Upgrade restrictions for Db2 servers

Before you start to upgrade your Db2 server, you must understand what the support for upgrade is and what the restrictions are.

What is supported?
  • Upgrading to Db2 11.5 is supported from version 11.1 or version 10.5. If you have a Db2 version earlier than 10.5, you must upgrade to Db2 10.5 before upgrading to Db2 11.5.
  • Upgrading to a Db2 11.5 non-root installation is supported from a version 11.1 or version 10.5 non-root installation. Upgrading to a Db2 11.5 non-root installation from a pre-Db2 version 11.5 root installation is not supported.
  • On Windows operating systems, the upgrade action shows for existing Db2 copies that can be upgraded during the installation of 11.5. This action automatically installs Db2 11.5 and upgrades all of your instances and your Db2 Administration Server (DAS) running on the Db2 copy. This action also uninstalls the Db2 copy and any add-on products installed in this copy. If you do not choose the upgrade action, you must manually upgrade your instances and your DAS after installation.
  • On Linux® and UNIX operating systems, the upgrade action is not available and you can only install a new copy of version 11.5. You have to manually upgrade your instances after installation. You can manually upgrade your existing DAS.
  • Instance bit size is determined by the operating system where version 11.5 is installed, and support for 32-bit kernels and 64-bit kernels has changed. See Table 1.
  • Upgrading from a system with multiple copies of Db2 11.1 or Db210.5 of all levels is supported. On Windows operating systems, you must be aware of the restrictions on coexistence of previous versions of the Db2 database products.
  • Upgrading from a partitioned database environment with multiple database partitions is supported.
  • Restoring full database offline backups from pre-Db2 version 11.5 copies is supported. However, rolling forward of logs from a previous level is not possible. Review Backup and restore operations between different operating systems and hardware platforms for complete details about upgrade support using the RESTORE DATABASE command.
  • In upgraded databases with the RESTRICT_ACCESS database configuration parameter set to YES, you must grant the USAGE privilege to non-DBADM users on SYSDEFAULTUSERWORKLOAD. Otherwise, these users are unable to submit any work to the database.
  • Upgrading a database that contains encrypted data in a Db2 instance that does not support encryption (where the IBM® Global Security Kit is not installed) is supported. The encrypted data is included in the upgraded database, but you cannot access the encrypted data. To access the encrypted data, upgrade or restore the database to an instance that supports encryption.
What is unsupported?
A Db2 11.5 installation fails if the following situations exist:
  • The operating system is not supported. You must upgrade to a supported version of the operating system before you upgrade to Db2 11.5 or upgrade to a new Db2 server that meets the operating system requirements. See Upgrading to a new Db2 server.
  • A version of Db2 before version 10.5 is installed.
The db2iupgrade command fails if the following situations exist:
  • You do not have authorization to upgrade the instance.
  • The instance that you are trying to upgrade is active. Run the db2stop command to stop the instance.
  • The instance is already at version 11.5. Run the db2iupdt command to update to a different fix pack levels or copies of Db2 11.5.
  • You try to upgrade from Db2 11.5 back to version 11.1 or version 10.5. Reversing Db2 server upgrade is possible, however, you must follow the prerequisites and steps in this procedure.
  • The type of instance that you are trying to upgrade to Db2 11.5 is unsupported. The following table describes the upgrade support for each type of instance by Db2 database product:
    Table 1. Instance upgrade support for Db2 11.5 database products
    Instance type Node type
    client Client - default type for Db2 clients1
    standalone Database server with local clients
    ese Partitioned database server with local and remote clients
    dsf default type for Db2 pureScale® feature
    Note:
    1. The highest level for each Db2 database product is the default instance type as indicated in Table 1 ordered from lower to higher-level. Each instance type supports instance types of a lower-level. For example, the ese instance type supports wse, standalone, and client. You can use the db2icrt command with the -s parameter to create instances of a lower-level. If you do not specify the -s parameter, the instance is created using the highest level of instance type supported by the Db2 database product installed.
  • The db2ckupgrade command fails and causes the db2iupgrade command to fail. The db2iupgrade command calls the db2ckupgrade command to verify whether cataloged local databases are ready for upgrade to Db2 11.5.
The UPGRADE DATABASE command fails if the following situations exist:
  • You do not have authorization to upgrade the database.
  • A cataloged database does not exist.
  • Database upgrade encounters any of the problems described in the reason codes of error message, "SQL1704N".
  • User-defined distinct types (UDTs) are encountered with the names ARRAY, BINARY, CURSOR, DECFLOAT, ROW, VARBINARY, or XML. You must drop these UDTs and re-create them with different names before database upgrade.
  • Database objects were created using restricted schema names described in the error message, "SQL0553N". The list of restricted schema names now includes SYSPUBLIC.
  • The database to be upgraded is of a Db2 version earlier than version 10.5.
  • The database to be upgraded is a Db2 10.5 Fix Pack 6 or earlier database, and it is enabled as a high availability disaster recovery (HADR) standby database.
  • The database to be upgraded is a Db2 10.5 Fix Pack 8 or earlier pureScale database, and it is enabled as a high availability disaster recovery (HADR) standby database.