Overview of Db2 for z/OS Agent
IBM® Db2® for z/OS® Agent is an AI-powered assistant that enables you to easily obtain real-time information about your Db2 for z/OS subsystems and catalog tables through a simple prompt-based conversational interface.
For example, you can ask it what the current value of a particular subsystem parameter is, which buffer pool a particular index uses, or to return a list of all the schemas on a subsystem. In addition to providing a response, the agent also explains the method that it used to obtain the response. For a better understanding of the types of questions that you can ask the agent, review the list of sample prompts.
Db2 for z/OS Agent runs in an IBM watsonx Assistant™ for Z environment, which is powered by watsonx™ Orchestrate®. See the watsonx Assistant for Z documentation to familiarize yourself with its basic concepts.
Db2 for z/OS Agent is available to licensed Db2 13 for z/OS users free of charge. To obtain the entitlement key, open a case with IBM Support indicating that you are requesting the entitlement key for Db2 for z/OS Agent.
Db2 for z/OS Agent architecture
The following figure illustrates a Db2 for z/OS Agent environment and shows the relationship between each component that plays a role in the environment:
You deploy the agent on a Linux® 64 (x86) system by using IBM watsonx.ai development studio. IBM watsonx.ai provides the foundational large language model (LLM) framework that Db2 for z/OS Agent needs to help answer your questions.
- IBM watsonx.ai
- IBM watsonx.ai provides the environment for building and deploying AI. It provides APIs, foundation models, and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) frameworks.
- IBM watsonx Assistant for Z
- IBM watsonx Assistant for Z is an extension to watsonx Orchestrate that enables agents for interaction with IBM Z®. It allows for connection to Ansible® and z/OS APIs and the ability to import automation, Ansible playbooks, JCL, or REXX as skills into watsonx Orchestrate. The automation uses existing z/OS user security settings.
- Z RAG
- IBM watsonx Assistant for Z provides Z-specific Retrieval Augmented Generation to augment the Large Language Model (LLM) with information that is specific to Z products, including Db2 for z/OS. This information comes from diverse but authoritative sources such as IBM product documentation, IBM subject matter experts, and IBM Redbooks®.
- Authorization service
- The Authorization services is a preconfigured service that is provided by ZAssistantDeploy, which is a component of IBM watsonx Assistant for Z. The Authorization service ensures secure access by validating the current login user in watsonx Orchestrate against the z/OS User Management system.
- Db2 for z/OS Agent Model Context Protocol (MCP) server
- MCP is an open-source framework for standardizing how AI systems, particularly LLMs, interact with external tools and data sources. The MCP server enables Db2 for z/OS Agent to access and use information from various applications and systems in a consistent way, which helps the agent to provide more accurate responses by incorporating real-time data into its response process.Db2 for z/OS Agent connects to Db2 for z/OS and runs tools by using the MCP to discover information about the Db2 subsystems.
- MongoDB container
- A MongoDB container is used to store the following types of metadata that the agent relies on:
- Database connection information (note that usernames and passwords are not stored)
- Catalog table information for each database connection that is created
- Trace information to assist in tracing back specific responses that are generated based on user prompts
- Agent-to-Db2 connectivity
- Connectivity is provided through an ODBC connection. Both server-side and client-side verification is supported; however, server-side verification is recommended.