IBM Support

What's New in IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud

News


Abstract

The current release of IBM® Db2® Warehouse on Cloud offers the following new features and functions. Any changed or deprecated functions that require changes on the client side are also noted here.

Content

2 October 2024

Over the coming days, new generation plans on IBM cloud and AWS will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update and defect fixes. Customers can get the update by going to their console. This will cause some downtime.

  • The new generation plan is available on IBM Cloud in Frankfurt.

For new generation plans on IBM cloud and AWS, the following issues are fixed in the new update:

  •  Fixes the list of backup replication regions on IBM Cloud
  •  Database Replication (based on QRep) can be enabled from the Web console, for service instances deployed on Amazon Web Services.
  •  Fixes an issue where the database might abnormally restart during a backup

22 August 2024

Over the coming days, new generation plans on IBM cloud and AWS will be updated. The update consists of regular security update and defect fixes. Customers can get the update by going to their Console. This will cause a downtime. The fixes are

  • New memory-optimized configurations are available in all locations where Db2 Warehouse on Cloud is supported.
  • Updates to the console connections page to download the latest Db2 client driver software.
  • Fixes an issue where some snapshot backups were not viewable through the web console, whenever cross-region backup replication is enabled.

25 July 2024

Over the coming days, supporting software on all Db2 Warehouse on Cloud plans on IBM Cloud, and the previous generation of plans on AWS (all instances deployed before July 2023) will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update and defect fixes.

For the new generation plans, the following issues are fixed in the new update

  • Scaling issues, on scaling operations there were issues with memory configuration and tablespace access (TEMPSPACE1).
  • Restoring a backup on AWS had a regression that was fixed.

20 June 2024

A new generation of plans hosted on IBM Kubernetes Services (IKS) is now available. These plans introduce native object storage support to Db2 Warehouse running on IBM Cloud VPC Gen 2 architecture in addition to the already existing support for AWS plans. This functionality allows you to store traditional Db2 column-organized tables in Db2's native format on object storage while maintaining the existing SQL support and performance using a tiered storage architecture. Moving data from higher cost block storage to lower cost object storage can significantly reduce your costs and does not require changes to your workload. For more information about object storage support, see here.

These plans also support open data formats as DATALAKE tables, allowing for seamless access to other data within your enterprise for integrated workloads. Supported data formats include Parquet and ORC. For more information about DATALAKE tables, see here.

These plans also provide seamless integration and common metadata service with the new IBM watsonx.data service. You can use the web-based UI to register your watsonx.data service, to allow the import and export of data between the services. For more information about integration with watsonx.data, see here.

The new plans are available in us-south, us-east, and jp-tokyo, with support for additional data centers coming soon. To try out the new plan, go to the Db2 Warehouse on Cloud catalog page. You can also get a $1000 promo code to try out Db2 Warehouse on Cloud by following the instructions here.

The MON_LOCKWAITS administrative view will now report system applications that are blocked on a lock. Event monitors are an example of system applications. System applications usually appear in monitor output with application names beginning "db2" (for example, db2stmm, db2taskd).

  •  New columns/elements for MON_GET_CONNECTION and MON_GET_CONNECTION_DETAILS table functions

New database configuration parameter for implicit, default row-modification-tracking-enabled schema creation

  •  The row modification tracking feature used for logical schema backup operations had to be set by the user during a CREATE SCHEMA or ALTER SCHEMA operation. A new database configuration parameter can be set to enable RMT for all schemas implicitly.

21 May 2024

Over the coming days, supporting software on all Db2 Warehouse on Cloud plans on IBM Cloud, and the previous generation of plans on AWS (all instances deployed before July 2023) will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, an update to Db2 11.5.9, and defect fixes. The updated Db2 level includes fixes and security updates but does not include new functionality.

Service update 11.5.9.0.06.000 is now available for the new generation of plans hosted on AWS (all plans deployed after July 2023 that support native object storage). This update contains the following new functionality: Security updates on Infrastructure and Software Components Updated Db2 build The update will be applied to your system on or after June 5, but you can choose to update sooner by clicking on the notification shown in the console when available.


20 Mar 2024

Service update 11.5.9.0.05.000 is now available for the new generation of plans hosted on AWS (all plans deployed after July 2023 that support native object storage). This update contains the following new functionality:

  • Security updates on Infrastructure and Software Components
  • Updated Db2 build
The update will be applied to your system on or after 1 Apr, but you can choose to update sooner by clicking on the notification shown in the console.

04 Mar 2024

Over the coming days, supporting software on all Db2 Warehouse on Cloud plans on IBM Cloud, and the previous generation of plans on AWS (all instances deployed before July 2023) will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, an update to Db2 11.5.9, and defect fixes. The updated Db2 level includes fixes and security updates but does not include new functionality.


22 Jan 2024

Service update 11.5.9.0.04.000 is now available for the new generation of plans hosted on AWS (all plans deployed after July 2023 that support native object storage). This update contains the following new functionality:

  • You can now view or change your license type in the console. This features allows you to change from an on-demand license model to a 1-Year Reserve option, 3-Year Reserve option, a Bring Your Own License (BYOL) option, or the IBM Integrated Analytics System option. See the Service Description for more information.
  • Cross-region disaster recovery is now supported. You can choose to copy backups to another supported region, and then restore a specific backup to an instance in that region if needed.

The update will be applied to your system on or after 31 Jan, but you can choose to update sooner by clicking on the notification shown in the console.


17 Jan 2024

Over the coming days, supporting software on all Db2 Warehouse on Cloud plans on IBM Cloud, and the previous generation of plans on AWS (all instances deployed before July 2023) will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, an update to Db2 11.5.9, and defect fixes. The updated Db2 level includes fixes and security updates but does not include new functionality.


7 Nov 2023

Service update 11.5.9.0.03.000 is now available for the new generation of plans hosted on AWS. The update consists of a regular security update and defect fixes, including compute scaling fixes. The console now allows you to set up and configure AWS PrivateLink. The update will be applied to your system on or after 16 Nov, but you can choose to update sooner by clicking on the notification shown in the console.


24 Oct 2023

An updated console is now available for the new generation of plans hosted on AWS. The console now allows you to reduce the number of backups that are retained. The minimum number of backups you can retain is one. You can also now schedule a compute scaling operation to occur in the future.


5 Oct 2023

Over the coming days, supporting software on all Db2 Warehouse on Cloud plans on IBM Cloud, and the previous generation of plans on AWS (all instances deployed before July 2023) will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, an updated Db2 build, and defect fixes.


12 Sept 2023

Updates are now available for the new generation of plans hosted on AWS. These updates include:

  • Support for deployments in Sao Paulo.
  • An updated console with the ability to import data more easily from a watsonx.data instance.
  • The console now notifies you when a new system update is available. You will see an alert on the Notifications icon in the upper right corner of the console. Click "View details" to open a panel that displays the new version number, then click "Update now" when you want to initiate the update.

7 Aug 2023

Updates are now available for the new generation of plans hosted on AWS released on July 7. These updates include:

  • Support for deployments in Sydney and Tokyo.
  • Support for new discounted compute parts for clients who bring a license from an applicable offering and for clients who make a 1-year or 3-year commitment to the offering. For more information about the new Bring Your Own License and Reserved Instance plans, see the following blog.
  • An updated console with the ability to export data more easily into a watsonx.data instance, and with monitoring dashboard enhancements.

1 Aug 2023

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans (all plans on IBM Cloud and the previous generation of plans on AWS) will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, an updated Db2 build, and defect fixes. The default TLS version is updated to 1.3.  TLS v1.2 is still supported. Support for the cipher TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 is removed.


7 July 2023

A new generation of plans hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) is now available. These plans introduce native object storage support to Db2. This functionality allows you to store traditional Db2 column-organized tables in Db2's native format on object storage while maintaining the existing SQL support and performance using a tiered storage architecture. Moving data from higher cost block storage to lower cost object storage can significantly reduce your costs and does not require changes to your workload. For more information about object storage support, see here.

These plans also support open data formats as DATALAKE tables, allowing for seamless access to other data within your enterprise for integrated workloads. Supported data formats include Parquet and ORC. For more information about DATALAKE tables, see here.

These plans also provide seamless integration and common metadata service with the new IBM watsonx.data service. You can use the web-based UI to register your watsonx.data service, to allow the import and export of data between the services. For more information about integration with watsonx.data, see here.

The new plans are available in N. Virginia and Frankfurt, with support for additional data centers coming soon. To try out the new plan, go to the Db2 Warehouse on Cloud catalog page. You can also get a $1000 promo code to try out Db2 Warehouse on Cloud by following the instructions here.

25 May 2023

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, an updated Db2 build, and defect fixes.


6 Apr 2023

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, an updated Db2 11.5.8 build, and an updated console that includes the following changes:

  • The Run SQL page is enhanced with the new SQL Builder to enable users to easily build SQL queries for Db2 database without the need for manual SQL coding. The SQL Builder offers drag-and-drop and point-and-click interfaces that allow non-experts to build SQL queries quickly. Users can now generate query statements of varying complexity, create table joins, and save builds to retrieve them for future use.
  • Nine monitor pages are added to be consistent with Db2 Data Management Console monitor functions:
    • Database-Database time spent: Display time spent break down information by database, and workload.
    • Database-Database usage: Display database level metrics such as CPU, memory, transaction rate, and active connections.
    • Applications-Utilities: Display running utilities information such as load and reorg.
    • Memory-Instance memory: Display instance memory break down information.
    • Memory-Database memory: Display database memory break down information.
    • I/O-Prefetchers: Display prefetch metrics such as prefetch ratio, cleaner ratio, and prefetch wait time, by buffer pool or table space.
    • Storage-Table space performance: Display table space performance metrics such as write/min, physical data reads/min, and hit ratio.
    • Storage-Table space utilization: Display table space utilization metrics such as page size, pages used, free pages, and total pages.
    • Workload management: Display workload management information including queue queries, superclasses, subclasses, workloads. Enables user to adjust resources among superclasses and subclasses. This function is only applicable when historical monitoring is turned on.
  • Added report functions with four report types. The report function is only applicable when historical monitoring is turned on. The following four reports are available:
    • Reports-Database performance: Deliver report for database performance metrics including throughput, resource usage, contention, time spent, sorts, logs, and top ten statements sorted by longest running, most expensive or most run.
    • Reports-Top statements: Deliver report for top statements sorted by 17 metrics including CPU time, executions, activity wait time, lock wait time, rows read, and rows returned.
    • Reports-Table usage: Deliver top table usage by size, total access, or read.
    • Reports-Disk space usage: Deliver database disk space usage information overtime.
  • Additional schema level privileges are available: ACCESSCTRL, DATAACCESS, DELETEIN, EXECUTEIN, INSERTIN, LOAD, SCHEMAADM, SELECTIN, UPDATEIN, LOGICAL BACKUP AND RESTORE OF RCAC PROTECTED DATA
Due to the upcoming end of support for Cloud Foundry, all clients whose instances use Cloud Foundry must plan on migrating their instances to Resource Controller before the end of life date for Cloud Foundry (June 1, 2023). For more information about migrating your instance to Resource Controller, see here. The migration does not involve an outage to your database instance or applications. Emails were sent to impacted clients on Mar 8, 2023. Additional emails will be sent in the coming weeks.

25 Jan 2023

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of the following changes:

  • A new Db2 engine build based on 11.5.8. This new Db2 fix pack includes many improvements and enhancements, including:
    • (Tech preview) The ability to do full, cumulative incremental, or delta incremental backup of a schema followed by full restore of the schema or table(s) within the schema. For more details on this feature, see here.
    • Enhanced set integrity performance
    • Data server clients and drivers enhancements
    • New abbreviated syntax for Federation server
    • Improved performance and compression when populating column-organized tables using the LOAD utility
    • New MON_GET_CONNECTION(_DETAILS) metrics CONNECT_SEC_TYPE, CONNECT_CIPHER_SPEC, SSL_SRV_CERT_LABEL and SSL_SRV_CERT_FINGERPRINT
    • For a link to the Db2 11.5.8 release notes, which contain additional information about these enhancements, see here. For a list of all APARs resolved in Db2 11.5.8, see here.
  • An updated console that includes new audit functionality. From the console you can now configure and manage Db2 audit policies, archive audit records to your IBM Cloud Object Storage (COS) or AWS S3, and view a subset of archived records. Automated policy migration is supported through the console. In order to retain the audit records loaded into your AUDIT tables, you must perform data migration to an external storage location prior to using the feature through the console. After you have configured your Db2 audit records to archive to your IBM COS or AWS S3, you will no longer be able to use the AUDIT tables.
  • Support for a new data center (US-West-2, located in Oregon) for deployments on AWS.
  • Additional security updates and bug fixes.
Due to the upcoming end of support for Cloud Foundry, all clients whose instances use Cloud Foundry must plan on migrating their instances to Resource Controller before the end of April. For more information about migrating your instance to Resource Controller, see here. The migration does not involve an outage to your database instance or applications.

 

27 Oct 2022

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update with an updated Db2 engine build (still based on 11.5.7.0) and additional bug fixes. The console will also be updated with the following functionality:

  • Inter-node encryption for Flex and Flex Performance instances. For more information about enabling this optional type of encryption, see here.
  • Auto-scaling. With this feature, an administrator can allow storage to auto-scale when a specified storage threshold is met (for example, when 90% of the allocated storage is in use).
  • Improved scaling UI.
  • You can now specify your local timezone when you select the backup time for your instances, rather than defaulting to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
  • The console now supports the official version of the SQL editor with database object tree view. The classic version of the SQL editor is no longer supported.

4 Aug 2022

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update with an updated Db2 engine build (still based on 11.5.7.0) and additional bug fixes. As part of this update, access to SYSCAT.AUDITPOLICIES, SYSCAT.AUDITUSE, and SYSIBMADM.PRIVILEGES will be revoked for PUBLIC. This only impacts clients who have explicitly assigned these privileges to PUBLIC. A client can choose to re-add the privileges to PUBLIC, but should be aware that the change will be overwritten during future updates in order to ensure the security of the instance, in accordance with Db2 best practices.

14 July 2022

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update with an updated Db2 engine build (still based on 11.5.7.0) and additional bug fixes. The console will be updated with the following changes:
  • The console now provides you with the ability to scale compute or storage on your instance.  Before this update, scaling functionality was available from a separate, free-standing Flex user interface that you could access from the IBM Cloud instance page. The separate Flex user interface will be removed in Sept 2022.
  • A bug relating to historical monitoring collection has been fixed.
  • A bug that caused users not to be able to define columns when uploading data has been fixed.
  • The SQL Editor user interface has been updated.

19 May 2022

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update with additional bug fixes.

14 April 2022

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update with an updated Db2 engine build (still based on 11.5.7.0) and additional bug fixes.
As part of this update, IBM Lift CLI will no longer be available on new instances of Db2 Warehouse on Cloud. It will also no longer be available on existing Flex One plans, and on all plans deployed on the AWS infrastructure.  Lift CLI will continue functioning on existing Flex and Flex Performance plans deployed on the IBM Cloud infrastructure. For instances where IBM Lift CLI is no longer available, a related change is that the “High-speed loads powered by Aspera” button is no longer available in the console GUI.
In place of Lift CLI, we recommend that you use either External Tables or the Db2 LOAD utility to move files from COS/S3 into your Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex One or AWS instance. You can also use the console API to upload files. More information is available here:
https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/Db2whc?topic=Db2whc-load_cos
https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/Db2whc?topic=Db2whc-load_s3
https://cloud.ibm.com/apidocs/db2-warehouse-on-cloud/db2-warehouse-on-cloud-v4#uploadhomestoragefile

10 February 2022

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with the following new functionality:

12 January 2022

Over the coming days, the console on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with the following new functionality:
  • Additional data objects supported: indexes, table spaces, buffer pools
  • Ability to scale storage up to 240 TB (Flex Performance plans only)
  • Ability to schedule scale operations using the console UI
 

15 December 2021

An update was done to fix a critical security vulnerability.
 

28 October 2021

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, with no changes to offering externals.
 

20 Sept 2021

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update. Several console enhancements are also introduced:
  • A new event monitor profile panel displays the status of event monitors (Activity, Locking, Utility, and Statistics) for a database connection. Depending on the event monitor profile setting, the status is displayed as On/Off/Warning. The panel can be found under Settings.
  • Support added for configuring table spaces. The Tablespace usage field displays the current table space usage for the event monitors on the database. Users can also scale the table space storage size, create a new table space, or change the table space definition for an event monitor.
  • Support added for workload customization for activity and statistics event monitors. Users can view the list of relevant workloads, and enable, disable, and edit the collection settings for each workload for activity and statistics event monitors.

19 July 2021

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with the following changes:
  • A new Db2 engine based on 11.5.6.0. For more information about Db2 11.5.6, see the what's new and the following list of resolved APARs. More information is available here.
  • New integration with IBM Key Protect, giving you direct control over the data in your database and backups. You can manage your own keys in the Key Protect service on IBM Cloud and you can use your key to control the encryption and decryption of the data in database. For more information, see here.
 

14 May 2021

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, with no changes to offering externals.

15 Mar 2021

Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex announces the availability of replication for continuous availability. This feature allows you to replicate transactions between two or more Db2 Warehouse on Cloud instances. For more information, see here.
You must migrate existing instances of Db2 Warehouse on Cloud from Cloud Foundry to Resource Controller to gain access to this new feature.
 

4 Mar 2021

In the coming days and weeks, Resource Controller will go live across all regions.  After this change is made, all new Db2 Warehouse on Cloud service instances that you create will be created in a resource group.  It is recommended that you create a migration plan to move your existing Db2 Warehouse on Cloud service instances from their current Cloud Foundry org and space to a resource group.

For more information about Resource Controller, see here.
 

19 Feb 2021

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with the following changes:
  • A new Db2 engine based on 11.5.5.0. For more information about Db2 11.5.5, see the what's new and the following list of resolved APARs.
  • Fixes in the console interface.
 

16 Nov 2020

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated.  Some customers will receive the content described under the 26 Oct 2020 entry.  Other customers already received the 26 Oct content, and will receive additional Db2 and console fixes.
 

26 Oct 2020

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with the following changes:
  • A new Db2 engine based on 11.5.4.0. For more information about Db2 11.5.4, see the what's new and the following list of resolved APARs.
  • New features are available through the console interface:
  • The historical monitoring capability gives you the ability to view trends in your database performance, and analyze the database responsiveness, query performance, database throughput, and bottlenecks that are impacting your applications. The historical monitoring settings can be configured to control the volume of monitoring metrics collected and persisted for future analysis. Enable historical monitoring by logging in to the console and navigating to Administration > Settings.
  • You can scale the CPU/memory and storage available to your database in an integrated manner from the Db2 Warehouse on Cloud console. The bluadmin user has the privilege to scale by default. In order to enable other users, grant them the INSTANCE_SCALE role.
  • You now configure your service such that all users have a read-only view all the workloads running on your database, with the ability to cancel your own queries and kill your own applications.
  • Support for capturing database events using an external Guardium server. This feature can be requested by opening a support case.

14 Sept 2020

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with an updated Db2 engine and an updated console. The base level of the Db2 engine (11.5.2.0) will not be updated, but additional customer fixes will be added on the current level. The console includes the ability to take a backup image on demand and customer fixes. These fixes include the download to CSV file functionality for Edge and Chrome users, and the view of tables and schemas in the storage tab. Supporting software will also be updated.
 

4 June 2020

The update that was originally planned for 16 April will begin on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans. The update will continue through June. See the description under the 16 April entry for important information about the closure of port 50000 and the recommendation that you download the Db2 11.5 client driver.
 

27 May 2020

Supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud non-Flex plans will be updated. This update includes one significant change that will impact users: Port 50000 (the non-SSL port) will be closed on all instances unless a support ticket was opened to request that the port be kept open. An earlier email notification was sent to alert users of this upcoming change and the requirement to open a support ticket if you have legacy applications that must use this port.
 

16 April 2020 --> Deferred

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with the following changes:
  • Port 50000 (the non-SSL port) will be closed on all instances unless a support ticket was opened to request that the port be kept open. An earlier email notification was sent to alert users of this upcoming change and the requirement to open a support ticket if you have legacy applications that must use this port.
  • The Db2 engine will be updated to 11.5.2.0.  To make use of new functionality included in Db2 11.5.2.0, make sure you download the 11.5 client driver from here.  Before this update, the level on the system for most customers was close to the 11.5 GA level.  For a list of APARs included in 11.5.1.0 and 11.5.2.0, see here.
  • The console and Aspera components will also be updated with fixes.

9 Mar 2020

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, with no changes to offering externals.
 

25 Feb 2020

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud non-Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, with no changes to offering externals.

14 Jan 2020

The Aspera component within Db2 Warehouse on Cloud will be updated and restarted. During this maintenance period, any customers loading data using either Aspera or Lift will experience a short disruption as their connection to the database is reset. The Db2 database instance will not be restarted during this maintenance window, and users connecting directly to the database or using the console will not experience a disruption.

30 Nov 2019

The Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Entry plan will end support on this day.  All instances will be deleted; there will be no option to recover data after this date.  Ensure that you migrate your data out of your Entry plan and into one of the replacement offerings before this date. For more information, see the following blog.

14 Nov 2019

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with a new console that includes:
  • Performance improvements
  • Security enhancements
  • Weak password detection. An attempt to update a password will now fail if the new password contains a string that is easy to guess.
  • Fixed term passwords.  An administrator can now set a fixed term password for another user.  When the user logs in with this password, they are prompted to change the password.
  • One additional behavior change. The following parameter must now be supplied when invoking the /auth/token REST API call. Previously this parameter was optional:  -H "Content-Type: application/json" .  The documentation will be updated shortly to reflect this change.
  • Additional fixes
If you load using Aspera from the Db2 Warehouse on Cloud console, it is recommended that you update to the latest IBM Aspera Connect client (version 3.9.6) after this update.  This client is available as a download from the console.  For macOS users only, the current installation must be uninstalled before you install the new 3.9.6 version.
To uninstall Aspera Connect, quit both the Connect application and any open Web browsers. Then, run the corresponding uninstall script below, based on whether you have a system-wide installation (multi-user) or a per-user installation.
System-wide installation (all users):
$ sudo /Library/Application\ Support/Aspera/Aspera\ Connect/uninstall_connect.sh
Per-user installation:
$ ~/Library/Application\ Support/Aspera/Aspera\ Connect/uninstall_connect.sh

11 Nov 2019

Over the coming days, supporting software on Db2 Warehouse on Cloud non-Flex plans will be updated. The update consists of a regular security update, with no changes to offering externals.

7 Oct 2019

Over the coming days, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud non-Flex plans will be updated with a new Db2 engine, an updated console, and additional fixes. The console now matches the console available on Flex plans.  As part of this update, requirements for passwords have been strengthened.  The minimum password length is now 15 characters (up from 12), and passwords must contain at least one of each of the following types of character: uppercase letter, lowercase letter, digit, and special character.  When a user's legacy password does not meet the new requirements, the user will be prompted to change their password when they log in to the console.
For a summary of other new and changed features in this console, see the 18 March entry below.

26 August 2019

Over the coming weeks, Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans will be updated with the following changes:
  • Updated Db2 engine containing Oracle compatibility improvements, BLU compression enhancements, added support for LOB datatypes, concurrency improvements for some types of update and delete statements on column-organized tables, performance improvements for Spatial Analytics, and increased support for external tables.
  • Updated console, with fixes for several defects including an intermittent failure while loading using Lift, and an error that caused file systems to fill up too quickly.  The console also now displays the status during CPU/memory and storage expansion requests.
  • Requirements for passwords have been strengthened.  The minimum password length is now 15 characters (up from 12), and passwords must contain at least one of each of the following types of character: uppercase letter, lowercase letter, digit, and special character.  When a user's legacy password does not meet the new requirements, the user will be prompted to change their password when they log in to the console.
  • Db2 audit functionality is now available by default on all Flex systems on IBM Cloud.

25 June 2019

A correction was made to the notice below from 21 May. The Db2 audit functionality is now available on all Db2 Warehouse on Cloud non-Flex plans. On Flex plans, the functionality is available by request via a service ticket.  During the next planned update to the Flex plans, the functionality will be made available on these plans.  See the 21 May entry for more information about enabling the feature, which requires configuring an audit policy.

4 June 2019

Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans on IBM Cloud have been updated with a new Db2 engine, an updated console, and additional fixes. The console now provides the ability to specify a user ID up to 128 characters long.

3 June 2019

The Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex One plan is now available.  Like Flex and Flex Performance, it delivers independent scaling of storage and compute and self-service backup and restore, but in a precise configuration designed to scale with a growing enterprise. Configurations begin at 40GB disk storage and 6 cores.  This plan is currently supported in the IBM Cloud Dallas data center. For more information, see here

21 May 2019

The Db2 audit functionality is now available on all Db2 Warehouse on Cloud non-Flex plans. This facility generates, and allows you to maintain, an audit trail for a series of predefined database events. It is not enabled by default. If you want to enable it, an authorized user with SECADM privilege (for example, the bluadmin user) must configure an audit policy to control when audit information is collected. For more information, see here.

29 March 2019

The previously announced Flex and Flex Performance plans can now be deployed on the Amazon Web Services public cloud. Clients have two Flex offerings to choose from:
  • The “Flex” plan is ideal for storage-dense workloads, inexpensive query of large data sets, and a development/test environment for cloud.
  • The “Flex Performance” plan is ideal for high-performance production workloads that prioritize compute performance over storage density.
Both plans offer high availability (HA), self-service backup and restore, and unlimited backups to AWS S3. For more information, see the following blog post.

18 March 2019

Beginning on March 18th, an updated console interface will be made available for all Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans. The console includes the following changes:

For users with admin authority:

  • The landing page has been redesigned and now includes a monitoring overview. The previous landing page contained three panels -- "Quick stats", "Connect" and "Load history". These panels have been moved. "Quick stats" is now available as hover help for the Storage item in the top menu bar; "Connect" has been moved to "Connection Information > Connect"; and "Load history" has been moved to "Load > Load history".
  • Three new pages ("Explore - Views"; "Explore - Authorizations"; "Monitor - Storage") have been added.
  • The "Explore - Tables" page has been redesigned, with new functionality added.
  • The "RUN SQL" page has been redesigned.
  • The console now supports Load from COS (Cloud Object Storage).
  • New APIs have been added to allow you to query monitoring and metrics information, and to allow you to query information on schemas and SQL jobs.

For non-admin users:

  • The landing page has been replaced by a redesigned version of the "Explore - Tables" page. See the description above for information on where you can find the contents of the old landing page.
  • One new page ("Explore - Views") has been added.
  • The "RUN SQL" page has been redesigned.
  • The console now supports Load from COS.
  • New APIs have been added. See the description above.

31 January 2019

The Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex Performance plan now supports compressed database sizes up to 96TB.


10 January 2019

Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex plans now support Identity and Access Management (IAM). This feature enables you to securely authenticate users for platform services and control access to resources consistently across the IBM Cloud platform. For more information, refer to the Knowledge Center.


2 November 2018

Db2 Warehouse on Cloud non-Flex plans have been updated with a new Db2 engine, an updated console, and additional fixes.  The non-Flex plans now support Identity and Access Management (IAM). This feature enables you to securely authenticate users for platform services and control access to resources consistently across the IBM Cloud platform. For more information, refer to the Knowledge Center.


1 November 2018

Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex and Flex Performance plans are now HIPAA ready. Both plans have implemented required controls commensurate with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security and Privacy Rule requirements. For information about how to order a HIPAA-ready Db2 managed service, contact your IBM sales representative or send email to: CloudDigitalSales@us.ibm.com.


17 October 2018

Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex service is now generally available. Like the Flex Performance plan released earlier in 2018, the new Flex plan includes independent scaling of storage and compute, self-service backup and restore, and fast-recovery HA. It is optimized for storage-dense workloads. For more information, see here.


16 August 2018

A new user interface is now available on all entry plans.  Refer to the April 3rd update below for a list of new and changed functionality and for information about clearing your browser cache.


24 July 2018

IBM Hybrid Data Management Platform is now available for Db2 Warehouse on Cloud. This plan allows you to purchase IBM FlexPoints and allocate them toward multiple resources with a single subscription.  For more information, see here.


3 April 2018

Db2 Warehouse on Cloud (non-Flex plan, non-entry plan) introduces a new console user interface. After your service is updated with the new console, follow the steps here to clear your web browser cache.

The new console includes the following new and changed functionality:

MONITOR

  • On the CONNECTIONS page, you can view applications that connect to the current Db2 Warehouse on Cloud.  When an application might impact the performance of the database, you can use the Force Application button to disconnect the application. You can also filter the applications using different metrics, and export the application status to a spreadsheet file.
  • On the STORAGE page, you can view the storage status in a list or a heat map, either by schema or by table. You can also filter the storage status using different metrics, and export the storage status to a spreadsheet file.
  • On the IN-FLIGHT EXECUTIONS page, you can view the SQL statements that are currently running on the database. You can also filter the SQL statements using different rules, and export the SQL statements to a spreadsheet file.
  • Both administrator and normal users can use the monitoring features. For a normal user, only the data of the current user can be monitored and displayed.


RUN SQL 

  • When you type SQL statements within the SQL editor, the syntax can be validated in real time and recommended fixes for the SQL statement are displayed as annotations in the SQL editor.
  • You can save the SQL statements in the SQL editor either to the server, or to a .sql file in order to share the script with other users.
  • By adding a FAVORITES tag to the saved SQL statements, you can load the SQL statements into the SQL editor with just one click the drop-down menu of the Favorites button.
  • You can export the result of one or more queries to a spreadsheet file, such as an .xlsx file or a .CSV file.
  • When you access the console from different browsers, the history of SQL statements executed within the SQL editor is also displayed.  
  • You can also choose to run a subset of a group of SQL statements from the SQL editor.
  • The SQL statements that you are working on are automatically saved and will be restored if you lose your connection to the console.


Security Enhancement

  • Forgot password support: For non-entry plans, you can use your user ID and email address to reset the password if you forget your password.  You can also use the /auth/reset REST API to reset the password. The reset instruction is sent to your email address and is valid for 24 hours. Note that you can only reset your password once within 24 hours.
  • Password policy GUI support: Administrators can update or delete the existing password policy, create new password policies, and assign a specific password policy to a user on the Manage Users page, or using REST API endpoints. The principles in a password policy are enforced as follows for different user roles.
Administrator
User
Password expiration date
X
X
Password minimum length
X
X
Failed login attempts
X
X
Account lockout duration
X
X
Password history
X


Support for Internet Explorer

  • You can use Internet Explorer (IE) 11 to access the Db2 Warehouse on Cloud console.


Load

  • You can import data into Db2 Warehouse on Cloud using the load from external tables feature. If the original data is from PureData System for Analytics, it's recommended that you import the data using external tables because the performance is better and there is no lock on an external table.
  • You can load the data from a local .csv file that is larger than 2GB.  However, you need to enable the High-speed loads powered by Aspera button for a file that is larger than 10GB.

7 March 2018

Db2 Warehouse on Cloud (non-Flex plan) now supports IBM Cloud Object Store as a cloud object storage location from which to load data using Db2 utilities and SQL statements (the CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statement) directly. Both regional and cross-regional endpoints are supported. The same support is already included in the initial release of the Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex Performance plan.


20 February 2018

See the following announcement relating to Db2 Warehouse on Cloud:
https://www.ibm.com/blogs/bluemix/2018/02/upcoming-changes-rstudio-db2-warehouse-cloud/
This change was originally planned for April 2018, but will be delayed until December 2018.


13 February 2018

The Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex Performance plan now includes REST APIs for compute elasticity and storage expansion. These REST APIs provide customers with a programmatic interface to perform elasticity/expansion operations in addition to the Web UI. The swagger documentation for the REST APIs is available here.


31 January 2018

A new Flex Performance plan is available for Db2 Warehouse on Cloud. The Flex plan allows for independent, on-demand scaling of compute cores and storage capacity, giving clients greater control of resource consumption and increased efficiency with their operational expenses. In addition, the plan offers self-service backup and restore and fast-recovery high availability. For more information, see the following blog post.


17 November 2017

In 1Q 2018, there will be a change in how constraints are enforced in Db2 Warehouse on Cloud. For more information, see the following technote.


9 November 2017

Compatibility

This update includes the following compatibility updates:

  • Enhanced NZPL SQL support, including support for %ROWTYPE, %TYPE, FOUND, ROW_COUNT, REFTABLE , AUTOCOMMIT and SELECT INTO record type.
  • External Table extended with new options to support more native Db2 Warehouse file formats including CCSID, TIMESTAMP_FORMAT, DATE_FORMAT, and TIME_FORMAT options. Customers unloading and reloading data from Db2 Warehouse are recommended to use CCSID 1208 over ENCODING(INTERNAL) to maintain the data in unicode.
  • HAVING CLAUSE now supports column aliases under SQL_COMPAT='NPS'

8 September 2017

External tables

External tables are now supported. For information about how to create them, see CREATE EXTERNAL TABLES statement.

INSERT performance improvements

Parallel inserts, vectorized inserts, and reduced logging are now enabled. Parallel inserts, vectorized inserts, and reduced logging can help improve performance. You can now complete large CTAS or INSERT from SELECT operations without using the LOAD from CURSOR syntax.

Federation

Federation (formerly called "fluid query") capability is now available for Db2-based sources over non-SSL connections. You can use federation capability to access data that is located on a data source that is different from the one to which you submitted a query. Supported data sources include IBM Db2, IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud, IBM Db2 Warehouse, and IBM Big SQL.


18 July 2017

The following table summarizes the new offering names:

Previous name New name Effective date
IBM dashDB for Analytics IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud July 18, 2017
IBM dashDB Local IBM Db2 Warehouse July 18, 2017
IBM dashDB for Transactions IBM Db2 on Cloud June 20, 2017

2 May 2017

Compatibility

  • With dashDB for Analytics, you can now use the Boolean data type for all row-organized and column-organized dashDB tables. You can implicitly or explicitly cast values from Boolean data types to integer or string data types and vice versa. You can also carry out "group by" and "order by" operations on Boolean columns. Also, dashDB offers a set of new scalar functions, each of which returns a Boolean value based on the truth value of an input expression. Boolean support is not currently available with dashDB for Transactions.


Security updates

  • Updates include enhancements to security requirements for cipher specs of applications that access dashDB. If your application cannot connect to dashDB, complete the steps in the following technote.

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Document Information

Modified date:
26 September 2024

UID

ibm10739531