Setting up client installation from a network file server

DB2 OLAP Server Version 8.1 offers your enterprise the option of installing the client components from a shared network file server. The alternative is to install the clients locally, one at a time, directly from the CD.

Installing clients over a network has the following advantages over locally installed clients:

Although network clients offer the same function as locally installed clients, there are important difference between them:

Locally installed clients
Locally installed clients are installed directly from the CD. They include all the client executable files. The installation program adds Start menu shortcuts, updates the Windows registry, and updates environment variables. Because client operations are completely local and do not load or interpret code over a network, local clients might offer better performance than network clients.
Network clients
Network clients are installed from a file server. They do not include any executable files, and therefore take up less room and store fewer files than locally installed clients. The installation program adds Start menu shortcuts, updates the Windows registry, and updates environment variables. Network clients all use the same language and connect to the server using the same network protocol.

The network client feature installs clients of DB2 OLAP Server and DB2 OLAP Integration Server. OLAP Miner clients are not enabled for network installation; they must be installed directly from the CD.

There are two major steps in setting up a network installation, and they are performed by two different users:

  1. The system administrator runs the DB2 OLAP Server installation program to load the client image onto the file server. The computer from which the system administrator does this is called the image owner computer. The client image consists of executable files plus a second installation program that your network client users can run to install the network clients. See Loading the client image onto the network.
  2. The network client users install the network clients by running run the second installation program. See Installing the clients from the network.

Loading the client image onto the network

The instructions in this section are intended for the system administrator, who loads the common client image onto the network.

Before you begin, you need to designate one client computer as the client image owner, and decide which user ID you will use to load the client image:

To load the client image onto the network:

  1. Connect to the file server. Whatever drive letter you assign will be the same drive letter that the network client users must use when they connect to the file server. For example, if you designate the file server as the p: drive, the network client users have to connect the file server as their p: drive.
  2. Insert the DB2 OLAP Server CD into the CD drive on the computer that you designate as the client image owner computer. If the installation program does not start automatically, run the setup.exe file in the \Win32 directory of the CD.
  3. On the IBM DB2 OLAP Server Setup panel, click Next.
  4. On the Software License Agreement panel, read the licence terms. If you accept them, click Accept.
  5. On the Select Installation Options screen, select Client. A box called Store executables on network appears. Click it and then click Next.
  6. On the Select Options Purchased panel, select the optional features your enterprise has purchased and click Next.
  7. On the Choose Destination Location screen, select the drive letter of the file server from the Drive box.
  8. In the Directory field, either accept the default value or click Browse to select a different path name. Click Next.
  9. On the Select Installation Type panel, select either Typical, Compact, or Custom. It is recommend that you select Custom so you can select which online books are installed with the network client. If you choose Typical or Compact, the installation program only installs a small subset of the documentation. Click Next.

    If you selected Custom, the Select Components panel appears. Open the Client and Server Documentation item in the tree view and select the documentation you want to make available to the network client users. It is recommended that you select all the documentation the network client users will need. Click Next.

  10. On the OLAP User Information panel, enter the user ID and password of the super user, which is the user ID that you use to connect the client image owner computer to the file server. This user ID must have administrator authority and read/write privileges on the file server. Click Next.
  11. On the Select Folder panel, either accept the default name of the folder or enter a new one. Click Next.
  12. On the Start Copying Files panel, click Next. The network client image is copied to the file server.

The next step is to inform the network client users how they can install the network clients. They need the following information:

The next section, Installing the clients from the network, describes how this information is used when installing the network clients.

Installing the clients from the network

The instructions in this section are intended for the network client user, who installs the DB2 OLAP Server clients from the file server. The examples in this section assume the system administrator installed the network client image on the p: disk and accepted the default value for the installation directory (p:\ibm\db2olap).

If you already installed DB2 OLAP Server directly from a CD, you cannot run this installation program.

Before you begin, you need the following information from your system administrator:

To install the clients from the network:

  1. Connect to the file server where the system administrator loaded the client image package. Assign the same drive letter to the file server that the system administrator used. You must always use the same drive letter when you connect to the file server, to the OLAP clients will not work.
  2. Change directories to the location of the installation program, such as the p:\ibm\db2olap\install\ directory.
  3. Run the netinst.exe command to start the the installation program.
  4. On the Location to Save Files panel, select the directory where you want to install the OLAP clients and click Next.
  5. On the OLAP Network Installation panel, click Next.
  6. On the Choose Destination Location panel, enter the path from which you are installing the OLAP clients. It is the same as the location of the netinst.exe command.
  7. On the OLAP Network Installation Language Selection screen, select the language that your administrator supplies to you.
  8. On the Start Copying Files panel, click Next. After the installation program completes, reboot your computer.

Whenever you connect to the file server to use the OLAP clients, use the same drive letter you used when you installed them.

The installation program creates a log file called olap81cli.log that contains information about the components installed.

To uninstall the clients, the run netinst.exe again and select the Remove option. The program removes the shortcuts and updates to the Windows registry and environment variables on the client computer. Uninstalling the network clients from your client computer does not affect any files on the server or the image owner computer.

Maintaining the common clients

IBM FixPaks for DB2 OLAP Server can apply service upgrades to the client image stored on the file server.

The following steps describe how to to apply FixPaks for common clients:

  1. The system administrator logs on to the image owner computer.
  2. The system administrator connects to the file server using the same user ID under which the common client image was originally loaded onto the file server.
  3. The system administrator runs the FixPak installation program.
  4. The network client users connect to the file server and run the updated netinst.exe file to apply the FixPak to their computers. If there are new client products in the client image, then they will be added to the user's computer. If clients were removed from the file server, then they will be removed from the user's computer.

If the image owner computer crashes or is removed from the system, the network client users can continue running the clients. However, the system administrator cannot apply FixPaks without first taking the following steps:

  1. Designate a new client image owner computer.
  2. Remove the common client image from the file server.
  3. Reinstall the original network client image from the new client image owner computer.
  4. Apply the FixPak as described in this section.