Activating the license for Db2 Connect at the IBM Data Server Client site

To use the IBM Data Server Client to connect to a Db2 for z/OS or Db2 for System i server, you need to activate the Db2 Connect license that is included with the client software.

About this task

Applying the Db2 Connect license at the IBM Data Server Client allows applications to connect directly to Db2 host servers without any intermediate pieces. This is a significant advantage over handling licensing at the Db2 Server.

After installing one of the IBM Data Server Client packages on the machine where the application resides, connectivity information is provided directly to the Db2 host server. The recommended client package for this scenario is the IBM Data Server Driver Package (ds driver). This client package is highly optimized for easy deployment in the enterprise.

Customers with only Java applications can instead use the IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC and SQLJ, which is also a component of the ds driver client package.
Note: If you are connecting directly to your target System z or System i data servers by using a java application, the procedure for activating the Db2 Connect license is slightly different. For more information, see Installing the IBM Data Server Driver for JDBC and SQLJ.
Figure 1. Db2 Connect direct-connect configuration
Db2 Connect direct-connect configuration

For all other editions (except the Enterprise Edition with Floating User Single Install charge metric), the application in this scenario can also be an application server – such as WebSphere or ASP.NET. The client machine in this case is the actual application server.

Procedure

  1. Obtain the licence key for the Db2 Connect product that you purchased from IBM by going to the Passport Advantage site
    Attention:

    To download the Db2® license from Passport Advantage as a customer, follow the steps listed on the Passport Advantage page for customers.

    To download the Db2 license as a business partner, visit the Passport Advantage page for business partners.

  2. Save the license key to a location of your choosing on the Db2 Client machine.
  3. Run the db2licm -a command to activate the license key for your Db2 Connect product:
    On Windows operating systems
    <db2install_path>\bin\db2licm -a <license_file>
    where <db2install_path> is the installation path of your Db2 client application and <license_file> is the location and name of the activation key for your Db2 Connect product.
    On Linux and AIX operating systems
      <INSTHOME>/sqllib/adm/db2licm -a <license_file>
    where <INSTHOME> represents the home directory of the instance owner. The db2licm command can also be found in the path where the Db2 database product is installed. For example, /opt/IBM/db2/V11.5/adm on Linux® or UNIX operating system, if you use the default installation directory.
  4. Verify the Db2 Connect product license information: 
    db2licm -l