Configuring Informix

Every Informix database that is to be coordinated by a WebSphere MQ queue manager must be created specifying the log parameter. For example:

create database mydbname with log;

WebSphere MQ queue managers are unable to coordinate Informix databases that do not have the log parameter specified on creation. If a queue manager attempts to coordinate an Informix database that does not have the log parameter specified on creation, the xa_open call to Informix fails, and a number of FFST errors are generated.

Ensure that your Informix environment variables are set for queue manager processes as well as in your application processes. In particular, always set the following environment variables before starting the queue manager:

INFORMIXDIR

The directory of the Informix product installation.

• For 32 bit UNIX and Linux® applications, use the following command:

  
  export INFORMIXDIR=/opt/informix/32-bit
  

• For 64 bit UNIX and Linux applications, use the following command:

  
  export INFORMIXDIR=/opt/informix/64-bit
  

• For Windows applications, use the following command:

  
  set INFORMIXDIR=c:\informix
  

For systems that have 64 bit queue managers that must support both 32 bit and 64 bit applications, you need both the Informix 32 bit and 64 bit client SDKs installed. The sample makefile xaswit.mak, used for creating a switch load file also sets both product installation directories.

INFORMIXSERVER

The name of the Informix server. For example, on UNIX and Linux systems, use:

export INFORMIXSERVER=hostname_1

On Windows systems, use:

set INFORMIXSERVER=hostname_1

ONCONFIG

The name of the Informix server configuration file. For example, on UNIX and Linux systems, use:

export ONCONFIG=onconfig.hostname_1

On Windows systems, use:

set ONCONFIG=onconfig.hostname_1

To create the Informix switch load file, use the sample file xaswit.mak, which WebSphere MQ provides to build the switch load files for various database products. On Windows systems, you can find xaswit.mak in the directory MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH\tools\c\samples\xatm. MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH represents the high-level directory in which WebSphere MQ is installed. To create the Informix switch load file with Microsoft Visual C++, use:

nmake /f xaswit.mak infswit.dll

The generated switch file is placed in c:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere MQ\exits.

Edit xaswit.mak to uncomment the lines appropriate to the version of Informix you are using. Then execute the makefile using the command:

make -f xaswit.mak infswit

You must modify the configuration information for the queue manager to declare Informix as a participant in global units of work. Modifying the configuration information for the queue manager in this way is described in more detail in Adding configuration information to the queue manager.

• On Windows and Linux (x86 and x86-64 platforms) systems, use the WebSphere MQ Explorer. Specify the details of the switch load file in the queue manager properties panel, under XA resource manager.
• On all other systems specify the details of the switch load file in the XAResourceManager stanza in the qm.ini file of the queue manager.

Figure 1 is a UNIX sample, showing a qm.ini XAResourceManager entry where the database to be coordinated is called mydbname, this name being specified in the XAOpenString:

XAResourceManager:
  Name=myinformix
  SwitchFile=infswit
  XAOpenString=DB=mydbname@myinformixserver\;USER=myuser\;PASSWD=mypasswd
  ThreadOfControl=THREAD