Creating an IBM Db2 integration

Adding an IBM Db2 integration enables your organization to store alert and incident data in a Db2 database. This data can then be used for historical archiving or audit purposes, as well as included in custom dashboards and reports that are created in IBM Cognos Analytics.

Prerequisites

  • You need an instance of IBM Db2 installed. Only IBM Db2 Standard Server Edition 11.5.9.0 is supported. For more information, see Installing IBM Db2.

You need the following information to create an IBM Db2 integration:

  • Data source type
  • Name of the IBM Db2 database
  • Hostname or IP address at the database
  • Port number for incoming client connections
  • Username and password to access the database
Note: The IBM Db2 integration is only supported on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform clusters. IBM Db2 integration is not supported on IBM Concert Operate on Linux.

Creating an IBM Db2 integration

To create an IBM Db2 integration, complete the following steps:

  1. Log in to Concert Operate console.

  2. Expand the navigation menu (four horizontal bars), then click Define > Integrations.

  3. On the Integrations page, click Add integration.

  4. From the list of available integrations, find and click the IBM Db2 tile.

  5. On the side-panel, review the instructions and when ready to continue, click Get started.

  6. On the Add integration page, define the general integration details:

    • Name: The display name of your integration. You cannot use spaces or special characters in the display name. Use only alphanumeric characters.

    • Description (optional): Optionally, enter a description of the integration.

    • Data source type: From the drop-down menu, select the type of IBM Db2 database.

    • Database hostname or IP address: Enter the fully qualified hostname or IP address of the IBM Db2 database, for example, myserver.abc.com or 192.0.2.24.

    • Database port (1024 - 65535): Enter the database port number.

    • Database name: Enter the name of the IBM Db2 database.

      IBM Db2 integration

    • Username: Enter the username to access the IBM Db2 database.

    • Password: Enter the password for the IBM Db2 database username.

    • Schema qualifier (optional): Enter the schema qualifier for the database objects to be accessed. If blank, the username is used.

    • Maximum pool size (0 - 100000): Enter the maximum number of connections allowed within a single connection pool. The default value is 0, which indicates that connection pooling is switched off for the integration server.

    • Additional database parameters (optional): Enter additional database parameters in the format name1=value1;name2=value2.

      IBM Db2 integration

    • Schema or table: To create database schema or table, see Setting up the database schema.

  7. Click Done. You are redirected to the IBM Db2 integration page.

    Your new integration is listed in the table on the page. The integration has an initial status of Initializing. After a few minutes, the status changes to Running if your integration is successful.

Best practices

  • When you change the integration schema, ensure that you update the dashboard policy. As table definitions can then differ, the policy needs to be updated with the new tables.

  • If the number of expected events is very large, set the maximum pool size to 10.

  • Check the database about any limitation on the maximum number of connections:

    SELECT count(*) FROM SYSIBMADM.SNAPAPPL;

Limitations

  • If you are using your own script, ensure that the main tables for alerts and incidents are not using autogenerated columns.
  • The following datatypes are not supporteD: BLOB, CLOB, DBCLOB.
  • For the throughput, with the provided scripts, you might see a rate of 700/s for inserts and 300-400/s for updates. In case more throughput is needed, remove triggers when no auditing is required.

Create a policy to populate an external database

Once an IBM Db2 integration is set up and running, you can create a policy to send alerts or incidents from Concert Operate to populate an external IBM Db2 database. For more information, see Populate an external database.

Adding columns to an IBM Db2 table

If you add columns to an IBM Db2 table, you must update the IBM Db2 integration. To update the IBM Db2 integration, you must make a change to at least one field value within the IBM Db2 integration (for example, to the Maximum pool size field). You should then revert the field back to its original value:

  1. Log in to Concert Operate console.

  2. Expand the navigation menu (four horizontal bars), then click Define > Integrations.

  3. Click the IBM Db2 integration type on the Manage integrations tab of the Integrations page.

  4. On the IBM Db2 integration page, click the name of the integration that you want to edit.

  5. Update a field value (for example, the Maximum pool size field) and click Save.

  6. Revert the field back to its original value and click Save.

Editing an IBM Db2 integration

After you create your integration, you can edit the integration. To edit an integration, complete the following steps:

  1. Log in to Concert Operate console.

  2. Expand the navigation menu (four horizontal bars), then click Define > Integrations.

  3. Click the IBM Db2 integration type on the Manage integrations tab of the Integrations page.

  4. On the IBM Db2 integration page, click the name of the integration that you want to edit. Alternatively, you can click the options menu (three vertical dots) for the integration and click Edit. The integration configuration opens.

  5. Edit your integration as required. Click Save when you are done editing.

Your integration is now edited.

Deleting an IBM Db2 integration

If you no longer need your integration and want to delete it entirely, you can delete the integration from the console.

To delete an integration, complete the following steps:

  1. Log in to Concert Operate console.

  2. Expand the navigation menu (four horizontal bars), then click Define > Integrations.

  3. Click the IBM Db2 integration type on the Manage integrations tab of the Integrations page.

  4. On the IBM Db2 integrations page, click the Delete icon for the integration that you want to delete.

  5. Enter the name of the integration to confirm that you want to delete your integration. Then, click Delete.

    Your integration is deleted in IBM Concert Operate.