DB2 10.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows

Considerations for Windows7: User Access Control feature

The User Access Control (UAC) feature of Windows 7 impacts the DB2® database system in the following ways.

Starting applications with full administrative privileges

On Windows 7, by default, applications start with only standard user rights, even if the user is a local administrator. To start an application with further privileges, you need to launch the command from a command window that is running with full administrative privileges. The DB2 installation process creates a shortcut called "Command window - Administrator" specifically for Windows 7 users. It is recommended that you launch this shortcut if you want to run administrative commands.

If you do not have full administrative privileges and you attempt to perform DB2 administration tasks from a command prompt or graphical tool on Windows 7, you can encounter various error messages implying that your access is denied and the tasks will fail to complete successfully.

To determine whether the action you are performing is considered to be an administration task, check whether any of the following are true:
  • It requires SYSADM, SYSCTRL or SYSMAINT authority
  • It modifies registry keys under the HKLM branch in the registry
  • It writes to the directories under the Program Files directory
For example, the following actions are all considered to be administration tasks:
  • Creating and dropping DB2 instances
  • Starting and stopping DB2 instances
  • Creating databases
  • Updating database manager configuration parameters or DB2 Administration Server (DAS) configuration parameters
  • Updating CLI configuration parameters and configuring system data source names (DSN)
  • Starting the DB2 trace facility
  • Running the db2pd utility
  • Changing DB2 profile registry variables

To resolve the problem, you must perform DB2 administration tasks from a command prompt or graphical tool that is running with full administrator privileges. To launch a command prompt or graphical tool with full administrator privileges, right-click on the shortcut and then select Run as administrator.

Note: If extended security is enabled, you also need to be a member of the DB2ADMNS group in order to launch the graphical administration tools (such as the IBM® Data Studio).

User data location

User data (for example, files under instance directories) is stored in ProgramData\IBM\DB2\copy_name, where copy_name is the name of the DB2 copy (by default, DB2COPY1 is the name of the first copy installed). On Windows versions other than Windows 7, user data is stored in Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\IBM\DB2\copy_name.