Contacting IBM Software Support
IBM® Software Support assists with product defects.
About this task
Before you contact IBM Software Support, you must ensure
that your company has an active IBM software subscription and
support contract, and that you are authorized to submit problems to IBM. The type of software subscription and support contract that you need depends on the type
of product that you have:
- For IBM distributed software products (including, but not
limited to, Tivoli®, Lotus®, and Rational® products, DB2® and WebSphere® products
that run on Windows or UNIX
operating systems). Enroll in Passport Advantage® in one of the following ways:
- Online: Go to the Passport Advantage website and click How to Enroll.
- By telephone: For the telephone number to call in your country, go to the IBM Support Guide, click Directory of Worldwide contacts, and then click the link for your country and use the phone number that is listed in the Technical Support section on the page.
- You can get answers from IBM Support from the information available through our cognitive support solutions, including live chat with support and asking a question or providing an answer in the discussion forums. For more information about options for getting answers, see the Help yourself section of the IBM Support Guide.
- You can open a case from the web, chat, or phone. IBM Support strives to provide services in local language for most countries. For more information about opening cases, see the Open a case section of IBM Support Guide.
Complete the following steps to contact IBM Software Support:
Procedure
Determine the effect of the problem on your business
About this task
When you report a problem to IBM, you are asked to supply a
severity level. Therefore, you need to understand and assess the effect on your business of the
problem that you are reporting. Use the following criteria:
Describe your problem and gather background information
About this task
When you are explaining a problem to IBM, be as specific as possible. Include all
relevant background information so that IBM Software
Support specialists can help you to solve the problem efficiently.
To save time, know the answers to these questions:
- What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
- Do you have logs, traces, and messages that are related to the problem symptoms? IBM Software Support is likely to ask for this information.
- Can the problem be re-created? If so, what steps led to the failure?
- Have you changed the system? (For example, changes to hardware, operating system, networking software.)
- Are you currently using a workaround for this problem? If so, be prepared to explain it when you report the problem.
- The aceDataCollector command can be used to collect diagnostic information. For more information, see aceDataCollector command.
Submit your problem to IBM Software Support
About this task
You can submit your problem in the following ways:
- Online: Go to the IBM Support Guide and enter your information into the appropriate problem submission tool.
- By telephone: For the telephone number to call in your country, go to the IBM Support Guide, click Directory of Worldwide contacts, and then click the link for your country and use the phone number that is listed in the Technical Support section on the page.
If the problem that you submit is for a software defect or for missing or inaccurate documentation, IBM Software Support might create an Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR). The APAR describes the problem in detail. Whenever possible, IBM Software Support provides a workaround for you to implement until the APAR is resolved and a fix is delivered.
IBM publishes resolved APARs on the IBM product support web pages daily so that other users who experience the same problem can benefit from the same resolutions.