Db2 Tools New Features Summary - Level Set 20.0.20

[Cynthia Hamm]

Level Set 20.0.20 (LU20660) for the Database Management Solutions for Db2 for z/OS is now available. This Level Set PTF helps you identify your current level of maintenance and installed features. 

The following features in Level Set 20.0.20 do not require activation:

• Support for Db2 Function Level V13R1M509. This support ensures that the Database Management Solutions for Db2 run seamlessly on Db2 13 subsystems or data sharing groups with Db2 13 Function Level 509 activated.

• Db2 13 M507 Support for SYSTIME_PERIOD_ADJUST Built-in Global Variable. This enhancement ensures that the Database Management Solutions for Db2 successfully recognize the global variable in an SQL statement and do not treat it as a column name.

• DBM Data Service REST API SQL JDBC Enhancements. Transaction control and isolation level parameters are now supported on the SQL JDBC endpoint. You can use the endpoint to specify whether to commit or roll back changes on SQL execution. You can also specify the isolation level to use for SQL SELECT statements to balance data consistency with performance.

• Plan Analyzer Support for New Db2 13 M508 Scalar Functions. The SQL parser supports the new Db2 13 M508 built-in scalar functions that support generation and formatting of universally unique identifier (UUID) values. You can use these values to improve performance.

• RC/Migrator, RC/Compare, and RC/Update Support for Increased PRIQTY and SECQTY. You can now specify up to 1 TB for the primary space allocation quantity (PRIQTY) and up to 200 GB for the secondary space allocation quantity (SECQTY). Support for increased space allocation values was introduced in Db2 13 M507.

• RC/Query Support for Buffer Pools and Routines in GRANT Statements. You can now use the HGRANT line command to generate GRANT statements for buffer pools, user-defined functions, and stored procedures. The privileges help ensure proper authorization for specific tasks on your Db2 subsystems.

• Recovery Estimation Support for RTO Verification. The Recovery Estimator batch utility (RECOVER-TOOL ESTIMATE-RECOVERY) can now verify the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) when estimating recovery times for Db2 database objects.
  Database administrators (DBAs) can use the new RTO-OBJECT keyword to define a specific recovery time limit for individual objects. Recovery Estimator detects the objects whose estimated total recovery time exceeds the specified RTO limit, and reports these objects in the job output.
  This enhancement enables DBAs to demonstrate that the critical Db2 objects can be restored within a given timeframe, automatically identifying any assets that risk exceeding business-mandated RTOs. The timely detection of potential recovery risks allows organizations to refine their backup schedules and recovery strategies to maintain strict adherence to the business and regulatory requirements.

• SYSVIEW for Db2 Enhancements:

• Secure Distributed Connection Field Support. The accounting and statistics trace records for Db2 13 were enhanced to indicate whether a distributed connection is secured using AT-TLS or SSL. This information is relevant for Distributed Data Facility (DDF) threads and allows security administrators to take the appropriate action if a connection is not secure.

• OpenTelemetry Collector Support. A sample OpenTelemetry configuration file is now provided that you can modify to scrape metrics from the idb2/prometheus endpoint. You can then export the data to an open-source tool to explore, query, visualize, alert, and then take the appropriate action.

• History Logger Task Uses zIIP Processing. Timer task processing is now offloaded to the history logger task to improve performance. This change results in better distribution of the workload, ensuring that timed events occur without delays. You can also run the history logger task on a zIIP processor, resulting in the data collector requiring fewer CP cycles.

• Thread Termination/Dynamic DSNZPARM Removes Support for MXQBC. The MXQBC zParm has been removed by IBM in Db2 13 and is no longer displayed.  

For more information, see New Features in the Release Notes in the Database Management Solutions for Db2 for z/OS documentation.

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