Dropping instances

There could be situations when it is necessary to drop an instance. An instance might be dropped by using the db2idrop command.

Getting ready

In this recipe, we will drop the instance db2inst2, created previously.

How to do it...

1. The command for dropping an instance is db2idrop. You have to be user root to drop an instance. First, we need to ensure that the instance is not active. If the instance has active connections and it is active, the db2idrop command fails.

2. Stop the instance by force:

   	[db2inst2@nodedb21 ~]$ db2stop force
   	07/12/2011 16:38:27     0   0   SQL1064N  DB2STOP processing was successful.
   	SQL1064N  DB2STOP processing was successful.
   	[db2inst2@nodedb21 ~]$
   

   Note

   If the instance hangs for some reason, the db2_kill command might be used. It will bring down the instance abruptly. However, be careful running this, because your databases running under this instance remain in an inconsistent mode.

3. As the user root, issue the following command to drop db2inst2:

   	[root@nodedb21 ~]# /opt/ibm/db2/V9.7/instance/db2idrop db2inst2
   	DBI1070I  Program db2idrop completed successfully.
   

How it works...

On Linux and Unix, db2idrop actually deletes the sqllib directory from the instance owner home. Therefore, it is recommended to save anything you have placed in this directory such as UDFs or external programs.

On Windows, db2idrop removes the service associated with the instance.

There's more…

As a best practice, before the instance is dropped, it is recommended to save the information related to that instance in a server profile file. In case you plan to recreate the instance and configure it as before, you can simply import the server profile after the instance is created again.

To export the instance profile, use Control Center | Tools | Configuration assistant | Export profile | Customize.

In the Export tab, you have plenty of options to export; choose anything you consider worth being saved.