If the self-help resources do not provide a resolution
to your problem, you can contact IBM® Software
Support. IBM Software Support
assists in resolving product issues.
Before you begin
To submit your problem to IBM Software
Support, you must have an active Passport Advantage® software maintenance
agreement. Passport
Advantage is the IBM comprehensive
software licensing and software maintenance (product upgrades and
technical support) offering. You can enroll online on the
Passport Advantage website.
- To learn more about Passport
Advantage, see the Passport Advantage FAQs.
- For further assistance, contact your IBM representative.
To submit your problem online (from the IBM website) to IBM Software
Support:
- Be a registered user on the IBM Support
website. For details about registering, see Registering on the IBM Software Support website.
- Be listed as an authorized caller in the service request tool.
Procedure
- Determine the business impact of your problem. When
you report a problem to IBM,
you are asked to supply a severity level. Therefore, you must understand
and assess the business impact of the problem that you are reporting.
Option |
Description |
Severity 1 |
The problem has a critical business impact: You
are unable to use the program, resulting in a critical impact on operations.
This condition requires an immediate solution. |
Severity 2 |
This problem has a significant business impact:
The program is usable, but it is severely limited. |
Severity 3 |
The problem has some business impact: The program
is usable, but less significant features (not critical to operations)
are unavailable. |
Severity 4 |
The problem has minimal business impact: The
problem causes little impact on operations or a reasonable circumvention
to the problem was implemented. |
- Describe your problem and gather background information, When you describe a problem to IBM,
be as specific as possible. Include all relevant background information
so that IBM Software Support
specialists can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time,
know the answers to these questions:
- What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
To
determine the exact product name and version, use the option applicable
to you:
- Start the IBM Installation Manager and select . Expand a package group and select a package to see
the package name and version number.
- Start your product, and click to see the offering name
and version number.
- What is your operating system and version number (including any
service packs or patches)?
- Do you have logs, traces, and messages that are related to the
problem symptoms?
- Can you re-create the problem? If so, what steps do you complete
to re-create the problem?
- Did you change anything on the system? For example, did you change
the hardware, operating system, networking software, or other system
components?
- Are you currently using a workaround for the problem? If so, be
prepared to describe the workaround when you report the problem.
- Submit your problem to IBM Software
Support. You can submit your problem to IBM Software Support in the following ways:
- Online: You can report the problem by either:
- By phone: For the phone number to call in your country or
region, see the IBM Directory
of worldwide contacts and click the name of your country or
geographic region.
- Through your IBM Representative:
If you cannot access IBM Software
Support online or by phone, contact your IBM Representative.
If necessary, your IBM Representative
can open a service request for you. You can find complete contact
information for each country at IBM Directory of worldwide contacts.
Results
If the problem you submit is for a software defect or for
missing or inaccurate documentation, IBM Software
Support creates an Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR). The
APAR describes the problem in detail. Whenever possible, IBM Software Support provides a workaround that
you can implement until the APAR is resolved and a fix is delivered. IBM publishes resolved APARs on
the Software Support website daily so that other users who experience
the same problem can benefit from the same resolution.