Highlights: Getting More from Informix High Availability – Without Unexpected Licensing Costs
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 Informix community.
Table of Contents
Editorial
There is a lot of new stuff in Informix. I believe there is much more to come. This also depend on you.
If you want new features or bugs fixed go to https://ibm-data-and-ai.ideas.aha.io/?project=INFX and open a new RFE or vote for one you like.
I’m sad to see that after all the effort done in Informix v15 to unite HCL Informix and IBM Informix, HCL chose to have once more two separate products with a different feature. And once again we have IBM Informix and HCL Informix. I hope it will change.
Gary Ben-Israel
IIUG Insider Editor
IIUG Board of Directors
gary@iiug.org
If you missed April’s Tech Talks announcing Informix standalone contain by Daniel Weber You can view the replay on our IIUG Tech Talks channel on YouTube. We also have our next Tech Talks scheduled for May 14 at 1:00 EDT. Join Paul Watson as he shares “How to do clever crap with tools from Oninit”. See the Tech Talks section below for more information.
I hope you saw the email we sent looking for Tech Talks presentations. If you have something you would like to share with the IIUG Community, you can let us know. We would love to hear from you!
Finalizing for the Informix 15 badge will be completed shortly. We will share the details once we know them.
As mentioned last month, the Call for Speakers is now open for IBM TechXchange 2026, October 26-29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Please submit your proposals for this year’s event. Don’t forget, IBM is offering a 30% discount to register for this event.
Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Insider Co-Editor
IIUG Board of Directors
rhonda@iiug.org
Highlights
Getting More from Informix High Availability – Without Unexpected Licensing Costs
For a deeper dive into how these configurations impact licensing considerations for IBM-Informix, read the full article here: https://community.ibm.com/community/user/blogs/anup-nair/2026/04/28/ibm-informix-ha-compliance
Anup Nair
Principal Technical Product Manager, IBM-Informix
Conference Corner
IBM TechXchange Conference 2026 – Call for Session Now Open!
October 26 – 29, 2026
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Key Dates:
- May 22 – Submissions due
- June 30 – Acceptance notifications sent
Receive a 30% discount to IBM TechXchange 2026 if you register now.
NOTE: You will be taken to the IBM sign in page to register and submit your session for this event. You must have an IBM account for this event. There is a link on the page to create your IBM account.
Stay tuned for future updates!
Invite colleagues to join us at IBM TechXchange 2026!
We can’t wait to see you in Atlanta in 2026!
#IIUG #IBMTechXchange #Informix
Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board
Informix Corner
Bring AI Closer to HCL Informix® 15 with the New Vector Blade
IMPORTANT: If you did not purchase your Informix from HCL this will not work for you
AI adoption often comes with a cost: new infrastructure, added complexity, and more systems to manage. The new vector blade, developed by Actian for HCL Informix® 15, takes a different approach.
It introduces a native vector data type with full read and write support, enabling you to store embeddings, perform similarity search using standard SQL, and integrate directly with AI frameworks for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and semantic search.
This approach reflects a long-standing pattern in the evolution of Informix. As Jean-Georges Perrin of Actian’s CTO Office notes, each time a new data paradigm emerges, Informix evolves to support it natively rather than requiring customers to adopt new systems. That philosophy has guided HCL Informix from early innovations in time series, spatial, and JSON data to today’s vector capabilities.
Why Native Vector Data Support Matters
Instead of introducing another database for AI workloads, the vector blade extends the one you already trust. There’s no separate vector store to deploy, no data duplication or synchronization pipelines, and no need to learn new query languages or APIs.
With vector support built directly into the engine, HCL Informix can power:
- Semantic search across documents and knowledge bases
- Recommendation engines based on similarity
- RAG applications for AI-driven insights
- Smarter search across operational data
Organizations adopting vector capabilities can benefit from:
- Faster development cycles
- Reduced infrastructure overhead
- Improved search performance and relevance
These capabilities are built on the proven strengths of HCL Informix, including ACID compliance, enterprise-grade security, and support for on-premises and hybrid deployments.
A Practical Path to AI
The vector blade provides a practical path to AI by allowing you to extend HCL Informix without replatforming or adding complexity.
You’re not introducing another system. You’re evolving the one you already rely on.
Nick Johnson
HCL
Informix Tech Talks on YouTube – Thursday, May 14, 1:00 EDT
Upcoming Informix Tech Talks
Title: How to do clever crap with tools from Oninit
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM EDT
Speaker: Paul Watson
Description: This technical session will cover a set of tools developed by Oninit, some of which are candidates for open source release. The first tool, logripper, is built on top of the Informix Change Data Capture (CDC) APIs and is designed to extract logical log data efficiently. It can decode and transform log records into multiple output formats, making it useful for auditing, troubleshooting, replication, and downstream data processing use cases. The tool provides flexible filtering and formatting options, allowing users to target specific transactions, tables, or operations.
The second tool is an AF analyzer, a rules-based parser focused on Informix Assertion Failure (AF) files. It scans and interprets AF outputs to identify known patterns, anomalies, and potential root causes. By applying a configurable rule set, the analyzer can highlight likely issues, correlate symptoms, and assist in faster diagnosis of engine problems. This helps reduce the time required to triage incidents and improves consistency in analysis across environments.
Bio: Paul Watson has been using Informix for 35 years, moving to consultancy after 5 years. Along with three other consults formed Oninit (UK), and eventually Oninit (US) in 2006. Paul travels globally specializing in ER, Timeseries and UDR work. Building a Data Warehouse with Informix and MariaDB.
Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board
Last Informix Tech Talks Replay
Replay of the Last Informix Tech Talks: April 2026 – IBM Informix Kubernetes Containers – by Daniel Weber, HCL Informix Container Development Lead
Informix Tech Talks YouTube Channel
Our YouTube Channel now has:
- 594 subscribers (2 new subscribers)
- 121 videos (1 new video)
- 27,176 views (201 additional views)
Informix Tech Talks YouTube Channel Videos
Past Informix Tech Talks Replays
In Search of Tech Talks Speakers
We are looking for passionate voices to present at our monthly Tech Talks for 2026! Whether you are a seasoned expert or a fresh voice in the community, your insights can spark the next big breakthrough.
Why Join Us?
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Connect: Engage with a global community of Informix peers.
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Support: Help others solve challenges by sharing what you know well.
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Grow: Build your professional brand with the IIUG and Informix ecosystem.
Presentations need only be 15 – 45 minutes. You won’t need to do this alone; the board will assist you with preparing you presentation.
Tech Talks are normally the third Thursday of the month around 1:00 pm ET. However, we are willing to adjust the timing to meet your needs. The IIUG promotes the event and will set up the registration for the event.
All presentations are recorded and will be offered as replays on our YouTube Tech Talks channel page.
Maybe you are too shy to be a presenter. If you have a topic you would like to see as a presentation, you can submit the topic to us and we will try to find a presenter.
You don’t have to be an IIUG member to present or attend the Tech Talks. If you are interested, please contact either Art Kagel or Bruce Simms for additional information.
Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board
Informix Training
Free Informix Tutorials Videos – a step-by-step approach to using Informix Database Servers is available at https://advancedatatools.com/tech-info/informix-tutorials/
2026 Update to Informix Badging Process
The Informix v15 Certification is almost ready
The Informix v15 Certification is almost ready. The ETA we have received for GA is end of March / early April. We completed the final workshop today to finalize the exam questions, and the certification is now going through the publication process.
As you know, this certification will be administered by the IBM Certification team with the support of third-party testing providers. Depending on the geo the fee ranges from $100-$200.
Anup Nair
IBM
RFE Corner
IBM has an RFE – Request For Enhancements website.
Please visit the RFE site to vote for your favorite enhancements and place new requests. It is friendly and has a nice look and feel.
Recent
There were no new submissions.
Popular
Informix should be able to change owner on tables and any other objects (110 votes)
Backup Individual database, not entire instance (95 votes)
IBM Informix Forum Corner
Join and visit the IBM Informix Community Forum
Recent Posts:
Unexpected RSS authentication failure for ‘leap16_2_c_tcp’ during the Initialization Phase.
Need advice on compiling dostats utility
Table /fragment size monitoring
Java Version for Informix Installation
Finally IBM release a Grafana plugin
ESQL/C and 4GL issue with OPTOFC=1 when mixing OPEN USING and OPEN without USING
IDS 14.10.FC13 compatibility with other Informix tools
Informix 15 compatibility mode
Informix JDBC 15.x download place
Petty comments on Version 15 …
Error -25587 using a shared memory connection.
LVARCHAR to CLOB data casting via encrypt and decrypt
Install IBM Informix 15 on openSUSE 16 (Leap) and default java install … and permissions not set
onstat -x and sysmaster:systrans
Rhonda Hackenburg
IIUG Board
Informix Resources
IIUG Website
Not a member? Become an IIUG member and keep updated on all things Informix. It’s free.
IBM Informix Community
Not a member, join the IBM Informix community and connect with other Informix data experts.
Blogs / Newsletters
Art Kagel – https://informix-myview.blogspot.com/
Mary Schulte – ACTIAN https://www.actian.com/blog/databases/user-friendly-external-smartblobs-using-a-shadow-directory/
Gerd Kaluzinski – German Informix Newsletter – NEW!!
IBM Informix RFE
IBM Informix RFE – Informix Requests for Enhancements.
Technical Articles
Oninit Group
WAIUG (Washington Area Informix User Group) Tech Tips
Over 10 Years of Informix Webcast Replays
Over 30 Years of Informix Blog Posts
Social Media
| YouTube | X |
IIUG’s own Art Kagel was recently features on the Tech Sharmit Podcast to talk about his life and involvement with Informix and database systems.
Catch the podcast here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l81pLa7i-J0)
Forums, Groups, Videos, and Magazines
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 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