IBM Support Updates for

DB2 for LUW and Z

Dean Compher

24 February 2010

Updated 27 May 2015

 

 

Over time new tools have been added to help you get support and find support information for your IBM software including database software.  These changes include updates to the Support Portal and tools you can download.  In some cases you can even do a live chat with support after opening a ticket with them.  You can customize the Support Portal to have the information about the products that you use the most at your fingertips.  You can even choose to get automatic notifications of important information through RSS feeds and Twitter.  These tools can be used to help you prevent problems as well as to expedite the resolution of problems you may encounter. 

 

Where to Start

 

The IBM Electronic Support site is great because it lists the most useful tools for getting help and support.  Check out the various tabs on this site to see lots of information including tools to help you prevent problems.  In the table below, I’ll show you some of the tools I think are most useful. 

 

My Notifications

Sign up to get notified of new technical information including new fix packs.  “Prevent Problems” tab

Find information

Search existing PMR knowledge base, redbooks, product documentation, tech notes, and much more.  “Find info” tab.

Join the Conversation

Join the Support Community, watch the support blog, follow support on twitter and join groups and forums.  See the social media links in the “Overview” tab.

IBM Service Request

Has the link for opening an Electronic PMR also known as an Online Service Request.  PMR's are now generally known as Service Requests.  “Work with Support” tab use the “Visit the IBM Support” button anywhere it appears. 

Other

There are lots of other useful links.  I highly recommend you take a few minutes to look them over.

 

In addition to the Tools & Resources tab the Electronic Support Page also includes the About tab with a high level description, an IBM Support Portal tab that links you to the Support Portal and an Expand Your Support tab that has additional support options.

 

Use the Support Portal

 

This Support Portal  is a great place to start when you are looking for resources for a particular product.  From the Support portal home page, you select a product and you will be presented with a page of links to all sorts of useful things for that product including fix packs, manuals, knowledge center, troubleshooting documents and all sorts of other stuff.  To get started you can click the “My Products” link and it will give you a list of just the products associated with your IBM ID or you can click the “Browse for a product” link to search all products.  Once you have done this a few times, you can just click the down arrow by the Product finder box and you will see the products you have chosen in the past.

 

 

 

One of the links on the support portal is the “Service requests for hardware and software (PMRs)” link for opening Electronic Service Requests or on line PMRs.  I prefer opening PMRs on the web to opening them on the phone because I can quickly paste all of the relevant information instead of having to relate complex error codes and message to a call center person.  However, you must be registered to open a PMR.  You do not want to do the registration process during a system outage, so get that done now!  See my article entitled, Enable Yourself to Open IBM Support Requests for registration details. 

 

New Tools

 

Since my 2007 article where I wrote about getting help some new tools have been introduced that you may want to investigate.  Here is a list of them with short descriptions.

 

IBM Support Assistant

The IBM Support Assistant (ISA) is a software tool that you download and install on your workstation and on your database servers to help you automate data collection for PMRs and to help you determine the causes of problems on your own with built in tools.  ISA Light is not available for DB2 yet, so don't bother with it.  However, make sure to use the DB2 product specific add-on for your flavor of DB2 and get the latest fix pack for the support assistant by clicking the link for the latest version at the ISA main page.

 

Electronic Service Agent

The Electronic Service Agent (ESA) is installed on your System x or System p system and automatically reports hardware and Operating System problems to IBM Support.  If your database runs on either of these hardware platforms, then you might want to talk to your System Administrator about using it. It also reports an inventory of your systems to IBM Support and updates that inventory list as you add systems. 

 

Interesting Links

 

If you would like to do even more reading on IBM technical support, please see the following links:

Introduction to IBM Remote Technical Support

Support Quick Start

Technical Support Services

 

 ***

 

If you have any additional thoughts or support tips, please post them to my Facebook Page or the db2Dean and Friends Community.

 

 

Top | HOME | Search