DB2 Archived Log Compression

Question: Can I compress DB2 LUW archived logs? How can I configure a DB2 database to apply compression to the archived logs automatically?

Answer: It is possible to configure a DB2 LUW database to compress Archived Logs. The two primary database configurables are to use Primary log archive compression (logarchcompr1)  and secondary log archive compression (logarchcompr2).

By simply changing the default value of NO to YES , does not automatically mean there will be archival logging compression.

LOGARCHMETH1 must be set to either DISK, TSM, or VENDOR. If these values are not used there will be no compression of archivedlog files

Some other ideas to explore include compressed tables . Compressed tables will pass compressed record images to the transaction logs , which makes the log files smaller.

Note: Often managing DB2 LUW transaction logs can lead to space issue , generating alerts for full disk. It can be tempting to compress active logs, BE CAREFUL . If you’re lucky it may only negatively impact backups – but it’s always possible your database may become unusable. If someone accidentally compresses an active log file – and your ONLINE backup is failing , take an OFFLINE as soon as possible.

Notes on DB2 LUW archive log and BACKUP command

Troubleshooting DB2 Return Codes, failed to archive log and SQLUV_INIT_FAILED