New Vector Linux 5.9.1 SOHO Edition !!

A few weeks a go Vector Linux 5.9.1 had been released. It brought many fixed to several bugs and also some enhancements. New SAMBA version, and also more stable than previous release ( 5.8 and 5.1 version ). This two application would brought you more joy especially for me as SAP Basis Administrator.

Vector Linux 5.9.1 is also brought you the lates version of SUN Java environment that has brought more stability and robustness.

I am a linux fans and also worked as SAP Basis. So this announcement of Vector release is gave us more power to say that Linux is ready to enterprise environment.

Technorati Tags: SAPGUI for Java, Vector Linux

Best linux distro for SAPGUI for Java based desktop client v2.0 (part 4)

I have already posted on my previous review here, here, and here. Now, I am going to post about Linux Mint, one of the best out of the box Ubuntu based Linux distro. I used to have this distro on my notebook before switching to OpenSuSE.

Linux Mint has great features according to their latest release notes such as :

mintMenu improvements

In Daryna, mintInstall and the Software Portal made it easy to install applications. In Elyssa mintMenu is making it easy to remove them. You don't need to open synaptic or to launch a terminal anymore, if you want to uninstall an application, simply right-click on it in the menu and select “Uninstall”.

mintUpdate improvements

MintUpdate was introduced in Daryna and quickly became one of the most popular tools on the Linux Mint desktop. It came to our attention that a lot of people weren't aware of how it worked internally (for instance, the difference between its user and admin runtime modes). For this reason we developed an information screen from which the active logs can be read, and the runtime mode and process id can be seen.

mintInstall improvements

.mint files can be quite complex as there's almost nothing you can do in a terminal that a .mint file can't do. In practice though, 99% of the .mint files present in the Software Portal consist in describing the installation of an application using APT. Most of these files describe the installation of only one package, and in most cases this package is present in the default repositories. In Daryna mintInstall used to backup the local sources.list, define its own, and then restore things as they were. This resulted in APT being told to update twice. In Elyssa, the mintInstall client checks if the packages are present within the repositories defined on your system, if they are the client gives you the choice of whether you want to use your sources.list ("local repositories") or the one coming with the file ("default repositories"). The default selection is "local" and as it basically saves 2 APT updates the installation of the application via mintInstall is consequently much faster.

Improvements in other tools

The network autobrowsing feature was removed from mintDesktop as it wasn't mature enough to be part of this LTS release. Gnome 2.22 introduced its own compositing manager which can now be activated/deactivated from mintDesktop. Mintupload's email feature was removed and replaced with a "Copy" button, which simply copies the shared URL to the buffer.

Desktop improvements

Gnome-Do doesn't just come installed by default in Elyssa, it's configured to run in the background. Press SUPER+SPACE and it should appear. From there you can quickly launch an application or use any of the advanced features provided by this tool.

Performance improvements

MintUpdate was refactored and its memory usage was drastically reduced. On some systems the amount of RAM used by mintUpdate after a few days went from 100MB to 6MB.

Mozilla also greatly improved the memory usage in Firefox between version 2 and 3 (Read more). Elyssa comes with kernel version 2.6.24 which features a brand new scheduler called CFS (Completely Fair Scheduler, Read more). The kernel scheduler is responsible for the CPU time allocated to each process. With CFS the rules have changed. Without proper benchmarks it's hard to actually tell the consequences of this change but the difference in behavior is quite noticeable from a user's point of view. Some tasks seem slower, but overall the system feels much snappier. Elyssa comes with Gnome version 2.22 which features a new virtual filesystem layer called GVFS. Although the improvements over the old GNOME-VFS system are geared towards robustness and additional capabilities more than performance the Nautilus file browser seems more responsive and the progress feedback given while moving sets of files actually gives the impression of smoother, almost faster, operations. Linux Mint is growing and acquired a second dedicated server. The Linux Mint repositories (starting from Elyssa) are now hosted on a distinct server so updating and installing mint packages is now much faster.

Better Look and feel

All Mint tools were reviewed and changes were made for their graphical interface to be more compliant with the Gnome Human Interface Guidelines. The default set of GTK widgets used in Daryna was called MurrinaIndustrialSM. Subtle changes and refinements were made to it. Sliders now use the Clearlooks engine, scrollbars are now white and come with handles, columns headers were made glossy, dotted lines were added in tables and the roundness level was decreased slightly. Overall it looks pretty similar to Daryna and you might not notice the difference until you actually look into it. It's all about attention to details though and we're quite happy with the improvements we made on this. The colors are also configurable now so that's probably great news for people looking for an easy way to make Linux Mint a little greener.

And some other great features.

Linux Mint powered itself with SUN JRE 1.6 out of the box, restricted audio and video codec, etc. You can directly installed SAPGUI for Java here without worrying about JRE.

I am still highly recommend this distro especially for Linux newbie and label this distro as one of SAPGUI ready Linux distro. This distro is absoultely free and please consider to donate to help Clement Lefebvre maintain this distro. Happy Mint-ing !!

Best linux distro for SAPGUI for Java based desktop client v2.0 (part 3)

Previously I have posted about linux distro here and here, now I am going to continue my review about OpenSuSE 11.0 as one of linux distro which is also supported by SAPGUI for Java.

Starting on this release, finally OpenSuSE - as other linux distro too - has included SUN Java (Thanks to SUN which had been released Java under Open Source license). In fact, OpenSuSE has done great job on this release. They said this is one of the best OpenSuSE release ever. That's make me so happy. I am SuSE fans...

According to OpenSuSE website (http://www.opensuse.org) on their release notes :

"The openSUSE Project is proud to announce the release of openSUSE 11.0 - everything you need to get started with Linux on the desktop and on the server. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, the openSUSE Project provides free, easy access to the world’s most usable Linux distribution, openSUSE. The 11.0 release of openSUSE includes more than 200 new features specific to openSUSE, a redesigned installer that makes openSUSE even easier to install, faster package management thanks to major updates in the ZYpp stack, and KDE 4, GNOME 2.22, Compiz Fusion, and much more."

Also check this out for latest Compiz feature. Very nice. I like it.

OpenSuSE also come with SAMBA which is mandatory for running as SAPGUI ready desktop client.

But just as your consideration before choosing OpenSuSE, your computer specification must have minimumly 512 MB memory. But I recommend you to have 1 GB memory for minimum requirement. Currently, I am using OpenSuSE 11.0 on my Acer notebook

Happy migrating !!

Best linux distro for SAPGUI for Java based desktop client v2.0 (part 2)

As previous stated on my posting before, I still recommended Vector Linux with newer version 5.9.1 SOHO Edition. From Vector Linux website release notes, they mentioned this :

"We have released SOHO-5.9.1-DELUXE! To complement it we have released a standard version, free for download!!

The 5.9.1 release is a maintenance bug fix release for the previous SOHO 5.9 and includes 52 updates to the core system. You will also find Firefox-3.0.1, opera-9.52, pidgin-2.5.1, sane-1.0.19 and a host of others. The kernel has been upgraded to 2.6.25.7 for better driver support in both sound and wifi.

After long consideration we determined that this was just to darned good and we wanted everyone to see just how good this is. We are confident that after trying the free version you will want to come back and purchase the DELUXE version. In addition to an expanded first disk, the deluxe version comes with a second multimedia CD which contains loads of extras, including more applications, functionality and original artwork.

The default desktop is KDE 3.5.9. More than just amazing eye candy, KDE's extensive collection of graphical tools makes it easy to use for non-technical users. Still, the speedy Fluxbox is available for power users. The included office suite, image manipulation and desktop publishing software will quickly put Small Office/Home Office users to work. Since regular breaks have been shown to increase productivity, you will also find a nice collection of games. For the server role, samba, apache, mysql and php are included.

For those who have purchased the previous 5.9 SOHO release, we are offering the updated 5.9.1 release as a free download from our high speed host SQI. All you need to do is reply to the original email you received with the purchase and request download instructions. Any other requests concerning the purchase of 5.9 and the 5.9.1 update can be directed to support@vectorlinux.com"

From my own point of view, Vector Linux has given us great distro, even if we have just had its CD without any software supplement. They have given us SAMBA server, Secure Shell (SSH) server, CUPS, The latest Open Office version, and nice modified and boosted KDE desktop environment.

We need SAMBA server so desktop which has printers attached can print from SAP. It will collaborate with Windows based SAP Print Server (contact me if you want to get paid support). Also, we need SSH server on linux client to support end user without bothering while they are working. Of course we need CUPS since it is default printer daemon on Linux. Open Office has become default office application on Linux and even on several countries has decided to use OpenOffice type for their default document processor. Nice looking GUI would help user to migrate from Windows.
Vector Linux also, by default, has included SUN JRE so you don't have to download them separately. All you need is install this distro and run it.

So personally, I still highly recommended Vector Linux based on its stability, light, fast, and compact size. Hey...It's only one CD and you'll get everything.

Best linux distro for SAPGUI for Java based desktop client v2.0 (part 1)

From my previous posting on sapbasis.wordpress, I have clearly explain about how to search about best linux distro to use as SAPGUI for Java based desktop client. Well, I am SAP Basis and also linux distro is continue to grow on its version and quantity so I decide to write another posting about same topic which I called "Best Linux distro for SAPGUI for Java based client v2.0".

Right now, I am going to guide you about how to search linux distro and may I'll post another one. That's why I also gave part 1 on this posting headline :D
I'll re-post few words from my previous posting :

• Must be able to run SUN java runtime environment.
• Must have OpenOffice. The latest version will be better so you won't be bother with OO installation.
• Having remote desktop so IT Support can gave fast support.
• Fast linux distro installation would be great
• Better support and documentation. Paid support, community support or both of them would be better.
• Regular distro release
  

Also from this posting, I recommend Vector Linux 5.0 SOHO edition and Ubuntu.

I wan to update this posting information now. As you know that SUN finally has released Java code to be open source (although Sun own licensing) so almost all Linux distro has include SUN JRE on its release. Java license issue used to be major issue for major distro which only include GNU GPL-ed applications.

Linux distros also increasing from software quality and quantity. Ubuntu and OpenSuSE is most popular linux distro based on distrowatch view. Ubuntu derivatives such as Linux Mint gain greate popularity since it is include almost all linux user want such as restricted audio and video codec. Vector Linux also has done great job by releasing Vector Linux 5.9.1 SOHO edition. You'll get all application out of the box just in once installation.

For this moment, I recommend Linux Mint (the latest version is 5.0), Vector Linux (the latest version 5.9.1 SOHO edition), and OpenSuSE (the latest version is 11.0). All of this is the latest version when this review is written.

So, happy linux-ing your dekstop client and happy working with SAPGUI for Java

Multiple installations of DB2 9 with SAP on Linux and UNIX

Introduction to multiple DB2 copies on one system

Advantages of coexistence of multiple DB2 9 copies

With DB2 9, customers can install the DB2 software several times on the host machine and assign a SAP DB2 instance to different DB2 installations. Each installed DB2 software instance is fully functional on its own. In addition, every fix pak is provided as a full install image, so that you have the option to install it on top of a previous image or separately as a new image.

With this enhancement, customers can have different SAP applications running on different DB2 levels on the same host. For example, you can deploy and test an SAP application with a new fix pack and later roll over the production system to the new installation. It also provides an easy way to move back to previous fix levels. Every instance can be updated individually. You do not need to apply a fix pack to the earlier version and apply it to all the instances, although the old fashioned way is still supported.

For example, a customer has instances I1, I2, and I3. He installs the original version of DB2 9 and updates all instances accordingly. He then installs DB2 9 Fix Pack 1; he may choose to install it on top of the original version already installed or on a different path. He then updates instance I1 and I2 by pointing to the new path. Later, he installs DB2 9 Fix Pack 2 on a new path. At this point, he is also able to update all instances including I3 to Fix Pack 2 by pointing to the new path.

You can have both Version 8 and Version 9 installed on the same physical box as well as multiple fix pack levels of Version 9.

Changes from previous versions of DB2

There are a number of changes with this new feature:

• DB2 products cannot be queried with operating system utilities such as paged, rpm, smit, or sisal. Instead, a new command db2ls is used to keep track of DB2 software installed on the machine. It provides information about the location of DB2 products installed, including the version and the time it was installed.
  
  Example:
  

  %/opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01/install/db2ls Install Path Level FixPack Special Install Number Install Date ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--10--------20--------30--------40--------50--------60--------70--------80--------9| |-------- XML error: The previous line is longer than the max of 90 characters ---------| /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01 9.1.0.0 0 Tue Jul 11 14:28:33 2006 EDT |--10--------20--------30--------40--------50--------60--------70--------80--------9| |-------- XML error: The previous line is longer than the max of 90 characters ---------| /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_02 9.1.0.1 1 Thu Sep 7 16:52:14 2006 EDT |--10--------20--------30--------40--------50--------60--------70--------80--------9| |-------- XML error: The previous line is longer than the max of 90 characters ---------

  
  
• Users cannot uninstall DB2 software using native operating system utilities such as ramp or smit. To uninstall a DB2 product, run the db2_deinstall command, which is located under the install directory.
  
  Example:
  

  %/opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01/install/db2_deinstall -a

  
  The command above removes the DB2 product from the /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01 directory.
• Each DB2 system can have as many DB2 instances as required. However, the instance name must be unique across the system. The command db2ilist only lists the instances created under the same installation path where the command is running. Similarly, db2ilist db2icrt and db2idrop commands create or drop instances associated with the DB2 path that the command is running from.
• DB2 9 fix pack images are full installation images. You can use an image to run a fresh database installation, or apply a fix pack on top of an existing installation. The installation procedures described below applies to the original version of DB2 9 image as well as fix pack images. The only exception is that if the user uses the fix pack image to run a new installation, a try-and-buy license is installed. The user then needs to run db2licm a filename to add the license manually.

Installation

Before starting the installation, you should make sure that your operating system fulfills all prerequisites for the installation of DB2 9. For the most current list, see the System Requirements page.

If you require more detailed information on how to install DB2 software, refer to IBM documentation on the IBM Web site.

Notes:

• If you are running a DB2 partitioned database system on multiple physical nodes, you must install the database software on each database host in identical paths. For example, if instance1 is installed on server1 in the directory /opt/V9install, then it should also be in the directory /opt/V9install on server2, server3, and so on.
• If the SAP central instance or dialog instance is not running on the database server, you will need to install the DB2 Client software on the central or dialog instance machine. The procedure is the same, but you should make sure that you select only DB2 Client as the product to be installed. It is considered best practice to keep the central and dialog instances on the same DB2 level.

Installation path

If you do not provide a specific path during the installation, DB2 will be installed on the default path as follows (the directory will be created):

• /opt/IBM/db2/V9.1 for AIX, HP-UX, Solaris operating systems
• /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1 for Linux operating system

If the default installation path is already in use, the path has _xx added to it, where _xx are digits, starting at 01 and increasing depending on how many DB2 copies you have installed.

For example, the first copy of DB2 is installed on /opt/IBM/db2/V9.1, the second copy is installed on /opt/IBM/db2/V9.1_01.

Alternatively, you can choose a path during DB2 installation, and DB2 will be installed to any valid path you provide. There are some restrictions about the installation path:

• The path has to be absolutely empty. If the path doesn't exist, DB2 installer creates it during installation. If the path already exists, you need to make sure that it doesn't contain any files or subdirectories.
• The path name cannot contain any space. For example, /opt/IBM/db2/db2 v9 is not allowed.
• The maximum length of the installation path supported is 108 bytes on AIX and 105 bytes on HPPA. For all the other platforms, the name of the installation path cannot be more than 128 characters. If the path is a link, the real path it links to should also follow this length limit.

Install DB2 using the DB2 Setup wizard

To install DB2 using DB2 Setup, follow these instructions:

1. Log on as a user with root authority and make sure the DISPLAY variable is set correctly.

2. Mount the database DVD and issue the command.
   
   

   % //ESE/disk1/db2setup.

   
   

   The following welcome page is displayed.

   
   
   Figure 1. Welcome screen
   
   
   

3. Click Installation Prerequisites, and review your setting to confirm all requirements are met.

4. Choose Install a Product from the left panel, and click Install New under DB2 Enterprise Server Edition.

   If you are installing the client only, choose Install New under the DB2 Client menu.

   
   
   Figure 2. Launchpad screen
   
   
   

5. Follow the installation wizard by clicking Next and accepting the license agreement.

6. It is recommended to choose Typical for the installation type, unless there are specific actions the user needs to perform. More details about each installation type are displayed on the same screen.

   
   
   Figure 3. Installation type
   
   
   

7. You can choose to save your action in a response file for future use or just run the installation or both on the following screen.

   
   
   Figure 4. Installation options
   
   
   

8. At this point, you will be asked for the installation directory. Enter your preferred installation directory, or leave it to the default.

   
   
   Figure 5. Installation directory screen
   
   
   

9. On the following screen, choose Do not create a DB2 instance.

   
   
   Figure 6. DB2 instance screen
   
   
   

10. The following screen displays a summary page, review the contents and click Finish to start the DB2 installation.

    
    
    Figure 7. Summary screen
    
    
    

11. During the installation, a task bar is displayed showing the progress of the installation.

    
    
    Figure 8. Installation progress screen
    
    
    

12. Once the setup has completed, choose Finish to exit the installation panel. You may also review the log file for more details on the installation steps.

    
    
    Figure 9. Setup complete
    
    
    

Install DB2 using the db2_install script

The db2_install script installs all components for the DB2 product you specify with the English interface support. It does not perform user and group creation, instance creation, or configuration. To start an installation using db2_install, follow these steps:

1. Log on as a user with root authority.

2. Insert and mount the appropriate DVD or access the file system where the installation image was stored.

3. Change directory to /ese/disk1.

4. Run the following command:
   
   

   %./db2_install -b DB2DIR -p productName

   
   
   Where DB2DIR is the path where you want to install the DB2 product and productName is the name of the product you would like to install. You may choose ESE for the full Enterprise Server Edition or choose the client or runtime client edition.

5. You may choose not to provide any parameters with the db2_install command, in which case you are prompted for the product name and the installation path. You can run the command db2_install -h for detailed usage information. The installation log file is found in the /tmp directory, if you do not specify the log path using the -l option.

   
   
   Example 1
   

   /db2install/V9/ese/disk1 #./db2_install Default directory for installation of products - /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1 *********************************************************** Do you want to choose a different directory to install [yes/no] yes Enter full path name for the install directory - ------------------------------------------------ /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01 Specify one or more of the following keywords, separated by spaces, to install DB2 products. CLIENT RTCL ESE Enter "help" to redisplay product names. Enter "quit" to exit. *********************************************************** ESE DB2 installation is being initialized. Total number of tasks to be performed: 39 Total estimated time for all tasks to be performed: 853

   
   

Install DB2 using a response file

A response file is a text file that contains setup and configuration values. The file is read by the DB2 setup program and the installation is performed according to the values that have been specified. You can create the response file using the db2setup wizard or modifying the sample response file. The following is an example of a response file. A new keyword FILE is used to specify the installation directory.

Example 2

************** PROD=ENTERPRISE_SERVER_EDITION FILE=/opt/ibm/db2/v9.1_01 LIC_AGREEMENT=ACCEPT INSTALL_TYPE=TYPICAL LANG=EN CONFIG_ONLY=NO ********************

Once the response file is ready, you can run the db2setup command with the -u option, as follows:

1. Log on as a user with root authority.

2. Change directory to //ese/disk1.

3. Run the following command:
   
   

   % ./db2setup -u /ese.rsp -l /install.log

   
   You will see the following output:
   
   

   DBI1191I db2setup is installing and configuring DB2 according to the response file provided. Please wait. The execution completed successfully. For more information see the DB2 installation log at "/install.log".

   
   

Apply fix packs

To apply a fix pack on an existing DB2 installation, you should run InstallFixPak -b command and provide the base installation path. Note that the installFixPak command can only update one DB2 copy at a time.

To apply a fix pack, use the following steps:

1. Log on as a user with root authority.

2. Make sure that all DB2 instances associated with the DB2 copy are stopped. Otherwise, the installFixPak command will fail. The commands db2ilist and db2stop can be used to verify that.

3. Change the directory to //ese/disk.

4. Run the command:
   
   

   %./installFixPack -b

   
   
5. Update the instances by running the command db2iupdt for all the instances under the installation directory.

6. As instance owner (db2), bind packages as described in the SAP documentation.
   
   Example 3
   

   /db2install/V9/ese/disk1#./installFixPack -b /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01 DBI1017I installFixPack is updating the DB2 product(s) installed in location /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01. /db2install/V9/ese/disk1# cd /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01/instance /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1/instance # ./db2ilist db2lp1 /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1/instance #./db2iupdt db2lp1 DBI1070I Program db2iupdt completed successfully.

   
   

SAP installation with DB2 9

1. Get the latest installation DVDs

Before installing any SAP application, make sure that you have the latest SAP installation DVDs that support DB2 9 installation.

• If you are installing on basis SAP NetWeaver 7.0, use the installation package for Service Release 1 (SR1) or later.
• For older releases, you can use the "6.20/6.40 Installation Master (Edition Sept. 2006)" DVD. There is also a backport for R3SETUP to support V8 or V9 installations. You can find more information from SAP OSS Note 969660 and Note 928727 .

2. Install SAP applications

Follow the installation document for your SAP release to start the SAP installation. During the installation, you will have the option to specify the path where you have installed the DB2 software image. You can use the new Browse button to search for the path.

Figure 10. Browse option

In the above example, the SAP installer creates the database instance with the DB2 image installed at /opt/ibm/db2/v9.1.

Update a SAP database instance

With support for multiple DB2 software installations, you can choose one of the following two ways to update their SAP database instance:

1. Applying a fix pack to the existing DB2 software, and updating all instances under the installation path.

2. Installing DB2 to a new location, and moving the DB2 instance from the old install path to the new install path. The DB2 level at the new location can be of different fix pack levels or the same level.

1. Update the instance by applying fix packs to the current installation path

This is the traditional way to update database instances, and the procedure for this is the same as DB2 V8:

1. As adm, stop all SAP processes by running the stopsap command.

2. As instance owner, run the following to stop all DB2 processes.
   1. db2 force applications all

   2. db2 terminate

   3. db2stop

   4. db2licd end

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for all DB2 instances.

4. Log on as a user with root authority, and install the fix pack choosing the methods described in the Installation section.

5. Update all instances using the db2iupdt command.

6. As the DB2 instance owner, perform the post instance update steps as described in the SAP documentation.

2. Update the instance by moving the instance to a different DB2 copy

You can move a DB2 instance associated with one DB2 copy to another by running the db2iupdt command. This provides a fast way to update an instance to a different fix pack level without affecting other instances. The target DB2 copy can be of the same fix pack level or different level of the original DB2 copy.

The following is the procedures to move a DB2 9 instance between different DB2 software copies.

1. Login as user adm, stop your SAP system and the DB2 instance. Make sure there is no process running for this instance.

2. As a user with root authority, run the db2iupdt command from the directory where you want to move your instance to. The db2iupdt command is located under /instance.
   
   Example 4
   

   # db2ls Install Path Level Fix Pack Special Install Number Install Date -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01 9.1.0.0 0 Tue Jul 11 14:28:33 2006 EDT /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_02 9.1.0.1 1 on Sep 25 21:26:42 2006 EDT --This shows that there are two copies installed on the system. # /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01/instance/db2ilist db2lp1 db2lp2 --Two instances are associated with DB2 under path /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01. # /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_02/instance/db2iupdt db2lp1 DBI1070I Program db2iupdt completed successfully. --This command updates instance db2lp1 from install path /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01 to /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_02. # /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_01/instance/db2ilist db2lp2 # /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_02/instance/db2ilist db2lp1 --db2ilist now shows instance db2lp1 is now switched to the DB2 copy at path /opt/ibm/db2/V9.1_02.

   
   
3. It is recommended to update the application server instance to be at the same level as the database server instance if your application server is on a different host.

4. As instance owner (db2), bind packages as described in the SAP documentation.

5. Login as adm, and start your SAP application.

Notes:

• If the target DB2 copy is at a lower level than the original DB2 copy, run the db2iupdt code with the -D option.
• The db2iupdt command only applies to DB2 instances of the same version. If you want to migrate a DB2 Version 8 instance to a DB2 9 instance, follow the instructions in the "SAP DB2 Migration Guide." This guide is available in an attachment to OSS Note 930487 as well as on the DB2 9 DVD.

Uninstall

After dropping or moving all the instances to different DB2 copies, you can issue the db2_deinstall command to uninstall DB2. It is not allowed to uninstall DB2 when you still have instances defined with this copy.

The db2_deinstall command is located under DB2DIR/install, and it uninstalls DB2 products that are in the same installation path as the db2_deinstall tool.

Example 5

%/opt/ibm/db2_v91/install # ./db2_deinstall -a DBI1016I Program db2_deinstall is performing uninstallation. Please wait. The execution completed successfully. For more information see the DB2 installation log "/tmp/db2_deinstall.log.24556".

Appendix: Important SAP OSS notes

Please check the following OSS notes for the latest updates on installation:

• 969660 -- 6.20/6.40 Patch Collection Installation : Unix
• 928727 -- DB6: SAP System Inst. with EXT Kernel on UNIX
• 930487 -- DB6: Using DB2 9 with SAP Software
• 8999322 -- DB6: DB2 9 Standard Parameter Settings
• 101809 -- DB6: Supported Fix Packs for DB2 UDB for UNIX and Windows

Conclusion

In this article, you have learned how to install multiple copies of a version of DB2 on a single machine, a new capability in DB2 9. In addition, you've seen how to update the SAP database instance, and how to uninstall, should that become necessary.

This article taken from http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/db2/library/techarticle/dm-0704nesiem/index.html

SAP on Linux Homepage

SAP has provided a dedicated website for Linux and Linux community interact with SAP. SAP also provide tips and tricks, partner link that has been working using SAP on Linux, some Linux 3rd party such as backup and restore software, system monitoring, output management, etc.

You can access SAP on Linux on http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/linux. You can create new user to logon. It's absolutly free. All you need is just an email address. SAP partner such as IBM, HP, Fujitsu, Redhat, Novell also have a link here. You can share your opinion, share your knowledge, helping other user, etc on those website.

You can also download some SAP on Linux Evaluation software such as Technology Preview SAP NetWeaver 04s - SAP Web Application Server on Linux and MaxDB / DB2, Technology Preview SAP NetWeaver 04 - SAP Web Application Server on Linux and MaxDB, etc. You can download them after you have registered yourself.

This website is part of SAP Developer Network which all SAP customer and partner interact with SAP. So SAP on Linux also available for other user including SAP on Windows, SAP on UNIX, SAP on SQL Server, SAP on DB2, SAP on Oracle, etc.

I hope you enjoy it.

Linux distro supported by SAP

Currently SAP has support Linux as well as other OS such as IBM AIX, HP HP-UX, SUN Solaris, and Microsoft Windows. You can install SAP R/3 server on hardware that running Linux. SAP try to do their best to support Linux. However, to minimize confuseness and standardization, SAP only support some of Linux distro. Linux distro which has been supported by SAP are Redhat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SuSE Enterprise Linux Server (SLES).

From all of Linux distro that Redhat and Novell has, this list give you explanation about which version :

Novell / SUSE:

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for x86, x86_64, IPF, IBM iSeries, IBM pSeries and IBM zSeries
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 for x86, x86_64, IPF, IBM iSeries, IBM pSeries and IBM zSeries
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for x86, IPF and IBM zSeries (out of maintenance)
• SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for IA32 and IBM zSeries (out of maintenance)
• SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for IA32 (out of maintenance)

Red Hat:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 for x86, x86_64, IPF, IBM iSeries, IBM pSeries and IBM zSeries
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 for x86, x86_64, IPF, IBM iSeries and IBM pSeries
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 for x86 and IPF
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 for x86
• Red Hat Linux 7.1 Professional (out of maintenance)
• Red Hat Linux 6.2 (out of maintenance)
• Red Hat Linux 6.1 Enterprise Version 1.0 (out of maintenance)

Other Linux distro maybe unofficially supported but that's fine. Distro like CentOS, Startcom can be used because they are RHEL compatible. Popular and famous distro like Debian, Ubuntu still not supported yet. But still, you can try it on development system.

I have already test RHEL 4 and SLES 9 as SAP R/3 server. It has great performance and stable. So, try it out., guys.

What is Linux ?

Linux is operating system created by Linus Torvalds in 1991. It's UNIX like. Currently, Linux was used on almost all type of hardware starting from huge and sophisticated mainframe, server, desktop PC, notebook until tiny cellular phone.

Linux is just another Unix operating system. People like its technical quality, performance, stability (despite the development speed), the wide range of software, worldwide support, comprehensive and easy-to-read documentation, clean design and user-friendly desktops. It's just fun to work with. But the main reason Linux became so popular is: it is Open Source! Basically, the rules of the game are: f

• all users have the right to redistribute the software
• the source code is available to all users
• any publicly distributed modifications/enhancements to Open Source products must be Open Source as well

The development method differs from conventional methods, but there is no difference from the user's perspective; Open Source products have well defined release numbers, and companies offer professional support (which they charge for!)