Introduction

Three methods are available for installing Db2 Database manually on Linux. The first is the extraction of the compressed archives of Db2 components within the larger compressed installation image. The second is by using the db2_install tool. The third and the most robust is through a command that takes as an argument, a response file, such as that optionally created by the Db2 Setup wizard. These methods were briefly introduced in the first article of this series, Getting Started with IBM DB2 on Linux Part I: Background and Installation Preparation. Each of these methods is detailed in the Sections Installing by Extracting Payload Files, Installing by Using db2_install, and Installing by Using Response File with dbsetup, below.

Installing by Extracting Payload Files

This installation method is simply the extraction of a set of tar.gz archives contained within the larger installation image tar.gz archive downloaded from the IBM Db2 download page. In Part I of this article series, after transferring the downloaded image to the remote computer, the installation image was extracted into the directory /home/db2user/software. As suggested by the documentation, the resulting extracted directory was renamed from, /home/db2user/software/server_dec to /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2. Within this directory is the executable file mentioned in Part II of this article series that started the DB2 Setup GUI wizard, as well as some other tools, such as the manual installation script and the prerequisite checking tool. It also contains another directory which contains in a subdirectory several levels deeper, all of the discrete components of a Db2 Database installation as a set of tar.gz files. These files are in /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES.

Descriptions of these files are provided in /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/ComponentList_server_dec.htm, grouped by whether they are required for installation, whether they are part of a typical installation, and whether they are optional. The following screenshot shows a main Ark window showing the contents of the archive and another Ark window displaying the component list file.

The Contents of the DB2 Installation Image
The main Ark window shows the contents of the installation image archive on my local computer before transferring it to and extracting it on the installation target. The contents of the component list are shown in a secondary window.

So, the task of installing using the payload files, is simply to extract the files in the "List of Required Components", and the desired files from the "List of Typical Components" and "List of Optional Components" into an Db2 installation directory. The extraction is performed by first creating the installation directory, changing to the directory, and, as root, extracting each of the components to install with the command: 

tar xvzf component_file.tar.gz

/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03 was chosen as the installation directory following the convention described in the previous articles, where the default path for installations of multiple copies of Db2 on the same computer was described. Instead of extracting each file individually, a script to prepare the installation directory and extract the desired files based on a match of the first part of the file names could be used in order to avoid tedious and error prone typing. The script could also incorporate some of the manual configuration tasks required after the extraction of the components.

It should be noted that some files listed in the ComponentList_server_dec.htm should not be installed, according to the documentation; these are files beginning with PURESCALE_ and CF_, which are only for pureScale environments, and GSKNOINST which are for installations without encryption support. Components that are only necessary for non-root installations -- components with names containing _NR_ also should not be installed for the process described here. The following listing shows the files chosen for this installation. 

/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/BASE_CLIENT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/BASE_CLIENT_R_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/BASE_DB2_ENGINE_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/BASE_DB2_ENGINE_R_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/CLPPLUS_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/COMMUNICATION_SUPPORT_TCPIP_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/CONNECT_SUPPORT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/DATABASE_PARTITIONING_SUPPORT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/DB2_CONTROL_CENTER_HELP_EN_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/DB2_JAVA_HELP_EN_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/DB2_PRODUCT_MESSAGES_EN_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/EDB_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/ESE_PRODUCT_SIGNATURE_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/GSK_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/GSK_CRYPTO_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/ICU_SUP_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/ITLM_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/JAVA_COMMON_FILES_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/JAVA_RUNTIME_SUPPORT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/JAVA_SUPPORT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/JDK_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/REPL_CLIENT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/SQL_PROCEDURES_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/ACS_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/DB2_DATA_SOURCE_SUPPORT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/DB2_SAMPLE_DATABASE_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/DB2_UPDATE_SERVICE_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/FED_DATA_SOURCE_SUPPORT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/GUARDIUM_INST_MNGR_CLIENT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/INSTANCE_SETUP_SUPPORT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz

The complete process for this installation method is listed below.

  1. Change to root. 
    db2user@u1804-lab:~$ su - root
Password: 
root@u1804-lab:~#
  2. Create the installation directory. 
    root@u1804-lab:~# mkdir /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03
    In this case, the installation directory contains _03 because it is the third installation of Db2 version 11.05.
  3. Change to the installation directory. 
    root@u1804-lab:~# cd /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03
  4. Extract each desired component file in the installation directory. For example, the component provided by the file BASE_DB2_ENGINE_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz (see list of files above) would be extracted into the installation directory with the command: 
    root@u1804-lab:/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03# tar xvzf /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/FILES/BASE_CLIENT_11.5.5.0_linuxamd64_x86_64.tar.gz
  5. After this step the installation directory should be populated with the files contained within the component archives. The following listing of the output of ls -l shows the contents of the installation directory after the chosen component files, above, were extracted. 
    root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user# ls -l /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03
total 148
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 acs
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:35 adm
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 adsm
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 bin
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 bnd
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 cfg
drwxr-xr-x  4 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 conv
drwxr-xr-x  7 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 das
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 dasfcn
drwxr-xr-x  5 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 desktop
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 doc
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 function
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 gskit
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 guardium
drwxr-xr-x  5 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 ha
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 include
drwxr-xr-x  4 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 infopop
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 install
drwxr-xr-x  4 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 instance
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 java
drwxr-xr-x  5 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 json
drwxr-xr-x  4 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 lib32
drwxr-xr-x  4 bin  bin  12288 Nov  1 17:33 lib64
drwxr-xr-x 41 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 license
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root    12 Nov  1 17:33 logs -> install/logs
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 map
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 misc
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 msg
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 pd
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:34 properties
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 python
drwxr-xr-x  2 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 Readme
drwxr-xr-x 12 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 samples
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 security32
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:33 security64
drwxr-xr-x  3 bin  bin   4096 Nov  1 17:35 tools
root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user#
  6. Ensure that the installation path is used by the embedded library search path for executables and library files by running the command db2chgpath after changing directory to /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/install: 
    root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user# cd /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/install
root@u1804-lab:/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/install# ./db2chgpath
    Alternatively, the full path of the command could be given without changing directories, as in 
    root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user# /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/install/db2chgpath
    (This is an example of an installation copy specific command: the executable file is within a specific copy's installation directory and acts on the specific installation copy. Other commands are not only installation copy specific, but instance specific as well -- their executables are located within an instance's home directory and act on that specific instance.) The output of a successful completion of this command is as follows: 
    The output will be saved in /tmp/db2chgpath.log.24523
Starting the update of runtime path ...
Sat Jan 23 19:10:29 EST 2021

Changing the embedded runtime path for DB2 deliverables installed
under /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03 from /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5/ to /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/
---> Please wait

Output was saved in the log file /tmp/db2chgpath.log.24523
Sat Jan 23 19:10:49 EST 2021
Program db2chgpath completed successfully.
  7. Create a user that will become an instance owning user in Step 9: 
    root@u1804-lab:~# useradd -c "db2inst3 instance owner" -g 130 -m -s /bin/bash -N -d /home/db2inst3 db2inst3
root@u1804-lab:~# passwd db2inst3
Enter new UNIX password: 
Retype new UNIX password: 
passwd: password updated successfully


    In the above useradd command, the username db2inst3 is chosen following the convention used by DB2 Setup wizard. This user will be the instance owner of the third instance created on this computer, hence the 3 in the username. The following listing shows the existing users with db2 in their usernames before creating the user. The last four entries in the output are those users created by the wizard during the two installations described in the previous article. 
    root@u1804-lab:~# cat /etc/passwd | grep db2
db2user:x:1001:1001:,,,,db2 administrator:/home/db2user:/bin/bash
db2inst1:x:1002:130::/home/db2inst1:/bin/sh
db2fenc1:x:1003:131::/home/db2fenc1:/bin/sh
db2inst2:x:1004:130::/home/db2inst2:/bin/sh
db2fenc2:x:1005:131::/home/db2fenc2:/bin/sh
    The primary user group db2iadm1 (GID 130) created by the wizard in the first installation of Db2 to be used as the instance owner of the instance created as part of that installation, and used again by the wizard as the primary user group of the second instance owner of the instance created as part of the second installation, is used as the primary user group of the new user created by the useradd here. The listing below shows the existing groups with db2 in their names before creating the user. db2iadm1 and db2fadm1 were created by the first invocation of the GUI wizard in the previous to act as the primary user group of the first instance owning user and the primary user group of the first instance fenced user, respectively. 
    root@u1804-lab:~# cat /etc/group | grep db2
sudo:x:27:db2user,labuser
db2user:x:1001:
db2iadm1:x:130:
db2fadm1:x:131:
    The next listing shows the group memberships of the instance owning users before creating the new user. 
    root@u1804-lab:~# id db2inst1
uid=1002(db2inst1) gid=130(db2iadm1) groups=130(db2iadm1)
root@u1804-lab:~# id db2inst2
uid=1004(db2inst2) gid=130(db2iadm1) groups=130(db2iadm1)
root@u1804-lab:~#
    The user created in this step will be the instance owner of a new instance created later in Step 9 that will be associated with the Db2 copy installed in this process; the user to act as instance owner must exist before creating the instance. See Getting Started with DB2 on Linux for information on the relationship between an instance owning user and an instance.
  8. Create a fenced instance user that will be used as by the instance to be created in Step 9: 
    root@u1804-lab:~# useradd -c "db2fenc3 instance fenced user" -g 131 -m -s /bin/bash -N -d /home/db2fenc3 db2fenc3
root@u1804-lab:~# passwd db2fenc3
Enter new UNIX password: 
Retype new UNIX password: 
passwd: password updated successfully
root@u1804-lab:~#
    The username db2fenc3 was chosen for reasons given in the previous step. The user is assigned primary user group db2fadm1 (GID 131), described in the previous step. See Getting Started with DB2 on Linuxfor information on the relationship between an instance fenced user and an instance.
  9. Create an instance with the db2icrt command: 
    root@u1804-lab:~# /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/instance/db2icrt -a server -u db2fenc3 db2inst3
    Note that the full path of the command is given, and that the executable is in a directory named instance within the installation directory of the Db2 copy installed by the current process. This installation copy specific command associates the created instance with the specific installation copy whose installation directory contains the executed command. If the db2icrt contained in the instance directory of the installation directory of another copy were to be executed, the created instance would be associated with that other Db2 copy. In the above command, the argument of the option -u is the fenced user of the instance; the last argument of the command is the instance name of the instance to be created by the command. A user with the same name as the instance to be created with a home directory of the same name must exist before executing the command; the indicated fenced user must also exist and must have a home directory. The output of a successful completion of the command is shown below: 
    root@u1804-lab:~# /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/instance/db2icrt -a server -u db2fenc3 db2inst3   
DBI1446I  The db2icrt command is running.


DB2 installation is being initialized.

 Total number of tasks to be performed: 4 
Total estimated time for all tasks to be performed: 309 second(s) 

Task #1 start
Description: Setting default global profile registry variables 
Estimated time 1 second(s) 
Task #1 end 

Task #2 start
Description: Initializing instance list 
Estimated time 5 second(s) 
Task #2 end 

Task #3 start
Description: Configuring DB2 instances 
Estimated time 300 second(s) 
Task #3 end 

Task #4 start
Description: Updating global profile registry 
Estimated time 3 second(s) 
Task #4 end 

The execution completed successfully.

For more information see the DB2 installation log at "/tmp/db2icrt.log.14306".
DBI1070I  Program db2icrt completed successfully.


root@u1804-lab:~#
    The execution of the instance creation command registers the installation in the Db2 global registry. If not creating an instance, use the db2ilst command to view information on known instances, the execution of which also registers the installation.
  10. Configure the system such that the command db2ls -- which shows basic information about known Db2 copies installed on the system -- uses the executable that is part of a Db2 copy that is at the highest version. The db2greg command -- which shows information form the Db2 global registry -- is one method of displaying the version of installed copies. The lines 
    S,DB2,11.5.5.0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5,,,0,0,,1609285017,0
...
S,DB2,11.5.5.0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_01,,,0,0,,1610327461,0
...
S,DB2,11.5.5.0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03,-,,0,,,1611448740,0
...
    in the following listing, which shows the output of the db2reg command, displays the versions and installation paths of the copies. In each line above the third comma-separated field is the version and the fourth field is the path. In this case all three copies are at version 11.5.5.0. 
    root@u1804-lab:~# db2greg -dump
S,DB2,11.5.5.0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5,,,0,0,,1609285017,0
V,DB2GPRF,DB2SYSTEM,u1804-lab,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5,
I,DB2,11.5.5.0,db2inst1,/home/db2inst1/sqllib,,1,0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5,,
S,TSA,4.1.0.5,/opt/IBM/tsamp,DG_NOT_ALLOWED,DB2_INSTALLED,0,0,-,1610327432,0
S,RSCT,3.2.4.4,/usr/sbin/rsct,DG_NOT_ALLOWED,DB2_INSTALLED,0,0,-,1610327432,0
S,DB2,11.5.5.0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_01,,,0,0,,1610327461,0
V,DB2GPRF,DB2SYSTEM,u1804-lab,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_01,
I,DB2,11.5.5.0,db2inst2,/home/db2inst2/sqllib,,1,0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_01,,
S,DB2,11.5.5.0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03,-,,0,,,1611448740,0
V,DB2GPRF,DB2SYSTEM,u1804-lab,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03,
I,DB2,11.5.5.0,db2inst3,/home/db2inst3/sqllib,,1,0,/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03,,
    Since all versions are 11.5.5.0, this step is not necessary in this case, but if they were different, it would be necessary to ensure that the symbolic link /usr/local/bin/db2ls points to the executable db2ls contained in the installation directory of a copy with the highest version. In the listing below, the symbolic link is to a db2ls in the install directory under the installation path of the first copy installed on the system. 
    root@u1804-lab:~# ls -l /usr/local/bin | grep db2ls
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 Jan 10 20:11 db2ls -> /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5/install/db2ls
    If this installation directory were for a copy of Db2 lower than any other version the link would have to be adjusted.
  11. Configure the Db2 fault monitor service by executing db2fmcu, as in: 
    /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/bin/db2fmcu -u -p /etc/inittab
    Note, again, the full path of the command is within the installation directory of the copy of Db2 installed by the current procedure.
  12. All of the other installation options automatically apply a license as part of the installation. With this installation method the appropriate license file must be applied to the installed copy of Db2. Otherwise, when starting the instance the first time an error will occur as shown in the following listing: 
    db2inst3@u1804-lab:~$ db2start
02/22/2021 13:51:53     0   0   SQL8000N  DB2START processing failed; a valid product license was not found. If you have licensed this product, ensure the license key is properly registered. You can register the license using the db2licm command. The license key can be obtained from your licensed product CD.
SQL1032N  No start database manager command was issued.  SQLSTATE=57019
    Db2 licenses are managed with the db2licm tool. It can display the license status and compliance of installed Db2 products, as well as apply and remove licenses to and from installed Db2 products. To apply a license, the command is used with the -a option which takes as an argument a license file. The installation image includes numerous licenses for different Db2 server editions, with the applied license file, in effect, determining the installed edition of Db2 Database. The license files are located in the installation image in the directory /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/license (after /home/db2user/software/server_dec has been renamed to /home/db2user/software/ibm-db, see Getting Started with IBM DB2 on Linux Part I: Background and Installation Preparation). Of the licenses contained in this directory, the file db2dec.lic is the correct one for Db2 Community Edition which provides a permanent license, although with the limitations described in the first article of the series. The following listing show the execution of the command to apply the license and its output. Note that although the license files are outside of any path associated with the Db2 installation or the instance home, it is executed by the instance owner of the instance associated with this installation of Db2. 
    db2inst3@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/license$ db2licm -a db2dec.lic

LIC1402I  License added successfully.


LIC1426I  This product is now licensed for use as outlined in your License Agreement.  USE OF THE PRODUCT CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THE IBM LICENSE AGREEMENT, LOCATED IN THE FOLLOWING DIRECTORY: "/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03/license/en_US.iso88591"
    db2licm with the -l option to view installed products and their license status as in: 
    db2inst3@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/license$ db2licm -l
Product name:                     "DB2 Community Edition"
License type:                     "Community"
Expiry date:                      "Permanent"
Product identifier:               "db2dec"
Version information:              "11.5"
Max amount of memory (GB):        "16"
Max number of cores:              "4"



db2inst3@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/license$

A cursory verification that the manual installation process described above was successful with the db2ls command, as shown in the following listing. It shows all installed copies of Db2 along with their installation directories, versions, and installation dates. 

root@u1804-lab:~# db2ls

Install Path                       Level   Fix Pack   Special Install Number   Install Date                  Installer UID 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5               11.5.5.0        0                            Tue Dec 29 18:36:57 2020 EST             0 
/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_01            11.5.5.0        0                            Sun Jan 10 20:11:01 2021 EST             0 
/opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_03            11.5.5.0        0                           Sat Jan 23 19:39:00 2021 EST             0 
root@u1804-lab:~#
The installation validation tool mentioned in the previous article in this series could also be used.

Installing by Using db2_install

Another manual installation method is available in the form of a stub shell script that essentially automates the payload extraction method described above for Db2 Database server installation. It can also perform updates and installation of other products. It offers the convenience of not requiring the configuration steps in the payload extraction method described in the previous section, only requiring an instance and the necessary instance users to be created, also as described in the previous section.

When DB2 Server Edition is the product to be installed, the tool installs all required and optional components except those for systems without encryption support and the components for non-root installations. Options are available to force the installation of the pureScale components which are not appropriate for this example, and to prevent the installation of IBM Tivoli® System Automation for Multiplatforms. If a previous installation included IBM Tivoli® System Automation for Multiplatforms, the script will recognize it and make it available for use with the new installation.

The script, named db2_install, is located in the same directory as the the prerequisite checking tool and the setup wizard executable files, namely /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2. This directory was created by extracting the downloaded installation image and renaming a subdirectory in the result of the extraction. (See Getting Started with IBM DB2 on Linux Part I: Background and Installation Preparation.)

The installation process with this method is detailed below:

  1. Switch to the root user. 
    db2user@u1804-lab:~$ su - root
Password:
root@u1804-lab:~#
  2. Run the script. 
    root@u1804-lab:~# /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2_install -y -f NOTSAMP -p server -b /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_02 -n
    The options have the following effects:
    • -n Non-interactive mode.
    • -y Accept license terms automatically. This option is required if -n is also used.
    • -b Specify the installation directory as an option argument.
    • -p Specify Db2 product. Option arguments include client and server among others.
    • -f Specify installed feature characteristics as option arguments. NOTSAMP in the example prevents IBM Tivoli® System Automation for Multiplatforms from being installed.
    The full path of the executable is given in the command, but alternatively, a change to the directory could have been made and then the script executed, as in: 
    root@u1804-lab:~# cd /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2
root@u1804-lab:~# ./db2_install -y -f NOTSAMP -p server -b /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_02 -n
    The output of a successful completion of the command is shown below: 
    root@u1804-lab:~# /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2_install -y -f NOTSAMP -p server -b /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_02 -n
The execution completed successfully.

For more information see the DB2 installation log at
"/tmp/db2_install.log.29960".
root@u1804-lab:~#
  3. Create an instance or multiple instances, after creating an instance owning user and fenced instance user for each instance to be created, as described in the previous section.

Installing by Using Response File with dbsetup

The last manual installation method is an installation using a response file. This method uses the command db2setup, taking as an argument a response file that contains the configuration of the installation, specifying such items as the installation directory, components to be installed, instances to be created that will be associated with the installed copy, instance owner and fenced instance user to be created, networking communication settings, among many others. The response files can be created by using the following methods:

  • the db2rspgn command
  • the capability of DB2 Setup wizard to create a response file based on installation parameters specified in the wizard, which can be used to install Db2 Database on multiple computers with the same configuration as that installed with the wizard, for example for setting up multiple nodes for a partitioned instance environment
  • modification of one of several response files included in the installation image, such as a sample for installing the Db2 Database server product (as opposed to a client and other products)

In the process presented below, the sample Db2 server installation response file is used as a starting point for generating a response file to be used to install another copy of Db2 Database. The sample files, with an extension of .rsp, are located in the extracted installation image (Getting Started with IBM DB2 on Linux Part I: Background and Installation Preparation), in the renamed directory /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/samples. The following listing shows the contents of the directory. 

root@u1804-lab:~# ls -l /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/samples
total 172
-r--r--r-- 1 bin bin 27620 Nov  1 17:49 db2client.rsp
-r--r--r-- 1 bin bin 43426 Nov  1 17:49 db2consv.rsp
-r--r--r-- 1 bin bin 26175 Nov  1 17:49 db2rtcl.rsp
-r--r--r-- 1 bin bin 57478 Nov  1 17:49 db2server.rsp
-r--r--r-- 1 bin bin  9596 Nov  1 17:49 db2un.rsp

db2server.rsp is the server response file. It is a well documented -- through comments -- file of 930 lines, that contains all possible configuration items. The basic format of the file is a configuration item keyword then an equals sign followed by the value to set for the configuration item, as in for example, 

FILE = /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5

If a configuration item can be assigned more than one value, the keyword is repeated on multiple lines and assigned a different value in each line. The configuration item INSTANCE is one such configuration item. Multiple values can be assigned to this item, as in the following: 

INSTANCE = inst1
INSTANCE = inst2
INSTANCE = inst3

where INSTANCE is assigned the values inst1, inst2, and inst3.

The comment character is an asterisk (*). Optional configuration items are commented out with a single asterisk while required items are not. In both cases, default values are assigned to the configuration item. Text that serves to document the contents are double commented -- with two asterisks instead of one, to help distinguish it from commented out configuration items. In the excerpts from the response file that follow, lines that begin with a single asterisk are comments as they exist in the original sample file, lines that begin with three asterisks are lines that contain configuration items that were not commented out in the original sample but in copied, commented out, and retained for information. The lines containing modified values of configuration items appear below their commented out counterparts.

The process to use a response file in installing Db2 Database is detailed below. Here, the sample response file is used as a starting point for generating the response file, but it is generally applicable to installation with response files generated by the other methods mentioned previously.

  1. Copy the provided sample response file. 
    cp /home/db2user/software/ibm-db2/db2/linuxamd64/samples/db2server.rsp /home/db2user/db2copy5.rsp
  2. Modify the new file as appropriate.
    1. If this is not the first copy to be installed on the system, change the value of the FILE configuration item to an appropriate path that is to be the installation directory of the new copy of Db2 to be installed. Even if it is the first copy, if additional copies are to be installed later, it may be desirable to change the installation directory from the default value to /opt/ibm/db2/v11.5_01. In the following listing, it has been modified from the default value of /opt/ibm/db2/v11.5 to /opt/ibm/db2/v11.5_05. 
      *** FILE                      = /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5
FILE                      = /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_05
    2. Change the value of LIC_AGREEMENT from DECLINE to ACCEPT. 
      *** LIC_AGREEMENT             = DECLINE         ** ACCEPT or DECLINE
LIC_AGREEMENT             = ACCEPT         ** ACCEPT or DECLINE
    3. Uncomment the configuration item INTERACTIVE with a value of NONE. This will cause the installation to proceed without any prompts. A value of NONE here must be used with a value of ACCEPT for the LIC_AGREEMENT keyword. 
      *INTERACTIVE              = NONE            ** NONE, YES, MACHINE
INTERACTIVE              = NONE            ** NONE, YES, MACHINE
    4. Modify the INSTALL_TYPE value as desired. The possible values are TYPICAL, COMPACT, or CUSTOM, which specify, respectively, the installation the Db2 Database components shown in the "Typical" section of the ComponentList_server_dec.htm (Section Installing by Extracting Payload Files) file, a minimal set of components, or a custom selection of components. Whatever the choice, required components are installed automatically. If CUSTOM is selected, the components to be installed must be specified, as shown below.

      In the listing below, the line containing this configuration item is commented out and a new line is inserted with the value of the keyword changed to CUSTOM. 
      *** INSTALL_TYPE              = TYPICAL         ** TYPICAL, COMPACT, CUSTOM
INSTALL_TYPE              = CUSTOM         ** TYPICAL, COMPACT, CUSTOM
    5. If CUSTOM is selected, the components to be installed must be specified by setting the values of the COMP configuration item. A commented out line of the form 
      *COMP = Db2_COMPONENT_NAME
      exists in the file for each of the installable Db2 Database components. Components to install can be specified by simply commenting out each line that sets the COMP value to a desired component to install. Like the INSTANCE configuration item, mentioned previously, COMP is a configuration item that can be given multiple values, by assigning each value on a separate line. The following listing shows the COMP lines that were uncommented for this installation. 
      COMP                     = ACS                                 ** Integrated Flash Copy Support
COMP                     = DB2_SAMPLE_DATABASE                 ** Sample database source
COMP                     = DB2_UPDATE_SERVICE                  ** DB2 Update Service
COMP                     = FED_DATA_SOURCE_SUPPORT             ** Federated Data Access Support
COMP                     = GUARDIUM_INST_MNGR_CLIENT           ** Guardium Installation Manager Client
COMP                     = INSTANCE_SETUP_SUPPORT              ** DB2 Instance Setup wizard
COMP                     = IINR_APPLICATIONS_WRAPPER           ** Application data sources
COMP                     = IINR_SCIENTIFIC_WRAPPER             ** Scientific Data Sources
COMP                     = IINR_STRUCTURED_FILES_WRAPPER       ** Structured file data sources
COMP                     = JDBC_DATA_SOURCE_SUPPORT            ** JDBC data source support
COMP                     = ODBC_DATA_SOURCE_SUPPORT            ** ODBC data source support
COMP                     = TEXT_SEARCH                         ** DB2 Text Search
    6. Set the values of INSTANCE. The values of the INSTANCE keyword are an identifier that allows multiple instances to be created as specified in the response file. Here the line containing the INSTANCE keyword, with a value of DB2_INST is commented out, and two INSTANCE lines are added, the first specifying an INSTANCE keyword value of inst1 and the second specifying inst2. The INSTANCE value in the response file created by the wizard, while only having one INSTANCE value used this format. 
      *** INSTANCE                  = DB2_INST        ** char(8)  no spaces
INSTANCE                  = inst1        ** char(8)  no spaces
INSTANCE                  = inst2        ** char(8)  no spaces
      This keyword allows multiple instances to be created and configured in that these values are prefixed to instance configuration items when specifying the properties of each instance. For example, if two instances are to be created, the INSTANCE configuration item is assigned two values, as was done above. Instance specific configuration items are then prefixed with these values followed by a dot (.) to distinguish between the two instances, as in: 
      instance_value_1.instance_specific_configuration_item = instance_specific_configuration_item
instance_value_2.instance_specific_configuration_item = instance_specific_configuration_item
      The prefix specifies to which instance the same instance configuration item applies. This will be apparent when actual instance specific configuration items are assigned, below.
    7. Set the names of the instances to be created. 
      *DB2_INST.NAME             = db2inst1        ** char(8)  no spaces, no upper case letters
inst1.NAME             = db2inst5        ** char(8)  no spaces, no upper case letters
inst2.NAME             = db2inst6        ** char(8)  no spaces, no upper case letters
      Here we see how the values of the INSTANCE configuration values are used to prefix the instance configuration item, in this case NAME. The username of the instance owning user of each instance will be the same as the instance name.
    8. Set the primary user group of the instance owning user of each instance. 
      *** DB2_INST.GROUP_NAME       = db2iadm1        ** char(30) no spaces
inst1.GROUP_NAME       = db2iadm1        ** char(30) no spaces
inst2.GROUP_NAME       = db2iadm1        ** char(30) no spaces
      The primary user group name specified here will be created by the installer using the low level Linux utility groupadd to create the group if it does not already exist and a primary user group ID (GID) assigned. The GID to use for a newly created can be specified in another configuration item, but if it is not provided, a GID will be automatically assigned following the configuration of the groupadd command. In this case, the primary user group specified already exists as it was created by the Db2 Setup wizard (Getting Started with IBM DB2 on Linux Part I: Background and Installation Preparation) and the new instance owners will be assigned to this primary user group.
    9. Specify the home directory and password of the instance owner of each instance to be created. 
      *** DB2_INST.HOME_DIRECTORY   =                 ** char(64) no spaces. Valid for root installation only
*** DB2_INST.PASSWORD         = Replace with your password ** Valid for root installation only
inst1.HOME_DIRECTORY   = /home/db2inst5                ** char(64) no spaces. Valid for root installation only
inst1.PASSWORD         = db2inst5pass ** Valid for root installation only
inst2.HOME_DIRECTORY   = /home/db2inst6                ** char(64) no spaces. Valid for root installation only
inst2.PASSWORD         = db2inst6pass ** Valid for root installation only
      The installer will create users with the same username as the instance names specified in Step 2.G using the low level Linux utility useradd and assign the users' password and home directory as specified here. The users' shell and other user properties will be according to the configuration files relevant to useradd (see man useradd).
    10. Set the instance type of each instance. 
      *DB2_INST.TYPE            = ESE             ** DSF ESE WSE STANDALONE CLIENT
inst1.TYPE            = ESE             ** DSF ESE WSE STANDALONE CLIENT
inst2.TYPE            = ESE             ** DSF ESE WSE STANDALONE CLIENT
      The possible vales for this instance specific configuration item are ESE (an instance for a Db2 server with local and remote clients, the default instance type for the two Enterprise Server editions), DSF (an instance for a Db2 pureScale® environment server with local and remote clients. the default for use in a Db2 pureScale® environment), WSE (an instance for a Db2 server with local and remote clients, the default instance type for the Workgroup Server Edition), STANDALONE (an instance for a Db2 server with only local clients), CLIENT (an instance for a client such as IBM Data Server Client and IBM Data Server Runtime Client, for which this instance type is the default).
    11. Specify whether the created instances should be auto started with the system. 
      *** DB2_INST.AUTOSTART        = YES             ** YES or NO
inst1.AUTOSTART        = YES             ** YES or NO
inst2.AUTOSTART        = YES             ** YES or NO
    12. Specify whether the created instances should be started during the installation. 
      *** DB2_INST.START_DURING_INSTALL = YES         ** YES or NO. Default is YES.
inst1.START_DURING_INSTALL = YES         ** YES or NO. Default is YES.
inst2.START_DURING_INSTALL = YES         ** YES or NO. Default is YES.
    13. Set the SVCNAME optional configuration item. This is one of the instance specific configuration items necessary for network communication to the instances created by the installation. 
      *DB2_INST.SVCENAME        = db2c_db2inst1   ** BLANK or char(14). Reserved for root installation only
*DB2_INST.SVCENAME        = db2c_db2inst1   ** BLANK or char(14). Reserved for root installation only
inst1.SVCENAME        = db2c_db2inst5   ** BLANK or char(14). Reserved for root installation only
inst2.SVCENAME        = db2c_db2inst6   ** BLANK or char(14). Reserved for root installation only
      Here the configuration item is set following the format of the commented out line in the original sample file. The SVCNAME in the original file follows the format "db2c_" followed by the instance name of the instance to which it applies.
    14. Set the port number for each instance to be created. The port number is the port on which the instance will listen for connections from remote computers and is necessary if SVCNAME is set. 
      *DB2_INST.PORT_NUMBER     = 50000           ** 1024 - 65535, Reserved for root installation only
inst1.PORT_NUMBER     = 50004           ** 1024 - 65535, Reserved for root installation only
inst2.PORT_NUMBER     = 50005           ** 1024 - 65535, Reserved for root installation only
      In the first two installations of Db2 Database, described in Getting Started with IBM DB2 on Linux Part II: Installation With DB2 Setup Wizard, the wizard used the default port numbers of 50000 and 50001. Here port number values of 50004 and 50005 are assigned to the two instances created by this installation, reserving the intermediate port numbers -- although not configured in this procedure -- for instances created by the previously described manual installation methods. The port numbers specified correspond to the instance name in that the last digit of the port number chosen for each instance is the same as the last character of the instance name.
    15. Set the FCM_PORT_NUMBER and MAX_LOGICAL_NODE for each instance. These values define a range of ports reserved for each instance during installation. The range for an ESE instance is between FCM_PORT_NUMBER and MAX_LOGICAL_NODE. 
      *DB2_INST.FCM_PORT_NUMBER = 60000           ** 1024 - 65535, the beginning port number.
*DB2_INST.MAX_LOGICAL_NODES =               ** 1 - 128 for DSF instances or 1 - 199 for ESE instances.
inst1.FCM_PORT_NUMBER = 60040           ** 1024 - 65535, the beginning port number.
inst1.MAX_LOGICAL_NODES = 6              ** 1 - 128 for DSF instances or 1 - 199 for ESE instances.
inst2.FCM_PORT_NUMBER = 60050           ** 1024 - 65535, the beginning port number.
inst2.MAX_LOGICAL_NODES = 6              ** 1 - 128 for DSF instances or 1 - 199 for ESE instances.
    16. Specify the fenced user username for each instance to be created. 
      *** DB2_INST.FENCED_USERNAME  = db2sdfe1        ** char(8)  no spaces, no upper case letters
inst1.FENCED_USERNAME  = db2fenc5        ** char(8)  no spaces, no upper case letters
inst2.FENCED_USERNAME  = db2fenc6        ** char(8)  no spaces, no upper case letters
      Here the convention of the setup wizard in names is followed. The last character is the same as the the last character in the instance name and thus the same as the last character in the instance owner username. The installer will create the specified user if it does not already exist using the useradd command. Another setting also exists to manually specify the user ID (UID) of the fenced user, but if not specified the installer will automatically assign one (following the configuration of useradd).
    17. Specify the primary user group of the fenced user of each instance to be created. 
      *** DB2_INST.FENCED_GROUP_NAME = db2fsdm1       ** char(30)  no spaces
inst1.FENCED_GROUP_NAME = db2fadm1       ** char(30)  no spaces
inst2.FENCED_GROUP_NAME = db2fadm1       ** char(30)  no spaces
      Like the primary user group assignment for the instance owner, if the specified group does not exist it is created by the installer and the GID assigned. If it does already exist the installer just assigns the new user to the group. The GID to use for a newly created can be specified in another configuration item, but if it is not provided, a GID will be automatically assigned following the configuration of the groupadd command. In this case, the primary user group specified for the fenced user is one that already exists as it was created by the Db2 Setup wizard (Getting Started with IBM DB2 on Linux Part II: Installation With DB2 Setup Wizard) and the new instance owners will be assigned to this primary user group.
    18. Specify the home directory of the fenced user for each instance to be created. 
      *DB2_INST.FENCED_HOME_DIRECTORY =           ** char(64) no spaces
inst1.FENCED_HOME_DIRECTORY = /home/db2fenc5           ** char(64) no spaces
inst2.FENCED_HOME_DIRECTORY = /home/db2fenc6          ** char(64) no spaces
    19. Specify the password of the fenced user for each instance to be created. 
      *DB2_INST.FENCED_PASSWORD =                 ** char(8)
inst1.FENCED_PASSWORD = db2fenc5pass                ** char(8)
inst2.FENCED_PASSWORD = db2fenc6pass                ** char(8)
    20. Specify whether the optional Db2 Text Search feature is to be configured. 
      *DB2_INST.CONFIGURE_TEXT_SEARCH = NO        ** YES or NO
inst1.CONFIGURE_TEXT_SEARCH = YES        ** YES or NO
inst2.CONFIGURE_TEXT_SEARCH = YES        ** YES or NO
    21. Specify the TEXT_SEARCH_HTTP_SERVICE_NAME. 
      *DB2_INST.TEXT_SEARCH_HTTP_SERVICE_NAME = db2j_db2inst1 ** BLANK or char(14). Valid for root installation only
inst1.TEXT_SEARCH_HTTP_SERVICE_NAME = db2j_db2inst5 ** BLANK or char(14). Valid for root installation only
inst2.TEXT_SEARCH_HTTP_SERVICE_NAME = db2j_db2inst6 ** BLANK or char(14). Valid for root installation only
      Here the configuration item is set following the format of the commented out line in the original sample file. The TEXT_SEARCH_HTTP_SERVICE_NAME in the original file follows the format "db2j_" followed by the instance name of the instance to which it applies.
    22. Assign port numbers to be used by each instance to be created for the Text Search service. 
      *DB2_INST.TEXT_SEARCH_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER = 55000 ** Any unused port number from 1024 - 65535
inst1.TEXT_SEARCH_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER = 65005 ** Any unused port number from 1024 - 65535
inst2.TEXT_SEARCH_HTTP_PORT_NUMBER = 65006 ** Any unused port number from 1024 - 65535
      Here the port numbers specified correspond to the instance name in that the last digit of the port number chosen for each instance is the same as the last character of the instance name.
  3. Execute the installation command. 
    root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2# ./db2setup -r /home/db2user/db2copy5.rsp -l /home/db2user/copy5rsp.log -t /home/db2user/copy5rsp.trc
    The output of a successful completion of the command is shown below. 
    root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2# ./db2setup -r /home/db2user/db2copy5.rsp -l /home/db2user/copy5rsp.log -t /home/db2user/copy5rsp.trc
DBI1191I  db2setup is installing and configuring DB2 according to the
      response file provided. Please wait.


The execution completed successfully.

For more information see the DB2 installation log at
"/home/db2user/copy5rsp.log".
root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2#

The setup script, according to the response file settings, modified as above and other non-modified settings from the sample installed Db2 in /opt/ibm/db2/V11.5_05, creating the instances db2inst5 and db2inst6, as well as creating the necessary instance owners and fenced users necessary for these instances. The following listing shows the created installation directory and the relevant users at this point -- after installing two copies with an instance each using the wizard, manually installing by extracting the payload files and creating an instance, manually installing using the db2_install script (we did not create any instances or users after this installation method), and manually installing using the response file. 

root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2# ls -l /opt/ibm/db2
total 20
drwxr-xr-x 42 root root 4096 Dec 29 18:36 V11.5
drwxr-xr-x 40 root root 4096 Jan 10 20:11 V11.5_01
drwxr-xr-x 42 root root 4096 Jan 24 20:39 V11.5_02
drwxr-xr-x 38 root root 4096 Jan 24 20:37 V11.5_03
drwxr-xr-x 41 root root 4096 Jan 25 19:20 V11.5_05
root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2# less /etc/passwd | grep db2
db2user:x:1001:1001:,,,,db2 administrator:/home/db2user:/bin/bash
db2inst1:x:1002:130::/home/db2inst1:/bin/sh
db2fenc1:x:1003:131::/home/db2fenc1:/bin/sh
db2inst2:x:1004:130::/home/db2inst2:/bin/sh
db2fenc2:x:1005:131::/home/db2fenc2:/bin/sh
db2inst3:x:1006:130:db2inst3 instance owner:/home/db2inst3:/bin/bash
db2fenc3:x:1007:131:db2fenc3 instance fenced user:/home/db2fenc3:/bin/bash
db2inst5:x:1008:130::/home/db2inst5:/bin/sh
db2fenc5:x:1009:131::/home/db2fenc5:/bin/sh
db2inst6:x:1010:130::/home/db2inst6:/bin/sh
db2fenc6:x:1011:131::/home/db2fenc6:/bin/sh
root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2# id db2inst5
uid=1008(db2inst5) gid=130(db2iadm1) groups=130(db2iadm1)
root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2# id db2inst6
uid=1010(db2inst6) gid=130(db2iadm1) groups=130(db2iadm1)
root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2# id db2fenc5
uid=1009(db2fenc5) gid=131(db2fadm1) groups=131(db2fadm1)
root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2# id db2fenc6
uid=1011(db2fenc6) gid=131(db2fadm1) groups=131(db2fadm1)
root@u1804-lab:/home/db2user/software/ibm-db2#

Next Steps

As we have seen in this and the previous articles of this series, IBM offers many methods for installing Db2 Database, from the simple GUI of the Db2 Setup wizard and the equally simple CLI installation tool, db2_install, to the robust response filed based installation that allows for all configuration items to be declared in the input response file. Both the GUI wizard and the response file method are launched by the stub shell script db2setup -- with different options -- which then calls other tools as appropriate to perform the actual installation and provide an interface as necessary.

The next part of this series, , describes the use of the Db2 Setup wizard distributed with the installation image to install Db2 Database.

References