OpenLink Multi-tier Server Side Components (Windows) for Informix

Aims and Intentions

This guide is intended to enable competent system administrators to install and configure OpenLink Multi-tier client side components on Windows operating systems in a few steps as possible.

This guide does not explain any of the non-pertinent features encountered along the way. Such explanations may be found in the full documentation.

Prerequisites

You MUST be proficient in using Command Prompt (CMD/DOS) window (for preferred testing purposes).
There MUST be an existing installation of either Informix (full), Informix CSDK, or Informix Connect present on the machine, and you MUST know where this installation resides.
You MUST have a preconfigured INFORMIX_SERVER. This should be configured using Informix "setnet32" and connectivity proven using Informix "iLogin Demo".

Installation

Copy all relevant installation components to a suitable starting directory such as your Desktop. At a minimum, these will include the OpenLink Request Broker, an OpenLink Database Agent for Informix, and an OpenLink license file (oplrqb.lic).
Install the OpenLink Request Broker which will prompt for the license file.
Install the OpenLink Database Agent for Informix.
All installers should finish without error.

Licensing

OpenLink Multi-tier licensing is handled on the server side so you should have provided the location of the license file (oplrqb.lic) during the installation of the Request Broker component.

If you chose to skip that part, you should now copy the license file to c:\Program Files\OpenLink Software\UDA\bin (or the \bin\ subdirectory of your custom installation location).

Configuration

Informix requires a small amount of additional environmental configuration in the OpenLink Request Broker session rule book (c:\Program Files\OpenLink Software\UDA\bin\oplrqb.ini)--

Open the file c:\Program Files\OpenLink Software\UDA\bin\oplrqb.ini with a suitable text editor, such as Wordpad.

Locate and edit the [Environment xxxxx] section (where xxxxx matches your target database), and ensure that any relevant environment variables pertaining your system and target database are correct. NOTE: You may need to consult with your database administrator to verify these. The following example depicts an environment section for Informix --


[Environment INFORMIX2000]
INFORMIXSERVER        = your_informix_server
INFORMIXDIR           = C:\Program Files\IBM\Informix\Client-SDK
DELIMIDENT            = Y      ; Allow quoted identifiers
OPL_INF_MULTISESS     = Y      ; Allow multiple sessions
OPL_SPACEPADCHAR      = Y      ; Pad CHAR fields with spaces
CURSOR_SENSITIVITY    = LOW    ; Set to HIGH after loading oplrvc.sql
;FET_BUF_SIZE          = 65535  ; Size of the fetch buffer
;FORCE_ONLINE_DATABASE = 1      ; Force mode to (0) SE or (1) ONLINE
;CLIENT_LOCALE         = EN_US.UTF8  ; Uncomment and adjust when Client and Server locale settings differ
Path                  = C:\Program Files\IBM\Informix\Client-SDK\bin  ; Find shared libraries

Start the OpenLink Request Broker

Starting in Debug Mode

It is often best to initially start the Request Broker in debug mode (oplrqb +debug) in order to diagnose problems.

To do this, you must first stop the "OpenLink Request Broker" service.

Then, open a "Command Prompt" (Start >> Run... >> CMD) window and --

C:\> cd c:\Program Files\OpenLink Software\UDA\bin
C:\> oplrqb +debug
OpenLink Request Broker
Version 2.47 as of Wed Mar 05 2008 (Release 6.2 cvsid 00089)
Compiled for Win32 (x86)
Copyright (C) OpenLink Software  

Registered to OpenLink US Lab - INTERNAL USE ONLY
with product serial number OPL-US-INTERNAL
This is a 500 concurrent users license
restricted to 500 concurrent connections
Issued by OpenLink Software
This license will expire on Thu May 22 01:52:13 2008 GMT

using rulebook c:\Program Files\OpenLink Software\UDA\bin\oplrqb.ini
bound TCP protocol to 0.0.0.0.5000
created job for controlling agents
request broker started by garry
spawning "C:\Program Files\OpenLink Software\UDA\bin\www_sv.exe" +debug +internal 2472
started persistent www_sv (pid=3356)

The OpenLink Request Broker will continue to run, taking over the session, until <Ctrl-C> is entered which stops the Broker

Starting Normally

To start the OpenLink Request Broker normally, simply restart the "OpenLink Request Broker" service through the Services control panel.

Testing

You are now ready to test the connection. This requires that you read the relevant quick start guide for client component on the chosen operating system and have the OpenLink Request Broker running in Debug Mode as detailed above.

Additional Information

Changes made to c:\Program Files\OpenLink Software\UDA\bin\oplrqb.ini will not take effect until the Request Broker is reinitialized or (in some cases) stopped and restarted.

Open a "Command Prompt" window and -

C:\> cd c:\Program Files\OpenLink Software\UDA\bin
C:\> oplshut +reinit