Highlights: IIUG Board will have a virtual meeting February 4
Welcome to the International Informix Users Group (IIUG) Insider! Designed for IIUG members and Informix user group leaders, this publication contains timely and relevant information for the IBM Informix community.
Table of Contents
Editorial
This is the first 2022 Insider.
When I studied Mathematics and Physics, I assumed I will never use the Greek Alphabet in my day-to-day life. But Covid changed that. Just when we think this Pandemic is over we face another wave named with a Greek alphabet letter.
We were planning a face to face board meeting in February hoping that if not all some of us will attend.
But once again, we will have a virtual meeting. We are still hoping to have a hybrid conference towards the end of 2022. But who knows? We may be forced to have another virtual conference.
So, stay tuned and keep reading the Insider. At least the Insider is not directly affected.
I still hope to meet you face to face. Until then, take care.
Gary Ben-Israel
IIUG Insider Editor
IIUG Board of Directors
Highlights
IIUG Board Will Have a Virtual Meeting February 4
The IIUG board was planning a meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Due to the Omicron wave, we will have a virtual meeting instead.
Our last face to face meeting was in February 2020. A virtual meeting is not ideal but we will do our best.
I will report in the next Insider.
Gary Ben-Israel
Informix Corner
Security Bulletin
As you know, IBM informix has been affected by the Log4j vulnerability. There are three separate issues here, all of which are fixed by the latest fixes to Informix Server versions 12.10.FC15 and 14.10.FC6 and 14.10.FC7 for all editions.
Today we have posted the latest release of Informix 14.10.FC7W1 to Fix Central here:
This new release is an outright replacement for 14.10.FC6 and 14.10.FC7; these releases are going to be discontinued and permanently withdrawn from service. You should discontinue all usage of 14.10.FC6 and 14.10.FC7 as soon as possible as they are not secure across all editions.
Today we have posted the latest release of Informix 12.10.FC15 to Fix Central here:
There are two updated files at the link above which are the Informix-server.jar and informix-agent.jar files for InformixHQ, for the current release of InformixHQ 1.6.3. These are the same files incorporated into 14.10.FC7W1. There will be a full pack release of 12.10.FC15W1 with the installer for release number purposes in the near future. You should apply the interim fix to the 12.10,FC15 release, as it is not secure across all editions and will be withdrawn permanently from service once the new fix is GA, the date for which is presently unknown.
Finally, the Informix Cloud Pak For Data 4.0.5 will be GA on Jan 16 and also has the Informix fixes for the NEO4J within and available. Upgrade instructions links below will be updated on January 16th with updated commands:
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cloud-paks/cp-data/4.0?topic=informix-upgrading
and here:
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cloud-paks/cp-data/4.0?topic=informix-upgrading-version-40
If you are running earlier versions of Informix Cloud Pak for Data based on Informix 14.10.FC6 or Informix 14.10.FC7, for any available Informix Edition, be advised that those Informix Editions have the known log4j security vulnerabilities and should no longer be run. You should upgrade your version of Informix Cloud Pak for Data as soon as possible.
The 14.10 Fix applies to users with Informix On Cloud that are using any of the above affected versions of Informix. The fix for Informix on Cloud users is the same as outlined above.
The above are the only known IBM Informix server products at this time to be affected by the Log4J vulnerability.
Further info:
Log4j Vulnerability ( CVE-2021-44228 ) in IBM Informix workaround
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6527396
Security Bulletin: IBM Informix Dynamic Server is vulnerable to arbitrary code execution due to Apache Log4j (CVE-2021-44228):
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6536712”
Scott Pickett
Undocumented Change to MIRROR and MIRRORPATH
The Informix v.14.10.FC7w1 release contains the latest Informix technology including: an undocumented change to MIRROR and MIRRORPATH that can affect newly initialized instances using older $ONCONFIG files, minor updates and enhancements to the JDBC driver and IBM GSKit package, a “wait” flag for the oncheck utility, a new “I” onstat flag to display generalized index information within the instance, ReadAhead statistical reporting, changes to CDC/ER capture while implementing an in-place alter and multiple enhancements to IHQ including the remediation for the log4j defect. These enhancements include clearer documentation on several points, more H/A cluster awareness throughout the tool, the ability to see query plans (set explain on), improved search functionality and more.
A replay of the What’s new in 14.10.fc7 presentation will be available soon.
Carlton Doe
Informix Tech Talks on YouTube
Informix Tech Talk: All about Informix data export and Import tools by Art S. Kagel
Date: Thursday, February 10, 2022, 2:00pm EST
Description: Art will share his latest testing on Informix data export and Import tools, loading and unloading data. Art will discuss his newest version of myexport that can do an INFORMIX mode export and import. He will share info on unloads and loads with UNLOAD/LOAD, external tables in DELIMITED mode, external tables in INFORMIX mode, and my binary load/unload utility ul.ec on tables with different types of data.
Please register – https://www.iiug.org/en/services/next-webcast/
Informix Tech Talk: Intro to Informix Performance Tunning by Lester Knutsen
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2022, 2:00 pm EST
Description: Lester Knutsen will present his top 10 Informix Database Servers performance tuning tips. The Webcast is a free introduction to Informix performance from the first lecture of his Advanced Informix Performance Tuning Course. This will also be our first test of a Webcast using Zoom.
Please register – https://www.iiug.org/en/services/next-webcast/
Past Informix Tech Talks
All the past Informix Tech Talks are available as replays on our website at:
https://www.iiug.org/en/category/techtalks/
Informix Tech Talk YouTube Channel
Our channel on YouTube for Informix Users has over 39 Informix Technical Videos, with over 244 subscribers and more the 2,805 views! This YouTube Channel will be a place for Informix how-to videos.
All videos on Informix Tech Talk YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/InformixTechTalksbytheIIUG
The latest updates include:
Informix 1410xC6 Deep dive Part by Carlton Doe
Part 1 – Informix 1410xC6 Deep dive Part 1 – Kernel, Enterprise Replication and SQL features by Carlton Doe – https://youtu.be/XH7EJKtOhu0
Part 2 – Informix 1410xC6 Deep dive Part 2 – IHQ and Backup from RS secondary by Carlton Doe –
https://youtu.be/OlyGu3OQe6Y
Informix 14.10xC6 enhancements by John Lengyel, HCL – https://youtu.be/q8_JMk_BGDI
IIUG World 2021 Sponsor Session Replays. Replays are available here – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlwfsJaThTrcK7BgnFpddg0dsEdnrOX49
234 subscribers, 23 great videos. Subscribe to our channel and enjoy great content.
All Past Tech Talks:
https://www.iiug.org/en/category/techtalks/
Lester Knutsen
Informix Training for 2022 from Advanced DataTools
We have moved our training servers to the cloud. I have taught our Informix for Database Administrators Course and the Advanced Informix Performance Tuning Course in our new cloud environment. We continue developing and updating our course formats for a more flexible combination of instructor-led and self-paced course material with the same performance tuning benchmarks labs.
Our Informix training is:
– Instructor lead online classes by Zoom or WebEx
– Four days of hands-on Informix Experience
– Each student has a separate AWS Informix server for exercises and labs
– Participate in Q&A and collaborative class discussions
– All courses are taught by Lester Knutsen, IBM Informix Lifetime Champion, with over 40 years of Informix experience.
Our two primary Informix courses for 2022
Informix for Database Administrators Training Course – May 9-12, 2022
This course is for new or experienced database administrators, programmers, and technical support personnel setting up and managing Informix 14, 12, or 11 databases. The course is four days course covering the topics listed in the link below.
More info at https://advancedatatools.com/training/dba-course/
Advanced Informix Performance Tuning Course – May 23-26, 2022
This 4-day course is for experienced Informix database administrators and application developers responsible for installing/upgrading, managing, optimizing, and tuning an Informix database server. Informix versions 14, 12, and 11 are covered.
More info at https://advancedatatools.com/training/advanced-course/
Free Informix Tutorial Videos – a step by step approach to using Informix Database Servers are available at https://advancedatatools.com/tech-info/informix-tutorials/
Technical Articles from Advanced DataTools
Over 10 Years of Informix Webcast Replays are available at https://advancedatatools.com/tech-info/past-webcasts/
Over 30 years of Informix Blog posts are available at https://advancedatatools.com/tech-info/all-tech-topics/
Lester Knutsen
RFE Corner
IBM has an RFE – Request For Enhancements website.
https://ibm-data-and-ai.ideas.aha.io/?project=INFX
Please visit this site to vote for your favorite enhancements and place new requests. It is friendly and has a nice look and feel.
Recent
Need a function or pseudo-field to return the number of elements in a BSON array
Foreign keys to use compound indexes
Foreign keys to be able to use compound indexes.
Add ability to disable temp table auditing
Enhance dbschema to generate SQL for sysuser entries
Enable chunk rename during log recovery
Add Informix to HammerDB benchmarking tool
Increase the length of Informix usernames
Popular (Over 50 votes)
Obtain the query plan of a running query
Many times a DBA is called to check upon a slow process. Most of the times those processes are running a slow query.
Sometimes it’s hard to know if the query is using the best query plan or not. A DBA can reproduce the query, but it it was prepared without values or if the statistics were changed after it started there is no guarantee that the query plan seen by the DBA is the same as the running query.
We have “onstat -g pqs” which sometimes can give us a clue, but it’s mostly cryptic and undocumented. If a user has X-Windows he can try xtree, but it’s a bit strange for todays standards.
We also have SQLTRACE, but if it was not set when the query was launched it will not capture the info (and besides, due to the circular nature of the buffer it may not be there at the time we need it).
A simple pseudo-table in sysmaster could probably implement this with ease.
It could also be extended to support the “last” query plan making it easy to get the query plan in any tool
Votes: 99 (+0)
Created: December 24, 2018
Status: Future consideration
Informix should be able to change owner on tables and any other objects
If user=informix creates all database and all tables, then programmer creates table but user=informix cannot change it. Only drop it.
Votes: 92 (+0)
Created: December 24, 2018
Status: Future consideration
Backup Individual database, not entire instance
Need a mechanism, similar to ontape, to backup a live database (as opposed to entire instance), without locking it.
Votes: 85 (+0)
Created: December 24, 2018
Status: Future consideration
Gary Ben-Israel
IBM Informix Forum Corner
Join and visit the IBM Informix community forum at http://www.iiug.org/community
Recent posts
session(s) taking the most cpu ressources
Which latest version of Informix can AIX 6.1 install
Gary Ben-Israel
Informix Resources
IIUG Website
www.iiug.org
IBM Informix community
http://www.iiug.org/community
Informix Blogs and Wikis
Please note: The list below contains only blogs that were active in the last six months.
There was nothing new in the past six months.
Technical Articles
https://www.oninitgroup.com/technical-articles/
https://www.oninitgroup.com/faq-items/cloud-backups-with-informix-14-10/
Social Media
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/InformixTechTalksbytheIIUG
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/25049
Twitter : https://twitter.com/iiug
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/IIUG.Informix
Forums, Groups, Videos, and Magazines
-
The IIUG old forums at http://www.iiug.org/forums/technical.php *** NO LONGER ACTIVE ***
-
Informix Marketing channel on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/informixmarketing?feature=results_main
Closing and Credits
The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an organization designed to enhance communications between its worldwide user community and IBM. The IIUG’s membership database now exceeds 25,000 entries and enjoys the support and commitment of IBM’s Information Management division. Key programs include local user groups and special interest groups, which we promote and assist from launch through growth.
Sources: IIUG Board of Directors
IBM Corp.
Editors: Gary Ben-Israel, Rhonda Hackenburg
For comments, please send an email to gary@iiug.org or rhonda@iiug.org
