Informix Machine Notes

                      =================================
                            MACHINE SPECIFIC NOTES
                                    FOR
               IBM Informix Database Server 12.10.UC5 PRODUCT RELEASE
                                On Linux Intel
                               DATE: 09 Mar 2015
                      =================================

OS Information : Built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES release 5.3 (Tikanga).
                 Certified on RHEL 6, SUSE SLES 11, Ubuntu Server Edition
                 8.04, 10.04 and 12.04.1 LTS, Asianux 3 SP3, Debian 5.0, 
                 and CentOS 6 on i686 and x86_64 (EM64T/AMD64)

System Requirements
===================

1.  This product was built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES release 5.3
    (Kernel: 2.6.18, Glibc: 2.5.34) for i586 compatible processors. 
    The following compilers were used:

	gcc and c++ compiler 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-44)

    The following packages have to be installed on your Linux system:

        libaio-0.3.106
        libgcc4.1.2
        libstdc++-4.1.2
        ncurses-5.5
        pam-0.99

    This product has been certified on:

        - Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES release 6.0 (Kernel: 2.6.32, Glibc: 2.12)
          for i686 and x86_64 (EM64T/AMD64). The following packages have to be
          installed:

          libaio-0.3.107
          libgcc-4.4.4-13
          libstdc++-4.4.4-13
          compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3
          ncurses-5.7
          pam-1.1.1

        - SUSE SLES 11 (Kernel: 2.6.27, Glibc: 2.9) for i686 and x86_64
          (EM64T/AMD64). The following packages have to be installed:

          libaio-0.3.104
          libgcc43-4.3.3
          libstdc++43-4.3.3
          ncurses-utils-5.6
          pam-1.0.2

        - Asianux 3 SP3 (Kernel: 2.6.18, Glibc: 2.5.49). for i686 and x86_64
          (EM64T/AMD64). The following packages have to be installed:

          libaio-0.3.106
          libgcc-4.1.2
          libstdc++-4.1.2
          ncurses-5.5
          pam-0.99

        - Ubuntu Server Edition 8.04.1 LTS (Kernel: 2.6.24, Glibc: 2.7.10) for 
          i686 and x86_64 (EM64T/AMD64). The following packages have to be 
          installed:

          libgcc      4.2.4
          libstdc++6  4.2.4
          libncurses5 5.6 
          libpam      0.99

        - Ubuntu Server Edition 10.04 LTS (Kernel: 2.6.32, Glibc: 2.11.1).
          The following packages have to be installed:

          libgcc      4.4.3
          libstdc++6  4.4.3
          libncurses5 5.7
          libpam      1.1.1

        - Ubuntu Server Edition 12.04.1 LTS (Kernel: 3.2.0-30, Glibc: 2.15).
          The following packages have to be installed:

          libgcc      4.6.3
          libstdc++6  4.6.3
          libncurses5 5.9
          libpam      1.1.3

    Installing the product on Ubuntu or Debian requires RPM to be installed
    and initialized. After RPM installed, use the following commands to 
    initialize RPM:

        mkdir -p /var/lib/rpm 
        rpm --initdb

    The bc utility is required by the product installer, and needs to be 
    installed on Ubuntu.

2.  The UNIX graphical tools ipload, onperf and xtree only require 
    OpenMotif runtime libraries version 2.3.x. The minimum version is 
    2.3.1, i.e. openmotif-2.3.1 or openmotif-libs-2.3.1.

3.  The Korn shell is required for the Informix server alarmprogram 
    scripts. Install it as /bin/ksh. On Ubuntu Server Edition, pdksh needs 
    to be installed.

4.  If a suitable library libaio.so.1 is found, IBM Informix Database Server 
    enables Kernel Asynchronous I/O (KAIO) automatically. Otherwise KAIO is 
    disabled.

    If the product runs on Ubuntu Server Edition x86_64, the following
    32-bit packages are required:

        libc6-i386
        libncurses

        The 32-bit libncurses is missing and not packaged, you need to copy
        it from a i386 (32bit) installation: /lib/libncurses.so.5 to x86_64
        32-bit compat libs: /lib32/libncurses.so.5.

5.  The High Performance Loader utilities, onpload and ipload, require a 
    minimum of 35 MB of memory and 70 MB of swap space in order to run.

6.  IBM Informix Database Server uses the libraries and utilities provided by
    the IBM Global Security Kit (GSKit) for data encryption and Secure Sockets
    Layer (SSL) communication. The GSKit is bundled with the server and will
    be installed on your machine as part of the server installation process.

    Here are more details on the GSKit:

       a. The GSKit is also bundled with other IBM products and might
          already be present on your machine. If GSKit8 is not installed, 
          Informix server will install GSKit in /usr/local/ibm/gsk8
          directory on your machine.

       b. The GSKit installation directory must have 25 MB of free disk space.

       c. The RPM Package Manager is required to be installed on the system.

Check the following web site for the latest Linux system requirements for IBM 
Informix Database Server:

    http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=630&uid=swg27013343


System Configuration
====================

1.  Kernel Parameters

    The values of the kernel parameters that were used for testing this
    product are given below. These values might need to be tuned depending
    on the application and availability of system resources. They can 
    either be dynamically changed in the /proc file system or are defined
    in the kernel sources and can be changed by rebuilding the kernel.

    SHMMAX:   33554432
    SHMMNI:   128
    SHMALL:   4194304
    SEMMNI:   128
    SEMMSL:   250
    SEMMNS:   32000
    SEMOPM:   32

    - The value of the kernel parameter "SEMMSL" should be set to at least
      100.  This is the maximum number of semaphores per set.  

2.  Location of Shared Memory

    The ONCONFIG variable SHMBASE is set to the following:

        SHMBASE 0x44000000L

    - SHMBASE can also be set to start above the shared library addresses.
      When doing so, ensure that dynamically loaded shared libraries
      do not collide with the shared memory segments.
      The address space layout can be checked by the following command:
      $ cat /proc//maps

3.  JRE Shared Libraries

    Ensure that the JRE shared libraries are loaded properly within the Java(TM)
    Virtual Machine by adding the following three directories to the Informix 
    library path:

        a. $INFORMIXDIR/extend/krakatoa/jre/bin
        b. $INFORMIXDIR/extend/krakatoa/jre/bin/classic
        c. $INFORMIXDIR/extend/krakatoa/jre/lib

    Add the directories to the path by using either of the following two 
    methods:

    I. Modify the ld.so library cache.

       Add the three library paths to the /etc/ld.so.conf file, and update the
       ld.so cache by running /sbin/ldconfig as user root.
    
       This method makes system wide changes that can affect other applications 
       that use Java.

    II. Modify the value of the oninit ELF DT_RPATH tag.
    
       Use the $INFORMIXDIR/etc/brand tool to modify the ELF DT_RPATH tag in 
       the Informix oninit binary. Run the tool as user root while the server 
       is offline.
    
       To modify the value of the ELF DT_RPATH tag, run the following command:

           brand -r "$INFORMIXDIR/extend/krakatoa/jre/bin:$INFORMIXDIR/extend/krakatoa/jre/bin/classic:$INFORMIXDIR/extend/krakatoa/jre/lib" $INFORMIXDIR/bin/oninit

       To print and verify the existing ELF DT_RPATH tag, run the following 
       command:

           brand -t $INFORMIXDIR/bin/oninit

    Substitute $INFORMIXDIR with the value of your INFORMIXDIR environment 
    variable.


Feature Notes  (alphabetized by feature)
=============

1.  High Performance Loader

    User-defined conversion routines must be provided in a dynamic, shared
    library called ipldd11a.so. This library is installed in the
    $INFORMIXDIR/lib directory. You can set the location of this file with
    the HPL_DYNAMIC_LIB_PATH configuration parameter in file pointed to by
    PLCONFIG environment variable. For more details, refer the manual
    "High-Performance Loader User's Guide".

    Onpload will use shared memory during its execution. It will allocate
    memory beyond the address for the server, leaving room for server shared
    memory expansion.

    Depending on the location of the shared libraries, OS stack etc., a 
    suitable location of pload shared memory spaces needs to be determined. 
    Linux system administrator is the best person to find the correct values 
    for PLOAD_SHMBASE for his particular system. The suggestive values for
    PLOAD_SHMBASE could be 0x10000000L, or 0x44000000L. 

2.  IPv6 Support 

    The Informix database server supports Internet Protocol Version 6 (128 Bit 
    Internet Addresses) as well as IPv4 (32 Bit Addresses).
   
    In order for the machine name that is specified in the SQLHOSTS file to 
    resolve to the correct IP address, the name services files on the operating 
    system must be configured correctly. If the machine has an IPv6 address 
    configured, and the listener thread is bound to an IPv6 address, then the 
    name service switch files /etc/nsswitch.conf must be configured to fetch 
    an IPv6 address. Also any local machine settings must be set correctly in 
    the /etc/hosts file.

    For compatibility with earlier version of Informix client and server 
    products, assign each host name with both an IPv4 address and an IPv6 
    address. If the listener needs to be bound to an IPv4 address, and the 
    name services resolve the name in the order of the IPv6 address followed 
    by the IPv4 address, then an explicit IPv4 address needs to be put in the 
    host name field of SQLHOSTS file. Client applications should also use the 
    same setting. 

3.  J/Foundation (Java in the Server):

    The IBM Runtime Environment, Java Technology Edition, Version 7.0 
    release is installed in /view/eo-ids1210-rel-o-linux32-lxvm-l144/vobs/tristarm/sqldist/extend/krakatoa/jre and should be 
    used with the J/Foundation component.

    A Java user-defined routine (UDR) runs in a Java virtual processor. Use 
    the VPCLASS configuration parameter to specify the number of virtual 
    processors for the server. You configure Java virtual processors in 
    the "Java configuration parameters" section of the onconfig configuration 
    file. The default onconfig.std file is in the /view/eo-ids1210-rel-o-linux32-lxvm-l144/vobs/tristarm/sqldist/etc directory.

    To develop Java UDRs for the server on this platform, use the 64-bit 
    IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 7 or an earlier version 
    according to Java compatibility guidelines. Java SDK 7 contains the 
    latest virtual machine technology from IBM and can be downloaded from 
    http://www.ibm.com/java/jdk/.

4.  Kernel Asynchronous I/O (KAIO)

    KAIO is enabled by default on this platform. It can be disabled by setting
    the environment variable KAIOOFF=1 in the environment of the process that
    starting the server.

    When using KAIO, it is recommended to run poll threads on separate VPs by
    specifying NET as VP class in the NETTYPE onconfig parameter, e.g.
    NETTYPE ipcshm,...,...,NET or
    NETTYPE soctcp,...,...,NET

    On Linux, there is a system wide limit of the maximum number of parallel
    KAIO requests. The file /proc/sys/fs/aio-max-nr is containing this value.
    It can be increased by the Linux system administrator, e.g. by

    # echo new_value > /proc/sys/fs/aio-max-nr

    The current number of allocated requests of all OS processes is visible
    in /proc/sys/fs/aio-nr.

    By default, IBM Informix Database server is allocating half of the maximum
    number of requests, and assigns them equally to the number of configured
    CPU VPs. The number of requests allocated per CPU VP can be controlled by
    the environment variable KAIOON, by setting it to the required value before
    bringing up the server. The minimum value for KAIOON is 100. If Linux is 
    about to run out of KAIO resources, e.g. when dynamically adding many CPU 
    VPs, warnings will be printed to the online.log file. In this case, the 
    Linux system administrator should add KAIO resources as described above.

5.  Locking large pages in memory

    The Informix database server can use large pages in memory when queries 
    require more memory. (On Linux operating systems, large pages are called 
    huge pages.) However, after you initialize Informix on Linux operating 
    systems, the database server is unable to lock large pages in memory when 
    queries require more memory. If you want to take advantage of the large-page
    support, you must use the onmode utility to add memory segments, and then 
    run the queries. 

6.  MQ Messaging Database Extension

    The MQ extension provides mechanism for data exchange between 
    Informix server and queues managed by Websphere MQ.

7.  Network Protocols

    The following protocols and interfaces are supported on this platform:

       SOCKETS using TCP/IP
       IPC using stream pipe (implemented using UNIX Domain Sockets)

    To use SOCKETS with TCP/IP:

       a. The NETTYPE entry in the ONCONFIG file and the nettype field in
          the sqlhosts file entry must contain "onsoctcp".

       b. To enable an IBM Data Server Client to connect to the database 
          Server, the NETTYPE entry in the ONCONFIG file and the protocal
          value in the sqlhosts file entry must contain "drsoctcp"

          If a CLI or JCC client wants to connect to the database server 
          through DRDA while supporting SQLI connections, you must add a 
          DBSERVERALIASES entry to the ONCONFIG file that corresponds to 
          the sqlhosts file entry.

    To use IPC (interprocess communication) with stream pipe:

        a.  The NETTYPE entry in the ONCONFIG file and the nettype field in 
            the sqlhosts file entry must contain "onipcstr".

    Fast poll is supported with TCP/IP and stream pipe interfaces. To disable
    fast poll, set the FASTPOLL parameter to 0 in the ONCONFIG file. By default 
    the fast poll is enabled (value is 1).

    The protocol for supporting IBM Informix MaxConnect on this platform 
    is "onsocimc".

8.  Online Backup and Restore (ON-Bar)

    ON-Bar uses the XBSA interface. Some of the functions invoked by ON-Bar 
    are in a shared library supplied by third party storage management vendors. 
    For ON-Bar to access the functions, set the BAR_BSALIB_PATH parameter in 
    $INFORMIXDIR/etc/$ONCONFIG to the full pathname of the library.

    Using $INFORMIXDIR/lib/ibsad001.so as a symbolic link to the library is 
    deprecated and shall be discontinued.

    Informix Interface for Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) is supported on this 
    platform. The interface is built with TSM API version 5.3.2.

9.  OnSNMP

    The SNMP agent for OnSNMP is based on SNMP Research (SNMPR).

10. Optical

    The Optical feature has not been tested with the Optical Simulator.
    The name of IBM Informix shared library for Optical on Linux is 
    "iosm11a.so". This library must be located in $INFORMIXDIR/lib (or 
    must have a link provided in $INFORMIXDIR/lib).  

    Refer to the "Optical Subsystem Guide" for more information about
    enabling optical functionality.

11. Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM)                                  

    PAM functionality is supported on Linux operating systems. PAM requires 
    the libpam.so library that is supplied by the Operating System vendor. 

    Use of PAM can be enabled or disabled by the system administrator. By 
    default, the Informix server will use the traditional authentication 
    mechanism to avoid changes for the users.

    The PAM service identifies the PAM module. This PAM module usually is   
    located in /usr/lib/security and its parameters are listed in 
    /etc/pam.conf.                                               

12. Processor Affinity

    The processor affinity feature, which allows the pinning of a CPU 
    virtual processor to a physical processor in a multi-CPU configuration, 
    is supported on this platform.

13. Raw Character Devices

    Some Linux distributions support binding a raw character device to a 
    block device. Any block device may be used. IBM Informix Database Server 
    supports using raw character devices.

14. Secure Sockets Layer

    IBM Informix Database Server uses the libraries and utilities provided by
    the IBM Global Security Kit (GSKit) for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
    communication. 

       a. Before uninstalling GSKit, verify that it is not needed on your 
          system. It is possible that software other than Informix Database 
          Server requires GSKit. Uninstall by identifying and removing GSKit
          packages using the command-line interface: 

          Run rpm command with the -qa option to obtain a list of installed 
          GSKit packages with their exact names.
          For example:
          rpm -qa | grep gsk

          As root user run the rpm command to remove each package as needed. 
          For example:
          rpm -ev gskssl32-8.0.50.20 gskcrypt32-8.0.50.20

       b. If you want to restore Secure Sockets Layer capability after you 
          have uninstalled GSKit, see the readme file in $INFORMIXDIR/gskit 
          for how to install GSKit.

15. Simple Password Communications Support Module

    The name of the IBM Informix shared library for Simple Password CSM
    on Linux is libixspw.so.


Features not supported
======================

1.  Database Extension registration using the blademgr utility with a Secure
    Sockets Layer (SSL) connection. Use the built-in SQL SYSBldPrepare( )
    function to register the Database Extension instead.


Known Defects in this release
=============================

For information about known defects in this release, see: 
Click here for a list


Defects Fixed in this release
=============================

For information about defects fixed in this release, see: 
Click here for a list


(C) Copyright IBM Corp. 2002, 2015