If the self-help resources have not provided a resolution
to your problem, you can contact IBM® Software
Support. IBM Software Support
provides assistance in resolving product issues.
Before you begin
Prerequisites
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 in Passport Advantage from
http://www.ibm.com/software/lotus/passportadvantage/howtoenroll.html
To submit your problem
online (from the IBM website) to IBM Software
Support, you must additionally:
- 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 need to 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 describing 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 recreate the problem? If so, what steps do you perform
to recreate the problem?
- Did you make any changes to the system? For example, did you make changes to
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: Go to the IBM Rational® Software Support website
at https://www.ibm.com/software/rational/support/ and in the Rational support task navigator, click Open
Service Request. Select the electronic problem reporting tool,
and open a Problem Management Record (PMR), describing the problem
accurately in your own words.
Note: - For more information about opening a service request, go to http://www.ibm.com/software/support/help.html
- You can also open an online service request using the IBM Support Assistant. For more
information, see Using the IBM Support
Assistant to open a service request
- By phone: For the phone number to call in your country
or region, go to the IBM directory
of worldwide contacts at http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/ 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 http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/.
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.