Contacting IBM Support

IBM Support provides assistance with product defects, answers FAQs, and helps users resolve problems with the product.

After trying to find your answer or solution by using other self-help options such as technotes, you can contact IBM Support. Before contacting IBM Support, your company or organization must have an active IBM software maintenance agreement (SWMA), and you must be authorized to submit problems to IBM. For information about the types of available software support, see the Support portfolio topic in the "Software Support Handbook".

To determine what versions of the product are supported, refer to the Software lifecycle page.

To contact IBM Support about a problem:

Define the problem, gather background information, and determine the severity of the problem. For software support information, see the Getting IBM support topic in the Software Support Handbook.
Gather diagnostic information.
Submit the problem to IBM Support in one of the following ways:
- Using IBM Support Assistant (ISA):
- Online through the IBM Support Portal: You can open, update, and view all of your service requests on the Service Request page.
- By phone: For the phone number to call in your region, see the Directory of worldwide contacts web page.

If the problem that you submit is for a software defect or for missing or inaccurate documentation, IBM Support creates an Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR). The APAR describes the problem in detail. Whenever possible, IBM Support provides a workaround that you can implement until the APAR is resolved and a fix is delivered. IBM publishes resolved APARs on the IBM Support website daily, so that other users who experience the same problem can benefit from the same resolution.