IBM Db2 for i connection

To access your data in IBM Db2 for i, create a connection asset for it.

Db2 for i is the relational database manager that is fully integrated on your system. Because it is integrated on the system, Db2 for i is easy to use and manage.

Supported versions

IBM DB2 for i 7.2+

Prerequisites

Upload JAR files

This connection requires that you upload two JAR files: db2jcc_license_cisuz.jar and db2jcc4.jar. For information, see IBM Db2 Connect: Pricing and Installing the IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC and SQLJ.

See Importing JDBC drivers for the procedure and required permissions to upload the JAR file to Cloud Pak for Data. Important: Starting in version 4.8.4, uploading JDBC drivers is disabled by default. Starting in 4.8.5, by default in new installations, users cannot view the list of JDBC drivers in the web client. An administrator must enable users to upload or view JDBC drivers.

Run the bind command

Run the following commands from the Db2 client that is configured to access the Db2 for i server.
You need to run the bind command only once per remote database per Db2 client version.

db2 connect to DBALIAS user USERID using PASSWORD
db2 bind path@ddcs400.lst blocking all sqlerror continue messages ddcs400.msg grant public
db2 connect reset

For information about bind commands, see Binding applications and utilities.

Run catalog commands

Run the following catalog commands from the Db2 client that is configured to access the Db2 for i server:

  1. db2 catalog tcpip node node_name remote hostname_or_address server port_no_or_service_name

    Example:
    db2 catalog tcpip node db2i123 remote 192.0.2.0 server 446 

  2.  db2 catalog dcs database local_name as real_db_name

    Example:
    db2 catalog dcs database db2i123 as db2i123 

  3. db2 catalog database local_name as alias at node node_name authentication server

    Example:
    db2 catalog database db2i123 as db2i123 at node db2i123 authentication server

For information about catalog commands, see CATALOG TCPIP NODE and CATALOG DCS DATABASE.

Create a connection to Db2 for i

To create the connection asset, you need these connection details:

  • Hostname or IP address
  • Port number
  • Location: The unique name of the Db2 location you want to access
  • Username and password
  • SSL certificate (if required by the database server)

For Credentials and Certificates, you can use secrets if a vault is configured for the platform and the service supports vaults. For information, see Using secrets from vaults in connections.

Choose the method for creating a connection based on where you are in the platform

In a project
Click Assets > New asset > Data access tools > Connection. See Adding a connection to a project.
In a catalog
Click Add to catalog > Connection. See Adding a connection asset to a catalog.
In a deployment space
Click Add to space > Connection. See Adding connections to a deployment space.
In the Platform assets catalog
Click New connection. See Adding platform connections.

Next step: Add data assets from the connection

Where you can use this connection

You can use Db2 for i connections in the following workspaces and tools:

Projects

  • Cognos Dashboards (Cognos Dashboards service)
  • DataStage (DataStage service). See Connecting to a data source in DataStage.
  • Metadata import (IBM Knowledge Catalog)
  • Notebooks (Watson Studio). Click Read data on the Code snippets pane to get the connection credentials and load the data into a data structure. See Load data from data source connections.
  • SPSS Modeler (SPSS Modeler service)
  • Synthetic Data Generator (Synthetic Data Generator service)

Catalogs

  • Platform assets catalog

  • Other catalogs (IBM Knowledge Catalog)

Watson Query service
You can connect to this data source from Watson Query.

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) compliance

  • 4.8.0, 4.8.1, and 4.8.2: This connection is compliant with FIPS.
  • 4.8.3 and later: This connection is not compliant with FIPS, but it is FIPS-tolerant.

Restriction

For SPSS Modeler, you can use this connection only to import data. You cannot export data to this connection or to a Db2 for i connection connected data asset.

Running SQL statements

To ensure that your SQL statements run correctly, refer to the Db2 for i SQL reference for the correct syntax.

Learn more

IBM Db2 for i documentation

Parent topic: Supported connections