Announcing DISCOVER.DB2
When I was in my early thirties, I was diagnosed with a learning disability. This really put my learning style into perspective. Teaching myself via a book was incredibly hard, and still is in some ways. Where I thrived was…
Tag Newbie
Posts relevant to those new to DB2 administration
Establishing a DB2 JDBC Connection
Recently I was forced outside my comfort zone and asked to vet various open source BI tools. I was a report developer in a past life, a database administrator supporting datamarts at various employers, and even supported Cognos backend databases.…
Db2 Basics: Levels of Configuration
Updated 11/22/2017: instructions on how to run the SQL statement There are a number of places where we can store and change configuration for a Db2 server. I wanted to walk through the main areas and a few details about…
Troubleshooting with Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Cinderella
It’s that magical time of year again. DBAs excitedly pack their bags for a week-long trip. On-call rotation is hurriedly passed to the next poor soul on the rotation list. Ember dons her trademark pigtails. Melanie Stopfer crams another 20…
The Role of a DB2 DBA and of the DB2 Consultant
This blog post was inspired by a DM on Twitter. A follower asked me for ideas on how to best interact with developers and how much expertise to give away. This is a big question with a vast array of…
IBM’s October Conference – WoW, not World of Warcraft!
I’ll once again be attending IBM’s October Conference in Las Vegas. I can remember when it was focused on DB2, and the year they started calling it Information on Demand (IoD). Then they changed it to Insight, and this year…
Licensing Your Database Software on Virtual Platforms
Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Oracle RDBMS licensing. Please verify any and all licensing statements about IBM or Oracle before relying on them. I am likely biased towards IBM, having based my career on them, but am not…
DB2 Basics: What Filesystems does my Database Actively Use?
Updated 11/22/2017: One-letter typo If you only ever take the defaults, DB2 places all databases, data, and so forth on one filesystem – whatever filesystem is the home filesystem for the DB2 instance owner. If that is an isolated filesystem,…
DB2 Basics: The DB2 LUW Sample Database
I find the DB2 sample database useful for trying new things and proving to myself how things work. Why Use the Sample Database? The DB2 sample database is useful for a variety of reasons. Testing Connectivity Sometimes when building a…
Playing With CLPPLUS
I’ve played with the clpplus at least once before, but have generally thought of it as a tool created to satisfy those coming from Oracle and looking for Oracle-like features. One of the features I actually liked about Oracle in…
DB2 Basics: Administrative Commands
I had been in conversation with a respected DBA who is a well known speaker and author. I had mentioned how difficult it is to come up with advanced topics to write and speak about. That is when he responded…
DB2 Quick Tip: Checking Connection State
Sometimes the connection state is unclear. The following can all make it fuzzy wether or not you have a valid connection: A db2 error or warning related to your connection A system error related to network connectivity Changing VPNs or…