Load temporary files

The Db2® database system creates temporary binary files during load processing. These files are used for load crash recovery, load terminate operations, warning and error messages, and runtime control data.

Load temporary files are removed when the load operation completes without error. The temporary files are written to a path that can be specified through the temp-pathname parameter of the LOAD command, or in the piTempFilesPath parameter of the db2Load API. The default path is a subdirectory of the partition-global directory.

Load operations against different databases must not specify the same temporary files path.

The temporary files path resides on the server machine and is accessed by the Db2 instance exclusively. Therefore, it is imperative that any path name qualification given to the temp-pathname parameter reflects the directory structure of the server, not the client, and that the Db2 instance owner has read and write permission on the path.

Note: In a Db2 pureScale® environment, the load temporary files should reside on a path that is accessible by all members (for example, on a shared disk). The temporary files need to be on a shared disk, otherwise member crash recovery and LOAD TERMINATE operations executed from a different member might have issues.

This is different from a partitioned database environment, where the load temporary files path should reside on a local disk. You should avoid choosing a Network File System (NFS) based path, otherwise there is significant performance degradation during the load operation.

Attention: The temporary files written to this path must not be tampered with under any circumstances. Doing so causes the load operation to malfunction and places your database in jeopardy.