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.
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 Web site)
to IBM Software
Support, you must additionally:
- Be a registered user on the IBM Support Web site. For details about
registering, see Registering on the IBM Software Support Web site.
- Be listed as an authorized caller in the service request tool.
To submit your problem to IBM Software Support:
- 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 Web site
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/.
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
Web site daily, so that other users who experience the same problem can benefit
from the same resolution.