Software Requirements
Optim™ requires IBM® Db2® Release 10.1 or later. Supported operating systems are z/OS® 1.13 and later. All current maintenance should be applied.
Refer to the Program Directory for IBM Infosphere Optim for z/OS for full details on disk space required.
- The minimum REGION size depends on the complexity of data structures and number of objects being processed. In general, a REGION of minimum of 64MB may be sufficient for basic operation. For TSO, the REGION size may need to be increased when using multiple sessions.
- If you are using the EMC Centera networked storage system, the minimum region size should be 200MB.
- A region size that is a minimum of 220MB is recommended when using the Optim™ Data Privacy Providers.
Prerequisites
Optim uses DSNREXX from the SDSNLOAD library to obtain information regarding the Db2 release Optim is being installed on. The DSNREXX plan must be bound and accessible by the Optim installer in the target Db2 subsystem. The Db2 load library containing the DSNREXX load module must be made available either by the TSO logon procedure (STEPLIB or ISPLLIB), the system link list or the link pack area. If Optim fails to obtain the Db2 release information using DSNREXX, Optim will attempt to load DSNHDECP to obtain the release value.
- grant all Optim users SELECT access to SYSIBM.SYSTABLESPACESTATS or SYSIBM.TABLESPACESTATS
- grant all Optim users SELECT authority on SYSIBM.SYSTABLESPACE catalog table
Centera Pool Entry Authorization File
If you are using the EMC Centera networked storage system, access to the Centera server can be secured with a Pool Entry Authorization (PEA) file.
A PEA file prevents unauthorized applications from storing data on or retrieving data from a Centera server. To use a PEA file with Optim, you must create the file and specify the file name when you configure the site options.
A PEA file must be created on an open systems platform, and then copied to the mainframe. (Refer to your Centera documentation for complete information on creating the file.) Use FTP to copy the file to a mainframe dataset in binary format. If you browse the PEA file with ISPF, use the DISPLAY UTF8 command, since the file is stored in UTF 8 format.
When you specify site options to configure the environment, specify the PEA file name as described in Change Storage Options and Specifying Storage Options.
You can optionally secure the PEA file using a site-installed security package. Create a discrete profile for the PEA file, specifying universal access None (UACC (NONE)). You can then grant specific users READ access to the profile.
Double-Byte Character Set Support
When you dynamically switch to a new Db2 subsystem while working with Optim, Optim connects to the subsystem and loads a copy of DSNHDECP to obtain various Db2 subsystem settings.
The load finds the first DSNHDECP copy in the load library order, which may not belong to the current Db2 subsystem. Errors may occur when different Db2 subsystems use different or conflicting settings, for example, Coded Character Set Identifiers (CCSIDs).
The Db2 subsystem MIXED DATA option must be set to YES for Db2 Double-Byte Character Set (DBCS) support and, subsequently, Optim DBCS support. The Optim installation procedure does not explicitly specify the subtype for CHAR/VARCHAR columns during directory creation. Therefore, Optim automatically creates the CHAR/VARCHAR columns of the Optim directory with the subtype FOR MIXED DATA when MIXED DATA is set to YES.
If your Db2 subsystem has MIXED DATA set to NO and you want DBCS support, MIXED DATA must be changed to YES and the proper Multi-Byte Character Set (MBCS) CCSIDs must be specified to Db2 for the ASCII and EBCDIC encoding schemes. Changing the CCSID of a Db2 subsystem requires careful consideration. Contact IBM Support for assistance to avoid corrupting existing tables (such as the Optim directory tables).
Prior to processing VSAM, sequential, or IMS data sources that contain DBCS data, set the Optim Legacy MIXED DATA and Legacy EBCDIC CCSID site options appropriately. Refer to Customizing the Site Options.
Unicode and ASCII Support
While the Optim plan must be bound with an EBCDIC encoding scheme, Optim is still able to process data in any encoding, including ASCII and Unicode, Db2 tables or Legacy Tables. No conversion of data will be performed when extracting data. Data may be converted by Optim, or Db2, when inserting data in to Db2 or Legacy destination tables.
The above does not apply when executing Browse or Edit of live Db2 data. When Optim is reading data from an ASCII or Unicode Db2 table, Db2 will convert characters from the table’s encoding scheme to the target Optim EBCDIC encoding scheme and CCSID. When Optim is writing data to an ASCII or Unicode Db2 table, Db2 will convert characters from the Optim EBCDIC encoding scheme to the target table’s encoding scheme and CCSID. The conversions may result in conversion errors and use of substitution characters.