A. Resources

Covers the use of DB2 Universal Database on all platforms, including Linux and other Unices, OS/2, OS/390, OS/400, and Windows. This forum is quite active.

This mailing list claims about 300 subscribers who ask and answer questions. The site provides a link to searchable archives, and sharing of utilities and scripts is encouraged.

Although this newsgroup was meant to serve users trying out the DB2 V7.1 beta code, there are a lot of general questions about DB2 on Linux that might help answer your questions. Now that the final release is available, activity on this forum has slowed down significantly.

For information on installing DB2 Version 8 on Linux, the DB2 Information Center is the most current source of official documentation in 29 different languages. Set your browser language preference and the site will return the translated version of a given page if it is available, falling back to English content. Offers access to the information via search, navigation tree, or a comprehensive master index ( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ).

Installing a DB2 server on Linux is probably the best starting point for Version 8 install information.

IBM's list of supported Linux distributions for DB2 Version 8, along with the system prerequisites.

IBM publishes many books on installing, administering, and developing applications with DB2. If you decide not to install the documentation when you install DB2, you can always access the documentation online in HTML format or download PDF versions of the books.

This web site contains the latest information about restrictions, workarounds, or additional documentation for developing applications with DB2.

This web site contains general information about using DB2 for Linux, including a link to the free download of DB2 Personal Developers Edition.

This web site is the online version of DB2 Magazine, which publishes articles about using DB2 on Linux and other platforms. You can also sign up a free subscription to the print version of the magazine.

This web site contains white papers published by IBM about DB2. White papers typically provide overviews or introductions to new technology or new releases of a product.

IDUG holds a number of international conferences on DB2 and has regional user groups. While IDUG has traditionally focused on DB2 for OS/390 and OS/400, they have increasingly included information on DB2 for Linux, other Unices, OS/2, and Windows. The IDUG web site includes online discussion forums and links to other DB2 resources.

Daniel Scheibli has started a project with the following mission statement:

The mission of DbtuTools is to become an framework for working with the Wintel/UNIX versions of IBM's DB2 UDB database family. Starting with an modest tool collection ("little helpers for daily work") the long-term goal is to extend the project in a way that it becomes an integrated solution.

The Net Search Extender, formerly known as the Text Extender, allows you to perform full-text indexing and searches of databases on DB2.

Before Net Search Extender was available for DB2 for Linux, Kevin Sangalee put together an excellent page on an alternative method of providing similar function. From the site:

This document describes way to provide this functionality using the text indexing package SWISH++, a User Defined Function (in this case, written in C), and a Perl script. It should be taken as an overview guide rather than as detailed instructions, since the solution may require some coercing to fit with other applications.