Informix Machine Notes
Here you find actual Machine Notes to Informix Products that we prepared for you.
=================================
MACHINE SPECIFIC NOTES
FOR
IBM Informix Database Server 12.10.FC4 PRODUCT RELEASE
ON HEWLETT PACKARD HP-UX Itanium
DATE: 03 Jun 2014
=================================
OS Information : Built on HP-UX 11i V3 (aka 11.31) Itanium.
System Requirements
===================
1. This product was built on HP-UX 11i V3 (aka 11.31) Itanium using the
following compilers:
HP C/aC++ B3910B A.06.26 [Apr 12 2011]
and with the following packages:
Bundle Name Description
----------- -----------
B9007AA C.11.31.06 HP C/aC++ Developer's Bundle
FEATURE11i B.11.31.1209.383a Feature Enablement Patches for
HP-UX 11i v3, September 2012
2. The UNIX graphical tools provided with this release require X Windows
System X11R6 and Motif 2.1 or later runtime libraries.
If these tools cannot find the location of the X and Motif shared
libraries, the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH may need to be set
to include these locations.
3. 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.
4. 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 /opt/ibm/gsk8_64
directory on your machine.
b. The GSKit installation directory must have 80 MB of free disk space.
5. Expanded Node and Host Name sizes on HP-UX
Current version of IBM Informix Database Server does not support the
use of Expanded Node and Host Name Sizes. If the tunable kernel parameter
expanded_node_host_names is set to 1, and the Database Server is on a
system with a node name greater than 8 bytes or host name greater than
64 bytes, then the Database Server will fail to initialize.
You may be able to work around the issue by setting the tunable kernel
parameter uname_eoverflow to 0. Consult HP documentation for more
information on the tunable kernel parameters uname_eoverflow and
expanded_node_host_names.
Check the following web site for the latest HP Itanium 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.
shmseg: 512
shmmni: 512
shmmax: 4398046511104
semmnu: 1400
semmns: 4096
semmni: 4096
nfile: 5000
- The value of the kernel parameter "semmnu" should be set to at least
the maximum number of open ipcshm connections, plus the number of
semaphore undo structures required by other processes in the system.
The recommended value of "semmnu" is between 2K and 4K for larger
systems.
- The value of the kernel parameter "shmmax" should be set to the
maximum allowable on the system. Setting "shmmax" to a high value
will prevent the OS from creating multiple shared memory segments
which can degrade performance.
- This server release is built to take advantage of the Large File
Descriptor support provided by HP-UX, which increases the number of
simultaneous user connections per server instance from 2000 to
60000.
To take advantage of this feature, the following kernel parameters
might need to be increased depending on the application:
maxfiles_lim - Maximum number of files that can be opened by a process
simultaneously.
nfile - Maximum number of files that can be opened system-wide.
2. Location of Shared Memory
The ONCONFIG variable SHMBASE should be set to the following
SHMBASE 0x0L
3. Environment Variables
It is recommended that the environment variable INFORMIXSTACKSIZE be set
to 256 (the default is 96) if the application involves operations which
would require the IBM Informix Database Server to perform recursive
database tasks (for example, cascading deletes).
Feature Notes (alphabetized by feature)
=============
1. Greater Than 2GB Chunk & File Support
Please refer to the man page for fsadm(1M) and fsadm_hfs(1M) for how to
enable large file support on your system. This is essential to use the
greater than 2 GB Chunk & File Support features for cooked files.
2. 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".
This shared library must be compiled in 64-bit mode on HP-UX Itanium.
3. 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.
4. J/Foundation (Java in the Server)
J/Foundation supports the JRE 6.0 release from IBM Corporation, which
uses the HP native threads based Java Virtual Machine.
The JRE 6.0 is available under $INFORMIXDIR/extend/krakatoa/jre and
should be used with J/Foundation.
To use this JRE, set the value of the ONCONFIG variable JVPJAVAHOME as
follows:
JVPJAVAHOME <jvphome>/jre
where <jvphome> is $INFORMIXDIR/extend/krakatoa
For developing Java UDRs used with J/Foundation, use JDK 5.0 which
can be downloaded from HP's Java website:
https://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=HPUXJDKJRE50
For IBM Informix Database Server ONCONFIG settings for J/Foundation,
refer to "onconfig.std" in $INFORMIXDIR/etc.
5. Kernel Asynchronous I/O (KAIO)
KAIO is DISABLED by default on this platform. To enable KAIO, set the
environment variable KAIOON.
KAIOON=1; export KAIOON (for Bourne or Korn Shell)
setenv KAIOON 1 (for C Shell)
The following is a prerequisite for using KAIO:
a. The HP KAIO driver "asyncdsk" is installed and linked into the
kernel.
b. Ensure that the KAIO driver is up and running. Check if
/dev/async exists. If not, follow these steps:
1) su root
2) If using HP hardware/OS redundancy or mirroring, create the
async device as follows:
/usr/sbin/mknod /dev/async c 101 0
Otherwise, if using IBM Informix mirroring or no hardware/OS
mirroring, or no mirroring at all, create the async device as
follows:
/usr/sbin/mknod /dev/async c 101 4
3) chmod 0666 /dev/async
4) Make sure the following entry exists in the /etc/privgroup file
informix MLOCK
After adding this entry, execute the following command
/sbin/rc1.d/S400set_prvgrp start
An environment variable IFMX_HPKAIO_NUM_REQ is provided to specify the
number of simultaneous KAIO requests that are processed by the server at
one time. The value can be set in the range of 10 to 5000, the default
being 1000. If the following error occurs:
"KAIO: out of OS resources, errno = %d, pid = %d"
consider increasing the value of IFMX_HPKAIO_NUM_REQ.
For example:
IFMX_HPKAIO_NUM_REQ=2300; export IFMX_HPKAIO_NUM_REQ
(for Bourne or Korn Shell)
setenv IFMX_HPKAIO_NUM_REQ 2300 (for C Shell)
6. Large Memory Addressability (LMA)
IBM Informix LMA provides the ability to support system configurations
with greater than 4GB of RAM. Most UNIX systems are limited to 4GB of
RAM based on the memory addressing limitations of 32-bit architectures.
The values for the following ONCONFIG parameters are increased from
32-bit to 64-bit platform by LMA support:
- The maximum number of buffers in BUFFERPOOL is 2147483647.
- The maximum of LRU queues for lrus field in BUFFERPOOL is 512.
- The DS_TOTAL_MEMORY, which is the total memory available for
decision support memory, is only limited by the amount of virtual
memory available. The sort memory comes out of the DS_TOTAL_MEMORY
memory and hence there is no explicit limit on the amount of sort
memory.
- The read ahead parameter RA_PAGES is only limited by the number of
buffers and therefore can be any value less than 2147483647. The
"chunk" write algorithm is not dependent on the amount of buffers
or shared memory and can write as many pages in a single I/O as
possible.
- The maximum size of any shared memory segment is 4398046511104 bytes.
- The value for SHMADD is 4294967296 kilobytes.
Refer to IBM Informix Administrator's Reference manual for the
information about the related configuration parameters setting.
7. MQ Messaging Database Extension
The MQ extension provides mechanism for data exchange between
Informix server and queues managed by Websphere MQ.
Note : MQ extension expects Websphere MQ libraries installed in the
default location /opt/mqm. Otherwise create symbolic links
from /opt/mqm/lib64 to the 64-bit Websphere MQ libraries.
8. 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).
Remote 32-bit applications and tools (example: ESQL/C, 4GL, ISQL) can
only connect to the IBM Informix Database Server using the TCP/IP
protocol.
Local 32-bit applications and tools can connect to the 64-bit server
using either the TCP/IP sockets or the IPC stream pipe protocols.
The protocol for supporting IBM Informix MaxConnect on this platform
is "onsocimc".
9. No Age (Disable Priority Aging)
The no aging feature that disables priority aging of CPU virtual processors
by the operating system can be activated by setting the noage option of the
VPCLASS configuration parameter for the CPU virtual processors. For example,
the following ONCONFIG entry specifies that there are 8 CPU VPs, each
without aging:
VPCLASS cpu,num=8,noage
When the noage option is used, all oninit processes will run at priority 180
with SCHED_NOAGE type scheduling. When idle, oninit processes will have the
priority of 154, which is the highest idle priority. This priority level
will prevent oninit processes from being aged when idle.
Note: The NOAGE configuration parameter is deprecated; it is replaced by
the VPCLASS configuration parameter with the noage option.
To override the default priority value for CPU VP class, set the
environment variable IFMX_CPUVP_PRIORITY to the desired priority, within
limits (154 to 190) before starting the engine.
If IFMX_CPUVP_PRIORITY is not within the limits, the priority will be
set to the default value of 180.
10. 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 these functions, set the BAR_BSALIB_PATH parameter
in $INFORMIXDIR/etc/$ONCONFIG to the full pathname of the library.
This shared library must be compiled in 64-bit mode on HP-UX Itanium.
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.
11. Optical
The name of the IBM Informix shared library for Optical on HP-UX is
iosm11a.so. This library must be located in $INFORMIXDIR/lib (or must
have a link provided in $INFORMIXDIR/lib).
This shared library must be compiled in 64-bit mode on HP-UX Itanium.
Refer to the "Optical Subsystem Guide" for more information about enabling
optical functionality.
12. Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM)
PAM functionality is supported on HPUX 11i V3 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.
13. 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.
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. Uninstalling involves running the swremove
command to remove packages as needed. For example, the following
command when run as root user removes the GSKit SSL and GSKit Crypt
packages:
swremove gskssl64 gskcrypt64
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
HP-UX is libixspw.so.
Features not Supported
======================
1. TERMINFO
2. OnSNMP
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, 2014
