Db2 users and groups (Linux and UNIX)

The Db2 Setup wizard creates the users and groups automatically (if needed) during the installation of your Db2 database product.

Note: This topic does not apply to non-root installations.

If you are using the Db2 Setup wizard, you can create the following users and groups during installation. To manually create the following users and groups, see Creating group and user IDs for a Db2 database installation (Linux and UNIX). Three users and three groups are used to operate Db2 operating systems.

Instance owner
The Db2 instance is created in the instance owner home directory. This user ID controls all Db2 processes and owns all filesystems and devices used by the databases contained within the instance. The default user is db2inst1 and the default group is db2iadm1.

When using the Db2 Setup wizard, the default action is to create a new user for your Db2 instance. The default name is db2inst1. If that user name already exists, the Db2 Setup wizard searches through user names (db2inst2, db2inst3, and so on). The search continues until a user name is identified that is not already an existing user on the system as the default instance owner ID. If you choose to proceed this user is created by the Db2 Setup wizard. However, you also have a choice to specify any existing user as the instance owner.

This method for user name creation also applies to the creation of fenced users.

Fenced user
The fenced user is used to run user defined functions (UDFs) and stored procedures outside of the address space used by the Db2 database. The default user is db2fenc1 and the default group is db2fadm1. If you do not need this level of security, for example in a test environment, you can use your instance owner as your fenced user.

User ID restrictions for the instance owner and fenced ID

  • Must be in a primary group other than guests, admins, users, and local
  • Can include lowercase letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), and the underscore character ( _ )
  • Cannot be longer than 8 characters
  • Cannot begin with IBM, SYS, SQL, or a number
  • Cannot be a Db2 reserved word (USERS, ADMINS, GUESTS, PUBLIC, or LOCAL), or an SQL reserved word
  • Cannot use any User ID with root privilege.
  • Cannot include accented characters
  • If existing user IDs are specified instead of creating new user IDs, make sure that the user IDs:
    • Are not locked
    • Have passwords that are not locked