using the following commands:
db2 "catalog tcpip node remote remote remotehost server
50000"
db2 "terminate"
db2 "catalog database testdb as remotedb at node
remote authentication server"
db2 "terminate"
Now that the aliases have been created, you can connect to the database alias using the CONNECT comamnd. Note that you must supply the user name and password.
[db2inst1@localhost db2inst1]$ db2
c(c) Copyright IBM Corporation 1993,2001
Command Line Processor for DB2 SDK 7.2.0
You can issue database manager commands and SQL statements from the command
prompt. For example:
db2 => connect to sample
db2 => bind sample.bnd
For general help, type: ?.
For command help, type: ? command, where command can be
the first few keywords of a database manager command. For example:
? CATALOG DATABASE for help on the CATALOG DATABASE command
? CATALOG for help on all of the CATALOG commands.
To exit db2 interactive mode, type QUIT at the command prompt. Outside
interactive mode, all commands must be prefixed with 'db2'.
To list the current command option settings, type LIST COMMAND OPTIONS.
For more detailed help, refer to the Online Reference Manual.
db2 => connect to remotedb user testinst using testpassword
Database Connection Information
Database server = DB2/LINUX 7.2.0
SQL authorization ID = TESTINST
Local database alias = REMOTEDB
If you need to get a list of instance aliases, you can use the LIST NODE DIRECTORY command as follows.
db2 "list node directory"
To list the database aliases, you can use the LIST DATABASE DIRECTORY command. Note that this command lists local databases as well as remote databases.
db2 "list database directory"
If you need to drop a database or instance alias, use the UNCATALOG command. The following commands remove the remotedb database alias and the remote instance alias.
db2 "uncatalog database remotedb"
db2 "uncatalog node remote"
db2 "terminate"
Using the DB2 Client Program
When run with no arguments, the db2 client program provides an interactive shell, prompting you to enter commands or an SQL queries. Commands or queries must be entered on a single line and will run when the Enter or Return key is pressed. To exit, type quit.
A sample db2 session follows.
[db2inst1@localhost db2inst1]$ db2
c(c) Copyright IBM Corporation 1993,2001
Command Line Processor for DB2 SDK 7.2.0
You can issue database manager commands and SQL statements from the command
prompt. For example:
db2 => connect to sample
db2 => bind sample.bnd
For general help, type: ?.
For command help, type: ? command, where command can be
the first few keywords of a database manager command. For example:
? CATALOG DATABASE for help on the CATALOG DATABASE command
? CATALOG for help on all of the CATALOG commands.
To exit db2 interactive mode, type QUIT at the command prompt. Outside
interactive mode, all commands must be prefixed with 'db2'.
To list the current command option settings, type LIST COMMAND OPTIONS.
For more detailed help, refer to the Online Reference Manual.
db2 => connect to testdb
Database Connection Information
Database server = DB2/LINUX 7.2.0
SQL authorization ID = DB2INST1
Local database alias = TESTDB
db2 => create table testtable (col1 char(40), col2 int)
DB20000I The SQL command completed successfully.
db2 => list tables
Table/View Schema Type Creation time
------------------------------- --------------- ----- --------------------------
TESTTABLE DB2INST1 T 2002-03-01-01.55.19.671629
1 record(s) selected.
db2 => insert into testtable values ('hello',50)
DB20000I The SQL command completed successfully.
db2 => insert into testtable values ('hi',60)
DB20000I The SQL command completed successfully.
db2 => insert into testtable values ('bye',70)
DB20000I The SQL command completed successfully.
db2 => select * from testtable
COL1 COL2
---------------------------------------- -----------
hello 50
hi 60
bye 70
3 record(s) selected.
db2 => update testtable set col2=0 where col1='hi'
DB20000I The SQL command completed successfully.
db2 => select * from testtable
COL1 COL2
---------------------------------------- -----------
hello 50
hi 0
bye 70
3 record(s) selected.
db2 => delete from testtable where col2=50
DB20000I The SQL command completed successfully.
db2 => select * from testtable
COL1 COL2
---------------------------------------- -----------
hi 0
bye 70
2 record(s) selected.
db2 => drop table testtable
DB20000I The SQL command completed successfully.
db2 => quit
DB20000I The QUIT command completed successfully.
Using the DB2 Information and Control Centers
IBM DB2 comes with a set of graphical, Java-based utilities for browsing and configuring database instances.
To run the DB2 Information Center or Control Center, you have to log in as a database instance or adminstrative server owner such as db2as or db2inst1.
Modern versions of DB2 install a compatible JRE but very old versions of DB2 require that the Java Runtime Enviroment version 1.1.8 or higher be installed. Version 1.1.8 is hard to come by these days, but can currently be downloaded from vim. If you install a third party JRE, Make sure that the jre command is in the PATH environment variable for that user. If it isn't, modify that user's .bashrc to include it.
If you are running an older JRE and a 2.4 Linux kernel that doesn't support the Native Posix Threading Library (such as on Redhat 8 or earlier), then add the following line to the user's .bashrc
export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.2.5
If you are running an older JRE and a 2.4 Linux kernel that supports the Native Posix Threading Library (such as on Redhat 9), then add the following line to the user's .bashrc
export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.1
To run the Information Center or Control Center, you first have to run the DB2 Java Server and give it a port number as follows.
db2jstrt 6720
Once it's running, you can run the DB2 Information Center or Control Center, also supplying the port.
db2ic 6720
or
db2cc 6720
Both utilities will ask for the username and password of an instance owner. Once you supply these credentials, you can browse and/or configure the instance owned by that user.
