DB2 OLAP Server Installation Guide

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:

• The users in your enterprise can all use the same level of client.
• You can deploy clients to larger numbers of users at the same time, which is often faster than passing a CD from user to user.
• You can apply FixPaks to the common client code and have your users upgrade together.
• The network clients take up less disk space than 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 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:

• The image owner computer should not be one that is likely to be removed from the system. If the image owner computer crashes or is removed from the system, the network client users can continue running the clients, but the system administrator must take extra steps to apply FixPaks. See Maintaining the common clients for more information.
• The user ID with which the image owner computer accesses the file server must have administrator authority and read/write privileges on the file server.

You can have the server components on the same file server as the common client image as long as they are not installed in the same directory.

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 drive letter that you selected when loading the client image onto the file server. The network client users must select the same drive letter when they connect to the file server.
• The directory on the file server that contains the installation program for the network clients.
• The path of the OLAP server components. The path is set in the ARBORPATH variable.

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 for installing clients from the network are in the netinst.htm file, which is in the same directory as the client image installation file. Ensure your users can access these directions.

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.