IBM_DB_SA

The IBM_DB_SA adapter provides the Python/SQLAlchemy interface to IBM Data Servers.

Version

0.4.4 (2026/03/18)

Prerequisites

1. Install Python 3.8 or newer versions or Jython 2.7.x .
2. SQLAlchemy version between 0.7.3 - 2.0.x.
3. IBM_DB driver and IBM_DB_DBI wrapper 1.0.1 or higher.

   Install ibm_db driver with below commands:
	    Linux and Windows: 
	   	   pip install ibm_db
	    Mac:
		   pip install --no-cache-dir ibm_db

Install and Configuration

The IBM_DB_SA Python Egg component (.egg) can be installed using the standard setuptools provided by the Python Easy Install through Python Entreprise Application Kit community portal: http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall

Please follow the steps provided to Install "Easy Install" in the link above and follow up with these additional steps to install IBM_DB_SA:

1. To install IBM_DB_SA from pypi repository(pypi.python.org): Windows:

   pip install ibm_db_sa Linux/Unix: $ sudo pip install ibm_db_sa

2. To install IBM_DB_SA egg component from the downloaded .egg file Windows:

   easy_install ibm_db_sa-x.x.x-pyx.x.egg Linux/Unix: $ sudo easy_install ibm_db_sa-x.x.x-pyx.x.egg

3. To install IBM_DB_SA from source Standard Python setup should be used:: python setup.py install

4. In case you want to control the sqlalchemy version use the following commands

  Install SQLAlchemy supported version:
     pip install sqlalchemy==1.3.23
     pip install ibm_db_sa

5. IBM_DB_SA is now available as part of conda-forge channel. Install Instruction from conda-forge channel

  conda install -c conda-forge ibm_db
  conda install -c conda-forge ibm_db_sa

PLATFORMS SUPPORTED THROUGH CONDA FORGE

1. WINDOWS
2. MAC
4. LINUX

Connecting

A TCP/IP connection can be specified as the following::

	from sqlalchemy import create_engine

	e = create_engine("db2+ibm_db://user:pass@host[:port]/database")
	or
	e = create_engine("ibm_db_sa://user:pass@host[:port]/database")

For a local socket connection, exclude the "host" and "port" portions::

	from sqlalchemy import create_engine

	e = create_engine("db2+ibm_db://user:pass@/database")
	or
	e = create_engine("ibm_db_sa://user:pass@/database")

Logging in ibm_db_sa

The ibm_db_sa module provides built-in logging support to help debug SQLAlchemy dialect operations, connection handling, reflection, and SQL execution. Logging can be enabled using the ibmdbsa_log query parameter in the database connection URL.

Logging Configuration

Use the ibmdbsa_log parameter at the end of the connection URL. Possible values:

True        -> Enable logging to the console
"filename"  -> Enable logging to a file (file is overwritten on each run)
False       -> Disable logging

Examples

1. Enable Logging to a File (Current Directory)

Logs will be written to a file in the current working directory.

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
engine = create_engine(
   "ibm_db_sa://userID:Password@host:port/database?ibmdbsa_log=log_ibmdbsa.txt"
)

This will create the file:

log_ibmdbsa.txt

2. Enable Logging to a File (Specific Directory)

You can provide an absolute file path.

Windows example

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
engine = create_engine(
   "ibm_db_sa://userID:Password@host:port/database?ibmdbsa_log=C:\\Users\\Logs\\log_ibmdbsa.txt"
)

Linux / macOS example

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
engine = create_engine(
   "ibm_db_sa://userID:Password@host:port/database?ibmdbsa_log=/var/log/log_ibmdbsa.txt"
)

3. Enable Console Logging

Logs will be printed to the terminal or console.

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
engine = create_engine(
   "ibm_db_sa://userID:Password@host:port/database?ibmdbsa_log=True"
)

Using SQLAlchemy URL Object

Logging can also be configured using SQLAlchemy's URL object.

Log to File

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
from sqlalchemy.engine import URL
url_object = URL.create(
   drivername="ibm_db_sa",
   username="userID",
   password="Password",
   host="host",
   port=port,
   database="database",
   query={"ibmdbsa_log": "log_ibmdbsa.txt"},
)
engine = create_engine(url_object)

Log to Console

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
from sqlalchemy.engine import URL
url_object = URL.create(
   drivername="ibm_db_sa",
   username="userID",
   password="Password",
   host="host",
   port=port,
   database="database",
   query={"ibmdbsa_log": "True"},
)
engine = create_engine(url_object)

Notes

• Logging configuration is automatically detected when the SQLAlchemy engine is created.
• The ibmdbsa_log parameter is removed internally before the connection parameters are passed to the DBAPI driver.
• If logging is not specified, logging remains disabled by default.

Typical Use Cases

Logging can help diagnose:

• Connection issues
• SQL execution problems
• Reflection metadata queries
• Dialect initialization
• Performance troubleshooting

Supported Databases

• IBM DB2 Database for Linux/Unix/Windows versions 11.5 onwards
• IBM Db2 on Cloud
• IBM Db2 on ZOS
• IBM Db2 on Iseries

Note

By default, all tables and schemas stored in a Db2 database are created using capital letters only. However, if you have a table name in lowercase letters, you can still reference it by enclosing the name in single quotes inside double quotes. For example

	if users table is in small letter inside database
	So, you can use single quotes "'users'".
	If you will not use single quotes such as "users", it will
	be refered as "USERS".

	metadata = sqlalchemy.MetaData(schema="schema1")
	table = sqlalchemy.Table("'users'", metadata, autoload_with=engine)

Known Limitations in ibm_db_sa adapter for DB2 databases

1. Non-standard SQL queries are not supported. e.g. "SELECT ? FROM TAB1"
2. For updations involving primary/foreign key references, the entries should be made in correct order. Integrity check is always on and thus the primary keys referenced by the foreign keys in the referencing tables should always exist in the parent table.
3. Unique key which contains nullable column not supported
4. UPDATE CASCADE for foreign keys not supported
5. DEFERRABLE INITIALLY deferred not supported
6. Subquery in ON clause of LEFT OUTER JOIN not supported
7. PyODBC and Jython/zxjdbc support is experimental

Credits

ibm_db_sa for SQLAlchemy was first produced by IBM Inc., targeting version 0.4. The library was ported for version 0.6 and 0.7 by Jaimy Azle. Port for version 0.8 and modernization of test suite by Mike Bayer.

Contributing to IBM_DB_SA python project

See CONTRIBUTING <https://github.com/ibmdb/python-ibmdbsa/tree/master/ibm_db_sa/contributing/CONTRIBUTING.md>_.

The developer sign-off should include the reference to the DCO in remarks(example below):
DCO 1.1 Signed-off-by: Random J Developer <random@developer.org>