Searching knowledge bases

You can often find solutions to problems by searching IBM knowledge bases. You can optimize your results by using available resources, support tools, and search methods.

About this task

When you need to look beyond the Knowledge Center to answer your questions or resolve problems, you can search the knowledge bases.

Procedure

To search knowledge bases for information that you need, use one or more of the following approaches:

  • Search for content by using the IBM® Support Assistant.

    The IBM Support Assistant is a free, stand-alone serviceability workbench to help you with problem determination. IBM Support Assistant, using product-specific add-ons, provides a central location to learn more about products, gather data for troubleshooting problems, and manage problem submissions.

  • Find the content that you need by using the IBM Support Portal.

    The IBM Support Portal is a unified, centralized view of all technical support tools and information for all IBM systems, software, and services. The IBM Support Portal lets you access the IBM electronic support portfolio from one place. You can tailor the pages to focus on the information and resources that you need for problem prevention and faster problem resolution.

  • Search the following resources:
  • Search for content by using the IBM masthead search.
    Enter your search string into the Search field at the top of any ibm.com® page.
  • Search for content by using any external search engine, such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing.
    If you use an external search engine, your results are more likely to include information that is outside the ibm.com domain. However, sometimes you can find useful problem-solving information about IBM products in newsgroups, forums, and blogs that are not on ibm.com.
    Tip: Include IBM and the name of the product in your search if you are looking for information about an IBM product.