Understanding More About Audit Of Db2

by Levi Brereton Data Sunrise

There is no doubt that having the right UDB auditing facility is important for your DB2 setup. It helps a lot in generating and permitting the DBA to have the right kind of audit trail for events that are pre-planned and which happen in the database. It could store and give an audit trail of a large number of events. This could range from login details, checking on authorization of transactions and events, maintaining of database object, security maintenance validation of user IDs and also various types of system administration tasks. There are many such tools available but at the end of the day you must know how to make use of this. We will try and find out ways and means as to how this could be made possible so that we are able to get the best out of DB2 audit.

Understanding The Science Behind It

You must have some brief idea about the way in which such auditing takes place. First and foremost you must be clear that it happens at the instance level. In other words when the auditing process using the DB2 audit tool gets activated, audit is done for all the databases that are up and working in that instant. Further we must also understand that the audit process and facilities must be started and stopped using separate commands. There is a different between using db2stop command and using db2audit stop command. Both have different meanings and connotations and you must be aware of the same. Further you also must know that users who have SYSADM authority will also be in a position to not only configure but they also will be able to use the audit facility.

Understand Some Bit Of Db2 Architecture

There also is the need to have some basic understanding about the server the DB2 database and only then will you be able to find out how the audit facility operates. The audit facility is operated as mentioned above in the instant level and it services all the databases in one instance. There is a configuration file that is made us of when it comes to setting the auditing options. As and when the facility gets started the audit records are generated and the records are written into a buffer area and then the same are copied into an audit file. Once they are copied they continue to remain as a permanent source of information.