How To Install and Configure the Multi-Tier Edition JDBC Drivers for Informix (Linux)

Server Components

Installation (Request Broker and Database Agent)

  1. Log in to your Unix or Linux server machine, and Create and/or navigate to the intended OpenLink installation directory, e.g.,
    mkdir /opt/openlink
    cd /opt/openlink

    Note: cd into the installation directory.
  2. The installation files ship as an installation shell script, a driver .taz archive, and an optional administrator .taz file. Download these documents using binary-preserving methods (e.g., ftp in BIN mode, or scp), and place them in your installation folder.
  3. Run the following command to start the installation:
    sh install.sh

    You must choose a TCP port at which the OpenLink Request Broker will listen for requests. The default is 5000. You will need to know this port number and the Broker host's IP address or hostname when configuring ODBC Data Source Names (DSNs). You must choose a TCP port at which the OpenLink Request Broker's HTTP-based Admin Assistant will listen for requests. The default is 8000. You will need to know this port number and the Broker host's IP address or hostname to access your Admistrator in a Web browser. The URL will look like this:
    http://broker-host.example.com:8000/
  4. Additional Configuration Parameters:
    • Log file? enables you to specify the name and location of the OpenLink Request Broker's HTTP-based Admin Assistant's log file. It is best to go with the default.
    • You can choose to log all requests made to the OpenLink Request Broker's HTTP-based Admin Assistant. This is not diagnostic-level ODBC tracing nor multi-tier connection logging. The default is no, and this is generally appropriate.
    • You can change the OpenLink Request Broker's HTTP-based Admin Assistant's default username from "admin." This is the username you will use when working with the OpenLink Request Broker's HTTP-based Admin Assistant. (You can set up other usernames later; consider this one similar to "root.")
    • You can change the OpenLink Request Broker's HTTP-based Admin Assistant's default password from "admin." This is the password associated with the username you just set.
    The Installation is complete.
  5. Optionally, The domain section of the rulebook contains the Database Agent connection parameters for the outgoing connections towards your Oracle database.
    Default Database Agent names for oracle use the following pattern:
    [generic_ora{{version}}]. For Example, the Oracle 12 parameters are located in:
    [generic_ora12].
    Locate your Database Agent, and uncomment the "Connect Options" parameter.
    Add your hostname and port values using the following template:
    Connect Options = -H {{host}} -P {{port number}}.
    Configuration is complete.
  6. Installation is complete, proceed to making a test connection with your Client Component installation.
Non-Advanced Users should proceed to the Client Components installation and configuration guides

  1. Open the file $OPENLINK_INSTALL/bin/odbc.ini with a suitable text editor such as vi

    Locate and edit the [OpenLink] section, which is a sample OpenLink Generic ODBC data source (DSN) created during the installation process

    Sample DSN as created by installer:

    [OpenLink]
Driver          = /OPENLINK_INSTALL/lib/oplodbc.so
Host            = localhost:5000
ServerType      = Oracle 8.1.x
Database        = 
Options         = 
Username        = 
Password        = 
FetchBufferSize = 99
ReadOnly        = no
DeferLongFetch  = no
JetFix          = no
Description     = Sample DSN

  2. Example SQL Server 2000 Data Source-

    Example Informix 2000 Data Source-

    [informix2000]
Driver          = /OPENLINK_INSTALL/lib/oplodbc.so
Host            = requestbroker_hostname:5000
ServerType      = Informix 2000
Database        = test
Options         = 
Username        = informix
Password        = **********
FetchBufferSize = 99
ReadOnly        = no
DeferLongFetch  = no
JetFix          = no
Description     = Sample Informix 2000 Connection

  3. Example Informix 10 Data Source:

    [informix10]
Driver          = /OPENLINK_INSTALL/lib/oplodbc.so
Host            = requestbroker_hostname:5000
ServerType      = Informix 10
Database        = test
Options         = 
Username        = informix
Password        = **********
FetchBufferSize = 99
ReadOnly        = no
DeferLongFetch  = no
JetFix          = no
Description     = Sample Informix 2000 Connection

  4. Presuming the OpenLink Request Broker is already running on the target machine, you are now ready to test the connection.

    Use the iodbctest tool which is packaged with the HTTP-based OpenLink ODBC Administrator as follows --

    #cd OPENLINK_INSTALL
#. ./openlink.sh
# iodbctest informix2000

    iODBC Demonstration program

    This program shows an interactive SQL processor

    Driver Manager: 03.52.0507.0105

    Driver: 06.02.1217 OpenLink Generic ODBC Driver (oplodbc.so)

    SQL>You should now be able to issue SQL statements directly against the target database.

  5. Additional Information

    The bitness of the Generic ODBC Driver is determined by the bitness of your ODBC client application.

    That is, if your ODBC client application is 32-bit then the Generic ODBC Driver component MUST also be 32-bit.

  1. Database Agent modifications are made using the Request Broker's Rulebook (oplrqb.ini).

    This is located at {{Server Components Installation}}/bin/oplrqb.ini

  2. Open this document using your preferred text editor (e.g., vim, vi)

    Informix Environments are Denoted by "Environment INFORMIX{Version}".

  3. Locate the Informix environment, and confirm that the required values are in place

    [Environment INFORMIX2000]

    INFORMIXSERVER = [Informix Server Name]

    INFORMIXDIR = {Informix installation directory}

    Save these changes and exit the file.

  4. Run "oplrqb stop" to stop the request broker

    Run "oplrqb start" to start the request broker with your new rulebook settings

Client Components

Installation

  1. Log in to your Unix or Linux server machine, and create and/or navigate to the intended OpenLink installation directory, e.g., 
    mkdir /opt/openlink
cd /opt/openlink
    • Note: You can replace "/opt/openlink" with your desired installation path.
  2. CD into the installation directory. 
    cd /opt/openlink
  3. The installation files ship as an installation shell script, a driver .taz archive, and an optional administrator .taz file.
    Download these documents using binary-preserving methods (e.g., ftp in BIN mode, or scp), and place them in your installation folder.
  4. Export your JAVA_HOME variable. It should pass the full path to your JAVA installation. 
    export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/your/JAVA/installation
    • Note: Replace "/path/to/your/JAVA/installation" with the actual path to your Java installation directory.
    • Note: Use the echo command to ensure that JAVA_HOME is set correctly.
  5. Run the following command to start the installation: 
    sh install.sh
  6. The installation is complete.

Configuration

  1. The OpenLink installer should set your CLASSPATH. You should have a pre-existing JAVA_HOME directory that points to the root of your JAVA installation. No further configuration should be needed.
  2. Driver Name: opljdbc3.jar, megathin3.jar
  3. Driver Class Name: openlink.jdbc3.Driver
  4. Connection URL: jdbc:openlink://<Hostname>:[portnumber] [/UID] [/PWD] [/READONLY] [/SVT] [/APPLICATION] [/FBS|FETCHBUFFERSIZE] [/ENCRYPTED] [/CHARSET] [/UNICODE] [/DLF] [/DATABASE] [/OPTIONS] [/DRIVER]
    • Hostname - Network Alias or IP address of the machine that runs an OpenLink Request Broker instance.
    • Port Number - TCP port on which the Request Broker listens.
    • /UID - Database username.
    • /PWD - Database password.
    • /READONLY - Read-write or read-only session mode.
    • /SVT - A valid domain alias from the [Domain Aliases] section of the OpenLink server component's oplrqb.ini file. Default domain aliases represent the type of database agent to which the application intends to connect, e.g., DB2, Informix 2000, Oracle 8.1.x. Custom aliases may take any form.
    • /APPLICATION - The Application name. Enables connectivity when restrictive server-side rules screen by application name.
    • /FBS (or /FETCHBUFFERSIZE) - The Fetch Buffer Size. The Fetch Buffer Size is an integer that represents the number of rows to return during one fetch operation.
    • /ENCRYPTED - Sets the Encrypted flag for outgoing packets. /ENCRYPTED may pass '1', '0', 'Y', 'N', 'y', or 'n'. (This feature is disabled by default.)
    • /CHARSET - Specifies the charset of remote databases. The default value is read from System.getProperty("file.encoding").
    • /UNICODE - Instantiates unicode. The unicode connection isn't used by default. The value may be '1', '0', 'Y', 'N', 'y', 'n' (This feature is disabled by default.)
    • /DLF - Pushes large, binary objects to the end of the result set. Smaller data types are retrieved first. This enhances performance. /DLF may be set to '1', '0', 'Y', 'N', 'y', or 'n'. (This feature is disabled by default.)
    • /DATABASE - Actual database name within a particular database environment.
    • /OPTIONS - Optional parameter that passes specialized database native client connection parameters. Do not use this parameter unless you need to pass Progress socket parameters or database native client parameters that enable a local OpenLink database agent to locate a remote database. Example parameters would be Oracle Net10 Service Names, Ingres vnodes, remote Informix instance names, or DB2 remote database aliases.
    • /DRIVER - The Driver name contained in curly brackets ({}). Used for DSN-Less connections to remote ODBC Drivers.
  5. Examples of Connection URLs:
    • jdbc:openlink://localhost:5000/SVT=Ingres II/DATABASE=iidbdb/UID=ingres/PWD=ingres
    • jdbc:openlink://192.128.13.119:5000/SVT=Oracle 8.1.x/DATABASE=ORCL/UID=scott/PWD=tiger
    • jdbc:openlink://saturn:5000/SVT=Progress 91D/DATABASE=isports/OPTIONS=-S isports -N tcp -H saturn
    • jdbc:openlink://localhost:5000/SVT=SQLServer 2000/DATABASE=Northwind/UID=sa/OPTIONS=-S SATURN