WebSphere Application Server support policy for JDBC databases and drivers

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This blog provides additional details about our support policy for JDBC databases and drivers. We hope this blog will help clarify most of the questions customers ask IBM support every day.

General Support Statement for customers concerned about whether a DB is supported:

As noted in the compatibility reports, available here: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27006921, WebSphere Application Server traditional and WebSphere Application Server Liberty support the use of any database with a JDBC driver that meets the specification level specified in the above mentioned compatibility reports.  If the JDBC driver in question is compliant, the WebSphere integration with this database is fully supported by IBM.  If the driver is not compliant or your application is using vendor specific driver extensions, the level of support will depend on the specific issue being reported.  This statement of support is made independently of whether WebSphere Application Server test suites were run against this exact configuration of database and JDBC driver. IBM tests with the latest versions of several commonly used databases to demonstrate interoperability with specification compliant JDBC drivers

In general , We fully support ANY database and ANY driver that conforms to the JDBC specification for ANY in-service version of traditional and Liberty WAS.
 

Scenario 1 : I am using WebSphere Application Server 9.0 , can i use oracle OJDC6.0 driver ?

             Yes its supported as long as you are using OJDC6.0 driver which is compliant to the latest JDK version , in this case JDK 8. Make sure Vendor provides the driver which supports JDK8.

Scenario 2 :  Does WAS9 support Oracle 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.4)  ? 

         Yes it is supported.

Scenario 3 : Is Oracle Database 10g or earlier database is supported  ?
          Its case by case basic. We support based on Vendor Support  statement  but at the same time we are trying to be as flexible as we  can.

Note :  Oracle 10g end of support in 2013 and extended support ended in November 2014. Though we supported the release in early version of WAS 8.5.5 we can longer support completely due to the end of support.. You can still  use the database  with WAS, but if there are errors in the JDBC driver or Oracle specific APIs, you may have to contact Vendor Support team. Its applicable to all database.

http://www.oracle.com/us/support/library/lifetime-support-technology-069183.pdf

Scenario 4 :  Is  Oracle 12.1.2 Database compatible with WebSphere Application Server V7.0, V8., V8.5 and v9.0 ?

Yes . Its compatible with all 4  versions.
 

Scenario 5 : We are on  Websphere Commerce fep7 fix pack 8 running on WAS 7.0.0.29.The commerce database version is DB2 v10.5 Fixpack 6 , due to an ongoing issue we would like to upgrade the fixpack level to DB2 v10.5 Fixpack 9. Is it supported on WAS 7.0.0.29 ?

Yes . There is no restriction in upgrading the database fixpack to the latest level. Its applicable to all databases not just Db2. If you have more question on other stack products, please refer to Scenario 9.

Scenario 6 : Does WAS support database failover ? Is there any functionality in WAS to achieve database failover.

Yes.  Database failover is supported using the Resource workload routing feature described in this IBM Knowledge Center topic.

Scenario 7 : Can I use 32 bit driver to connect to 64 bit database and vice versa ?

It depends on the vendor stating support. You may have to check with vendor support team. We support only 64 bit in V9 (32 might work). The best practice is to match the driver and database bit version.

Scenario 8  :    The above referenced compatibility reports states traditional WAS supports JDBC 4.1, is JDBC 4.2 also supported?

Yes, but only those API's in the JDBC 4.1 spec.   Because JDBC 4.2 is backwards compatible with JDBC 4.1, an application written to use the 4.1 spec will work with a 4.2 driver.  But, your application may not use any new function added to the 4.2 spec.

Scenario 9  :    Does WebSphere Application server v8.5.5.x support JDBC 4.1 ?

Liberty 8.5.5.X supports JDBC 4.1 but Traditional WebSphere Application server doesn't completely support 4.1 Spec. As explained in the above scenario, though you may be able to use JDBC 4.1 the feature/function introduced in 4.1 will not work.

Scenario 10:  I'm using an IBM product like WebSphere Commerce (WC), WebSphere Portal Server (WPS) and , IBM Operational Decision Manager (ODM), etc and I want to use the latest database and jdbc driver from my vendor.  I looked at the Software Product Compatibility Reports for WebSphere Application Server and because the JDBC driver is JDBC spec compliant, the app server supports it.  But, when I look at the compatibility report for the IBM product like WC, WPS, ODM, etc and it doesn't show it as supported.  Who's correct?

The Software Product Compatibility Reports for the specific IBM product you're using is correct.  Products like WC, WPS and ODM are known as "stack products" and are built on top of the application server.  Stack products control their compatibility support statements independently of the application server.  Because of this, the stack products may be more restrictive in their support statements than the application server.  If you need support for a newer database/JDBC driver, you may open a Request For Enhancement (RFE) at https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rfe/ against the specific IBM stack product and ask for support.  Please do not open the RFE for WebSphere Application Server as we have no control over the compatibility support of stack products.

As explained earlier, we do support any database with a JDBC driver that is compliant with JDBC specification version 4.1 or earlier. It doesnt mean that we dont support 4.2 spec, we do support support 4.2 spec but you may not be able to use any 4.2 feature.

That being said, yes we do support Oracle 18C and 19C in WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5.X and V9.0.x but you must aware of this following.
1) We dont test WebSphere Application Server with each and every release of Oracle database. Please make sure you do the test before moving to production.
2) I believe the oracle 18C or later driver supports java 8 or later release only, if so please make sure WAS java level is also java 8. Java 8 is supported in 8.5.5.9 or later release.
3) If you ever see this issue, please consider upgrading WAS and do the test again. This issue is fixed in 8.5.5.13 or later release.

https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1PI86830
The above statement is true for WAS and I expect the same from BPM. If you need an official answer, you can open a case with BPM team as well. Hope this helps.

Conclusion :

WebSphere Application Server supports every Database and JDBC driver as long as they conform to the JDBC specification and are being used in a specification compliant fashion.                                               
Although WAS has not explicitly tested and certified all  releases of  database versions, you are still welcome to use any JDBC Complaint database and database driver. Remember its your responsibility to make sure the database you are planning to use is not out Of Support and the driver supports the java your using the WebSphere Application Server.

Keywords : Db2, JDBC, Support , Compatibility Reports, Driver, J2C, database, DB, WebSphere, upgrade, WAS