Quick Beginnings for DB2 Universal Database for UNIX

Administering Databases with DB2 Tools

You can administer local databases on DB2 servers by using the command line processor. You can also perform database administration tasks remotely from an OS/2 or Windows 32-bit operating systems by using the DB2 administration tools. Use the Control Center to perform administration tasks such as configuring DB2 instances and databases, backing up and recovering data, scheduling jobs, and managing media, all from a graphical interface.

You can find additional information in the Administration Getting Started guide.

Managing Databases Using the Control Center

The Control Center displays database objects (such as databases, tables, and packages) and their relationships to each other. Using the Control Center, you can manage a local database server or multiple remote DB2 servers and the database objects within them, all from a single point of control. See Figure 3 for an example of the main Control Center window. You can choose to install the Control Center on OS/2 or Windows 32-bit operating systems.

Figure 3. Control Center Main Window

From the Control Center, you can perform operations on database objects. These operations include:

Create and drop a database
Create, alter, and drop a table space or table
Create, alter, and drop an index
Backup and recover a database or table space
Define the replication sources and subscriptions to replicate data between systems

You can also control database manager environments (which are known as DB2 instances) by:

Maintaining the communications protocols
Setting database manager configuration values that affect performance

SmartGuides are provided to help you perform complex tasks. For example, a SmartGuide is available to tune the performance of your system. See SmartGuides for descriptions of the various SmartGuides and how to start them.

The Control Center provides additional features to assist you in managing your DB2 servers:

Use the Command Center to enter DB2 commands and SQL statements in an interactive window and see the execution result in a result window. You can scroll through the results and save the output to a file.

Use the Script Center to create scripts, which you can store and invoke at a later time. These scripts can contain DB2 commands, SQL statements, as well as operating system commands. Scripts can be scheduled to run unattended. These jobs can be run once or set up to run on a repeating schedule; a repeating schedule is particularly useful for tasks like backup.

Use the Journal to view all available information about jobs that are pending execution, executing, or that have completed execution. You can also view the recovery history log, the alerts log, and the messages log; and review the results of jobs that are run unattended.

Use the Alert Center to monitor your system for early warnings of potential problems or to automate actions to correct problems discovered.

Use the Tools Setting to change the settings for the Control Center, Alert Center, and Replication.

You can run these functions from the Control Center toolbar or from icons in the Administration Tools folder.

You can install the following options for the Control Center:

DB2 Performance Monitor Use the DB2 Performance Monitor to monitor the performance of your DB2 system. You can monitor activity using snapshots of data over a period of time or using data for a particular event. See "Monitoring Databases Using DB2 Performance Monitor" for more information.
Visual Explain Use Visual Explain to graphically analyze and tune SQL statements and to analyze query access plans. See "Viewing SQL Access Plans Using Visual Explain" for more information.

You can find additional information in the Administration Getting Started guide or in the Control Center's online help.

Understanding the Administration Server

The Administration Server satisfies requests from the DB2 Administration Tools and the Client Configuration Assistant. It enables the DB2 Administration Tools to start, stop, catalog, and configure instances, and catalog databases on the DB2 server. It is also used by the Client Configuration Assistant to catalog databases and node directories for the client.

The Administration Server must reside on every DB2 server that you want to administer and detect. For more information, see Chapter 17. Using the Administration Server.

Monitoring Databases Using DB2 Performance Monitor

With the DB2 Performance Monitor, you can:

Identify and analyze performance problems in database applications or the database manager.
Use the early warning system to detect potential problems.
Automate actions to correct problems that are discovered.
Define your own statistics, in addition to the default set that is provided.

You can choose to monitor snapshots or events. The Snapshot Monitor allows you to capture point-in-time information at specified intervals. The Event Monitor allows you to record information about an occurrence of an event such as a deadlock.

You can find additional information in the Administration Getting Started guide or in the online help for the DB2 Performance Monitor.

Snapshot Monitoring Considerations

The snapshot monitoring function in the Control Center is split between an administrative client and the database server. A separate process is started on behalf of the user to gather snapshot information on the server and return the data to the client. This separate process runs locally on the server and therefore it must be locally authenticated; because of this, the user must have a valid username and password on each server that is monitored. If the server is configured for SERVER authentication, this is transparent to the user. If the server is configured for CLIENT authentication, the user will be prompted for a username and password that will be authenticated locally on the server.
Note: DCE authentication for snapshot monitoring is not supported at this time.

You can find additional information in the Administration Getting Started guide or in the online help for DB2 Snapshot Monitor.

Viewing SQL Access Plans Using Visual Explain

Visual Explain helps database administrators and application developers to:

View the access plan chosen by the database manager's optimizer for a given SQL statement.
Tune SQL statements for better performance.
Design application programs and databases.
View all the details of an access plan, including the statistics in the system catalogs.
Decide whether or not to add an index to a table.
Identify the source of problems by analyzing the access plan or performance of SQL statements.
Use the portable snapshot function to view snapshots from any remote DB2 server.
Display access plans for queries on all supported DB2 configurations.

You can find additional information in the Administration Getting Started guide or in the online help for Visual Explain.

Managing Communications on the Server

The Control Center allows you to view, update, and reset server protocol settings. These functions are accessed by clicking with the right mouse button on an instance and selecting the Setup communications option from the pop-up menu. This tool helps database administrators to:

Configure communication parameters in the database manager.
Generate database information in a profile that can be used to configure clients.

You can find additional information in the online help for the Control Center.

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	Use the Command Center to enter DB2 commands and SQL statements in an interactive window and see the execution result in a result window. You can scroll through the results and save the output to a file.
	Use the Script Center to create scripts, which you can store and invoke at a later time. These scripts can contain DB2 commands, SQL statements, as well as operating system commands. Scripts can be scheduled to run unattended. These jobs can be run once or set up to run on a repeating schedule; a repeating schedule is particularly useful for tasks like backup.
	Use the Journal to view all available information about jobs that are pending execution, executing, or that have completed execution. You can also view the recovery history log, the alerts log, and the messages log; and review the results of jobs that are run unattended.
	Use the Alert Center to monitor your system for early warnings of potential problems or to automate actions to correct problems discovered.
	Use the Tools Setting to change the settings for the Control Center, Alert Center, and Replication.

DB2 Performance Monitor	Use the DB2 Performance Monitor to monitor the performance of your DB2 system. You can monitor activity using snapshots of data over a period of time or using data for a particular event. See "Monitoring Databases Using DB2 Performance Monitor" for more information.
Visual Explain	Use Visual Explain to graphically analyze and tune SQL statements and to analyze query access plans. See "Viewing SQL Access Plans Using Visual Explain" for more information.