IBM Db2 Warehouse prerequisites for Linux and x86 hardware

Before you attempt to deploy Db2® Warehouse on a Linux® operating system that runs on x86 hardware, ensure that your system meets the prerequisites.

Hardware prerequisites

Use the following table to determine the minimum recommended hardware that you need to deploy Db2 Warehouse. A multi-node deployment (MPP) deployment requires at least three nodes: one head node and at least two data nodes.
Component Single-node deployment (SMP) Multinode deployment (MPP)
Processor 2.0 GHz core. 8 x 2.0 GHz core for each node.
Memory 8 GB of RAM. 64 GB of RAM for each node.
Storage in the development environment For the root directory, 25 GB minimum and 50 GB recommended. If the /var/lib/docker directory is not under the root directory, you need at least an additional 25 GB for the /var/lib/docker directory. For each node's root directory, 25 GB minimum and 50 GB recommended. If the /var/lib/docker directory is not under the root directory, you need at least an additional 25 GB for the /var/lib/docker directory. This directory cannot be shared among nodes.

For the cluster file system, an additional 50 GB minimum and 100 GB recommended.
Storage in the production environment For the root directory, 50 GB minimum and 300 GB recommended. If the /var/lib/docker directory is not under the root directory, you need at least an additional 50 GB for the /var/lib/docker directory. For each node's root directory, 50 GB minimum and 100 GB recommended. If the /var/lib/docker directory is not under the root directory, you need at least an additional 50 GB for the /var/lib/docker directory. This directory cannot be shared among nodes.

For the cluster file system, an additional 50 GB minimum and 500 GB recommended.

When you install the product, prerequisite checks are run to verify that your environment has adequate resources and speed.

File system prerequisites

The type of file system you need depends on your deployment type:
  • For an SMP deployment, you must set up a POSIX-compliant file system.
  • For an MPP deployment, you must set up a POSIX-compliant cluster file system that is mounted on the same path for each node.
Examples of such cluster file systems are IBM Spectrum Scale (formerly known as IBM® GPFS), VxFS, and NFS. For more information, see Storage technologies for IBM Db2 Warehouse.

Network prerequisites

Perform the following steps:
  • For an SMP deployment, ensure that the node host is defined in the /etc/hosts file. For an MPP deployment, ensure that all the node hosts are defined in each node's /etc/hosts file. Use the following format for each /etc/hosts file: 
    IP_address domain alias1 alias2 ... aliasN
    where:
    • IP_address represents the IP address of the node.
    • domain represents the fully qualified domain name (only one per IP address).
    • alias1 alias2 ... aliasN represents one or more aliases that are specific to the host.
    For example:
    
192.0.2.214 Db2whblu1.example.com Db2whblu1
  • Ensure that the following ports are opened:
    • 60000 - 60060, for database FCM (60006 - 60007 for HADR, if you want to use it)
    • 32768-65535, for FCM connectivity tests
    • 25000 - 25999, for Apache Spark
    • 50050, for connecting to REST endpoints via SSL
    • 50022, for SSH for automation and management
    • 50001, for a database connection with SSL
    • 50000, for a database connection without SSL
    • 9929, for communication tests
    • 9300, for web console status
    • 8998, for submitting Apache Spark application jobs through a Livy server
    • 8443, for web console HTTPS
    • 5000, for System Manager
    • 2379 - 2380, for HA management
    • 389, for LDAP
    • 22, for SSH/host operating system
  • Ensure that IPv4 forwarding is enabled. For example, on CentOS 7, perform the following steps:
    1. Include the following line in the /etc/sysctl.conf file:
      net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
    2. Issue the following command: 
      systemctl restart network

Operating system prerequisites

Set up and maintain the Linux operating system. Apply all maintenance, security, and other fixes.

You can run Db2 Warehouse on any Linux distribution that Docker supports, with one restriction: if you use Ubuntu 14.04, the version of your Linux kernel must be 3.16 or later.

Docker prerequisites

Obtain a license for at least v17.06 of the Docker engine, either Enterprise Edition (EE) or Community Edition (CE), and install it. Ensure that your choice of EE or CE works with your choice of operating system. You can use either the Docker engine that's supported by Docker or the Docker engine that's supported by Ubuntu (docker.io). For overviews of EE and CE, see Docker Enterprise Edition and Docker Community Edition. For instructions on installing the Docker engine that's supported by Docker and tables of supported operating systems for EE and CE, see Install Docker.

If you are using RHEL or CentOS:
  • It is recommended that you use the OverlayFS storage driver overlay2. This driver and how to configure Docker to use it are described in Use the OverlayFS storage driver.

    If you are unable to use overlay2, you can use the devicemapper storage driver instead; however, its use is deprecated and causes a warning message to be written to the docker logs. If you use devicemapper in a production environment, configure direct-lvm mode as described in Configure direct-lvm mode for production.

  • After installing Docker, increase the base size of the Docker container to at least 20 GB. This ensures that there is enough space inside the container for log and temporary files. To do this:
    1. Log in as root.
    2. On each node, create the daemon.json file in the /etc/docker directory, if the file doesn't already exist in that location.
    3. Add the storage-opts option to the daemon.json file, as follows:
      {
"storage-opts": [ "dm.basesize=20G" ]
}
    4. On each node, restart the Docker engine by issuing the following command: 
      systemctl restart docker
    5. On each node, confirm that the base size increased by issuing the following command and checking the Base Device Size field in the output: 
      docker info

IBM provides support for the Db2 Warehouse Docker container, but it is your responsibility to subscribe to Docker Engine support.

Other prerequisites

To help ensure smooth database operations, use an NTP server to synchronize the clocks of the servers in your MPP deployment. To configure your NTP clients, see the documentation for your Linux distribution.

The web console requires one of the following browsers:
  • Internet Explorer
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
For a list of supported browser levels, see the "Web Browsers" section of software compatibility report for IBM Data Server Manager.