Db2 requirements

• The Db2 server must be registered with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus by using an operating system user who exists on the Db2 server. The user is then referred as the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus agent user.
• Ensure that the password is correctly configured and that the user can log in without other prompts, such as prompts to reset the password.

To use a Db2 database, an IBM Spectrum Protect Plus agent user must have the following permissions:

• Privileges to run commands as root user and as a Db2 software owner user by using sudo. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus requires these privileges for various tasks such as discovering storage layouts, mounting and unmounting disks, and managing databases.
  • The sudoers configuration must allow the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus agent user to run commands without a password.
  • The !requiretty setting must be set, as described in Setting sudo privileges for Db2.
• Privileges to read the Db2 inventory by using the db2ls command in the /usr/local/bin directory. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus requires these privileges to discover and collect information about Db2 instances and databases.

The following prerequisites must be met before you start protecting your resources. For details, see Prerequisites for Db2.

• Db2 archive logging is activated and Db2 is in recoverable mode.
• Sufficient space is available in the Db2 database management system, in the volume groups for the backup operation, and on the target volumes for copying files during the restore operation. For more information about space requirements, see Space requirements for Db2 protection.
  • Before you back up Db2 databases, ensure you have enough free disk space on the target and source hosts, and in the vSnap repository. Extra free disk space is required in the volume groups on the source host for creating temporary Logical Volume Manager (LVM) snapshots of the logical volumes that the Db2 database and log files are stored on. To create LVM snapshots of a protected Db2 database, ensure that the volume groups with Db2 data have sufficient free space.
    • For AIX, no more than 15 snapshots can exist for each Enhanced Journaled File System (JFS2). Internal and external JFS2 snapshots cannot exist at the same time for the same file system. Ensure that no internal snapshots exist on the JFS2 volumes, as these snapshots can cause issues when the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Db2 agent is creating external snapshots.
    • For every LVM or JFS2 snapshot logical volume that contains data, allow at least 10% of its size as free disk space in the volume group. If the volume group has enough free disk space, the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Db2 agent reserves up to 25% of the source logical volume size for the snapshot logical volume.
  • When you are restoring data to an alternative location, allocate extra dedicated volumes for copy and restore processes. The data paths for table spaces and logs on the target host are the same as the paths on the original host. This setup supports the copying of data from the mounted vSnap to the target host. Ensure that dedicated local database directories are allowed for each database in your volume setup.
• Logical volumes holding Db2 table spaces (data and temporary table spaces), the local database directory, and Db2 log files are managed by the Logical Volume Management system (LVM2) on Linux or by the JFS2 on AIX. LVM2 on Linux and JFS2 on AIX are used for creating temporary volume snapshots. The logical volume grows in size with data as it changes on the source volume while the snapshot exists. For more information, see LVM2 and JFS2.

Before you start a backup or restore operation, take the following actions:

• Ensure that the application servers that host the Db2 databases that you want to back up are registered with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus.
• A service level agreement (SLA) policy is configured.
• Assign appropriate roles and resource groups to users who will be running backup and restore operations. Grant users access to resources and roles by using the Accounts pane.

Review the following information about creating backup and restore jobs:

• Define regularly scheduled Db2 backup jobs to protect your data. You also enable continuous backup operations for archive logs so that you can restore a point-in-time copy with rollforward options if required. For instructions, see Backing up Db2 data.
• To restore Db2 data from the vSnap repository, define a job that restores data from either the newest backup or an earlier backup copy. You can choose to restore data to the original instance or to an alternative instance on a different client host. For instructions, see Restoring Db2 data.