Configuring Informix Databases

This chapter describes how to configure your IBM Informix database for use with the Novell exteNd Application Server as a SilverMaster or deployment database. It includes these sections:

For more information For the latest information on supported database versions, see the Novell exteNd Application Server Release Notes.

Connecting to Informix databases

The Novell exteNd Application Server can access Informix databases through the Informix Type 4 JDBC driver. For supported versions, see the application server Release Notes. For details on drivers, see the IBM Informix Web site at www-3.ibm.com/software/data/informix/.

Follow the steps below to make an Informix database available to the application server:

Step 1: install the JDBC driver

Step 2: create the Informix database and dbspaces

Step 3: create the Informix user account

Step 4: add the driver path to AGCLASSPATH

Step 5: use the database with the application server

The sections that follow explain these steps.

Step 1: install the JDBC driver

You must be able to connect to the destination Informix server from the machine that will host the application server, so first install the Informix JDBC driver on that machine.

Step 2: create the Informix database and dbspaces

Before you can install the application server, you must create the actual Informix database and the underlying dbspaces. You will need to connect to Informix as a user who is a member of the Informix-Admin group. You can create these objects using either Informix Enterprise Command Center (IECC) or a command-line utility such as DBACCESS.

NOTE: When creating an Informix database for use with the application server, make sure you turn logging on for that database.

Step 3: create the Informix user account

You need to create an Informix user account that can be used to connect to the application server. This user account must be a member of the Informix-Admin group. See your Informix documentation for more information. The password for this account cannot be null.

Step 4: add the driver path to AGCLASSPATH

The location of the Informix JDBC driver (c:\informixdriver\lib\ifxjdbc.jar for example) must be specified in the AGCLASSPATH variable. For Windows, AGCLASSPATH is a system environment variable. For UNIX, you'll find it in the .agprofile file. For NetWare^®, you need to use the setenv command to set AGCLASSPATH (setenv AGCLASSPATH=path1;path2;path3;...).

For more information For details, see the chapter on data source configuration in the Administrator's Guide.

Step 5: use the database with the application server

Now you're ready to access the Informix database from the application server. This enables you to do any of the following, as appropriate:

Install the application server and point to that database as the SilverMaster (as described in Installing Novell exteNd)
Add that database to the application server for use as a deployment database
Add a connection pool to the application server for accessing that database

For more information, see the chapter on data source configuration in the Administrator's Guide.

Troubleshooting

This section may help you if you run into trouble using Informix and the application server.

Determining driver version To determine which version of the Informix JDBC driver you are using, type the following at the command line:

  java -cp pathToDriver\lib\ifxjdbc.jar com.informix.jdbc.Version

Logical log full You encounter the Informix Server error event Logical Log Full. The application server may not allow you to save data or may not start properly when this problem occurs. (You can view this event in the Informix IECC utility's event list.)

To resolve this problem, back up the logical log or enable Informix's Continuous Log backup.

For more information about resolving this log file problem, see the Informix Enterprise Command Center User Guide (IECC) and the Informix Administrator's Guide.

Memory capacity You encounter the Informix Server error event Memory Capacity during SilverMasterInit or while the application server is running. (You can view this event in the Informix IECC utility's event list.)

To resolve this problem, increase the BUFFERS parameter in the ONCONFIG file in the Informix /etc directory. See the ONCONFIG environment variable to find this location.

For more information about the ONCONFIG file and the BUFFERS parameter, see the Administrator's Guide for Informix Dynamic Server.