Administration Guide

The Control Center

Use the Control Center as your main point of administration to manage systems, DB2 instances, databases, database objects, such as tables, views, and user groups. You can also use the Control Center to access DB2 for OS/390 subsystems. All DB2 databases must be catalogued before they appear in the Control Center. The Figure 21 shows the primary features of the Control Center. Because of operating system differences, the Control Center on your system may appear different from the diagram.

Figure 21. Control Center Features

Main Elements of the Control Center

The main elements of the Control Center are:

• Menu Bar. The menu bar is at the top of the screen. Selecting a menu from the menu bar allows you to perform many functions, such as shutting down the DB2 tools, accessing the graphical tools, and getting access to online help and product information. You should familiarize yourself with these functions by clicking on each item on the menu bar.

• Control Center Toolbar. Icons for the Control Center and the other tools are located on the Control Center toolbar. Hover help identifies each icon when the cursor is placed over the icon.

  You can change the settings for these tools by selecting the Tools Settings icon from the Control Center toolbar.

• Object Tree. The Object Tree is located on the left pane of the screen. It displays icons for all the database servers and objects that you can manage from the Control Center. You must first catalog a remote database server before it appears in the Object Tree pane. Local databases are automatically catalogued. Some objects in the Object Tree pane contain other objects. A plus sign (+) to the left of the object indicates that the object is collapsed. You can expand it by clicking the plus sign. A minus sign (-) appears to the left of an object when it has been expanded. To collapse the object, click the minus sign.

• Contents Pane. The Contents pane is located on the right pane of the screen. This pane shows all the objects that are contained in the selected object in the Object Tree pane, for example, if you select the tables folder in the Object Tree pane, all your tables show up in the Contents pane. If you select the databases folder, the Contents pane changes to show all databases. You can filter the columns that appear in the Contents pane by clicking the Filter icon in the Contents pane toolbar and specifying the required information or you can filter objects by selecting Tools on the toolbar and then Tools Settings. You must ensure that the Enable Filter check box is selected in the Contents Pane filter dialog.

• Contents Pane Toolbar. This toolbar appears at the bottom of the Contents pane. It allows you to tailor the information in the Contents pane. This toolbar is a common control which appears at the bottom or to the side of most detailed views throughout the product.

Using a Customized Control Center in DB2 for OS/390

Use the Customized Control Center on the DB2 for OS/390 platform as your own defined point of administration to manage subsystems, databases, or database objects, such as tables, views, and database users. You can use this Customized Control Center to access any DB2 for OS/390 objects that you define.

The main elements of the Customized Control Center are the same as those listed for the default Control Center. The Customized Control Center allows you to specify objects that you want to include in a personalized Control Center. This user-defined tree can be saved and invoked to administer DB2 objects. It does not replace the Control Center tree which is the default for all users but is useful if you want to access a set of objects in the same way each time the Control Center is invoked. You can create as many customized trees as you need, and each one can contain a different set of objects, which can be ordered in any way that you choose.

Using a customized tree reduces the effort of navigating through a fixed hierarchy of DB2 objects, and provides a method of grouping related objects. For example, you can define a tree that contains only tables with payroll information.

Systems That Can Be Administered

The Object Tree in the Control Center shows all the systems that are cataloged on the instance to which you are currently attached. If you attach to another instance, the Control Center shows the systems that are cataloged on that new instance. From the Control Center, you can administer database objects for the Universal Database family of products for OS/2, Windows, and UNIX platforms.

You can also administer DB2 for OS/390 subsystems from the Control Center if an Administration Server (DAS) is running on the DB2 for OS/390 system and if a DB2 Connect product is available to the client on which the Control Center is running. This requires either DB2 Connect Personal Edition to be installed on the client or DB2 Connect Enterprise Edition to be installed on a LAN and be accessible to the client. In addition to having a DB2 Connect product installed, a connection must be defined on the DB2 for OS/390 subsystem so that it can used by the Control Center.

From the Control Center, you can also replicate data between the DB2 Universal Database family of products, DB2 for AS/400, DB2 for VSE and VM systems, and DB2 for OS/390.

Objects that can be Administered

If you want to administer objects from the Control Center, you must add them to the object tree. If you remove a database, or uncatalog it outside of the Control Center, and you want to use the Control Center to perform tasks on it, you must add it to the object tree.

The DB2 Universal Database objects that you can administer from the Control Center are:

• Systems

• Instances

• Tables

• Views

• Indexes

• Triggers

• User-defined types

• User-defined functions

• Packages

• Aliases

• Replication Objects

• Users and Groups

The DB2 for OS/390 Version 5 objects that you can administer from the Control Center are:

• Buffer Pools

• Views

• Catalog Tables

• Storage Groups

• Aliases

• Synonyms

• DB2 Users

• Locations

• Application Objects (Collections, Packages, Plans, Procedures)

• Databases

• Tables

• Table Spaces

• Indexes

• Replication Source

• Replication Subscriptions

For Version 6 of DB2 UDB for OS/390, the following objects were added:

• Schemas

• Triggers

• User Defined Functions

• Distinct Types

To see what actions can be performed on each of these objects, select the object in the Object pane and click mouse button 2. A pop-up window appears listing the functions.

Displaying Systems in the Control Center

To display all of the systems that are cataloged on your system and which have DB2 installed:

1. Expand the Object Tree by clicking the plus sign (+) beside Systems. Icons representing the local machine and any remote machines are displayed. Your local system is represented by the Local icon. It only appears if the local machine is a DB2 server. If you click mouse button 2 on the Local icon, one of the options in the pop-up menu is called Attach to administration server. The Administration Server lets you take advantage of functions such as performance monitoring and scheduling. It is used as a service by the DB2 administration tools to satisfy operating system requests and it is automatically created and started for you. The default name for the Administration Server is DB2DAS00.

2. Expand the Local icon. The instance of DB2 on the local machine is displayed in a tree structure.

   On OS/2, Windows and supported DB2 UNIX-based systems, you can think of each copy of the database manager code as a separate instance, that is stored in a directory on your machine. On DB2 for OS/390, an instance is referred to as a subsystem. A default local instance is created when you install DB2. You can have several instances on a single system. You can use these instances to separate the development environment from the production environment, or to restrict sensitive information to a particular group of people. You can also tune an instance for a particular environment.

3. Expand the Instances icon. For each database that exists, an icon and the name are displayed.

Managing DB2 for OS/390 Objects

Using the Control Center, you can perform many of the functions of the existing DB2 for OS/390 Version 5 and DB2 UDB for OS/390 Version 6 products, such as creating, altering, and dropping objects, as well as run utilities that reorganize or load your data. However, before you can administer a DB2 for OS/390 subsystem from the Control Center, you must first add it to the object tree by configuring a connection to it.

Adding DB2 for OS/390 Subsystems

If you have the Client Configuration Assistant installed, you can use it to configure a connection to a DB2 for OS/390 subsystem easily. If you do not have the Client Configuration Assistant installed, you will have to configure the connection to the DB2 for OS/390 subsystem manually.

You use the Client Configuration Assistant to search the network for all the DB2 for OS/390 subsystems which are available on the LAN to your client. If you would like to add one of the DB2 for OS/390 subsystems, you can use the Add Database SmartGuide to add the subsystem, or you can import a connection by using an access profile, or you can add the connection manually.

If you choose to search the network, you need to have a DB2 Connect product on your network with a connection defined for the subsystem. If you choose to use an access profile, you need to import a profile for the subsystem you want to add. If you need to manually configure the connection, you need to know the subsystem name, the communication protocol, and the communication protocol parameters such as the host name and the port number for TCP/IP, or the Symbolic Destination Name for SNA. Once you add the DB2 for OS/390 subsystem, you also get the objects for the gateway connections.

When you add a DB2 for OS/390 subsystem, it appears in its own section of the Control Center object tree separate from the DB2 Universal database objects. To see the DB2 for OS/390 V5 and DB2 UDB for V6 objects that reside in a particular subsystem, expand the object tree from the DB2 for OS/390 system icon that represents your DB2 for OS/390 system.

To see the list of actions that you can perform on a particular object, select the object as it appears in the object tree and click mouse button 2. A pop-up menu appears and shows the available actions you can perform on that object. For example, you can create, alter, or drop a view, as well as see its contents, modify the privileges on it, and show a list of other objects that are related to it. See the online help for the DB2 for OS/390 objects for more information on what functions you can perform.

Managing Gateway Connections

When a DB2 Connect server is installed, a Gateway Connections folder is displayed in the Control Center object tree under the instance object of the local system. The Gateway Connections folder contains a hierarchy of objects used to manage connections to host and AS/400 databases that are cataloged locally. The actions associated with these connection management objects can be used to list, force, and monitor host and AS/400 database connections.

The object tree under the Gateway Connections folder is used for managing connections to host and AS/400 databases but not for database administration tasks. However, if you need to add, change or remove a host or AS/400 database on the local system, you would use the Client Configuration Assistant and not the Gateway Connections tree.

Functions You Can Perform from the Control Center

From the Control Center, you can:

• Manage database objects. You can create, alter, and drop databases, table spaces, tables, views, indexes, triggers, schemas. You can also manage users.

• Manage data. You can load, import, export, reorganize data, and gather statistics.

• Schedule jobs. Jobs may be pending, running or completed executions of scripts. You can schedule jobs to start at particular times.

• Perform preventive maintenance by backing up and restoring databases.

• Monitor performance and perform troubleshooting.

• Replicate data.

• Configure and tune instances and databases.

• Manage database connections, such as gateways and subsystems. Manage applications.

• Analyze queries using Explain SQL to look at access plans.

• Launch other tools. For example, you can launch the Satellite Administration Center or the Command Center.

To see all the actions that you can perform on an object, simply select the object from the Object Tree pane or the Contents pane and click mouse button 2. A pop-up menu appears showing all the functions that you can perform on that type of object; for example, if you select the tables folder, you can create a new table with or without the help of a SmartGuide; monitor the performance of tables; filter which tables appear in the Contents pane and so on. The functions you can perform are different, depending on the object you select.

Click mouse button 2 on the objects in the Contents pane to perform additional functions on a specific object. For example, if you select one of your tables in the Contents pane and click mouse button 2, a pop-up window displays functions you can use on that table.

Creating New Objects

To create new objects:

1. Expand the databases folder. Object types are displayed as folder icons.

2. Click mouse button 2 on the folder icon for an object, for example, click on the Tables icon. The pop-up menu is displayed. For some objects, you get two options to perform a function. One option is to use the SmartGuide. SmartGuides do not exist for all functions that you can perform.

3. Select Create. Since there is a SmartGuide to create a table, you get two options, one of which is to create the table using the SmartGuide. If you choose the SmartGuide option, you are prompted for information and given suggestions on what choices you should make. The SmartGuide is especially useful for new users or people who create databases infrequently.

Working with Existing Objects

When you click an object such as the table folder in the Object Tree pane, all tables already existing appear in the Contents pane. You can then select a table you want to work with and click mouse button 2 to invoke any functions that you wish to perform on that specific table.

For more information about using the Control Center, go to its online help, available from its Help menu or by pressing F1 anywhere in the Control Center.

Locating objects (DB2 for OS/390 only)

You can search for a database or subsystem object easily by using the Locate notebook. This allows you to:

• Find an object without having to navigate through the tree structure of the Control Center. The object could be in a database or subsystem, table space, or across databases and tables and supporting objects.

• Locate objects (table spaces, tables, and indexes) across multiple databases within a subsystem.

Use the Locate page of the Locate notebook to specify the search criteria. Use the Advanced page of the Locate notebook to further customize the search. Edit the text provided on the Advanced page and add or modify the search criteria.

To locate an object defined within a database or a DB2 for OS/390 subsystem:

1. From the Control Center, click mouse button 2 on an object. Select Locate from the popup menu. The Locate notebook opens.

2. From the Object type field, select the type of database object to search. The list of target objects available varies, depending on the object from which you begin your search.

3. On the Locate page, fill in the search criteria. You must type in at least one search criterion and you can use wild cards to help in the search. Characters are folded to uppercase unless you use valid delimiters to enclose lower case characters or the extended character set.

4. On the Locate page, select a radio button to specify whether to meet all the conditions selected in the fields on the Locate page or meet at least one of the conditions.

5. Click OK to use the search criteria. The results of your search are displayed in the Locate Result window. The format of the output table depends on the type of object for which you searched.

6. To repeat the search with the same or different criteria, click APPLY.

7. You can select a row that appears in the Locate Result window and right click on that row to see a popup menu with additional actions that you can perform.

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