HOWTO: PHP Informix client support

[drsound]

I was just asked to add Informix support to mod_php running on a Gentoo Linux server (x86): it should be used to develop a PHP application accessing an Informix server running on a Sco Unix. I was completely new to Informix, so I looked for info on the Internet and I got some connection parameters from existing ODBC connections on Windows workstations. In particular I copied from ODBC parameters (without further investigation) the "onsoctcp" communication protocol (it looks like there are several communication protocols available) and the "firm_name_01" parameter (should be the "database server name": beware it's not the DNS name of the host running the Informix server! Probably it's assigned when you install the Informix server). Here are the steps I needed, hope it helps:

0) Download the Informix client from IBM website: I got "Informix Client SDK V2.81.UC3 32 bit for Linux on Intel" (clientsdk.2.81.UC3.LINUX-I32.tar).

1) groupadd informix ; useradd -g informix -d /dev/null informix

2) mkdir /opt/informix

3) Move clientsdk.2.81.UC3.LINUX-I32.tar to /opt/informix and untar it.

4) You will need cpio, so if you haven't do emerge cpio.

5) Unpack csdk.cpi using cpio -idumB <csdk.cpi (notice the absence of the "c" flag in cpio parameters, it would not work otherwise).

6) Within the unpacked files there will be 3 or 4 scripts (installclientsdk, etc. can't remember the names now): modify them searching for "cpio" and removing all "c" flag references (see previous step).

7) Run installclientsdk.

8) Create the file /etc/env.d/99informix containing the following lines:
INFORMIXDIR=/opt/informix
PATH=/opt/informix/bin
ODBCINI=/opt/informix/etc/odbc.ini
INFORMIXSERVER=firm_name_01
LDPATH=/opt/informix/lib:/opt/informix/lib/esql:/opt/informix/lib/cli:/opt/informix/lib/client

NB: substitute "firm_name_01" with your "database server name".

9) env-update ; source /etc/profile

10) Edit /opt/informix/etc/sqlhosts adding the parameters needed to establish a connection to the Informix server. In my case they were "firm_name_01 onsoctcp 192.168.0.1 1526".
Field 1 is the name of the database server (the same used in step number 8), field 2 is the communication protocol (often referred to as "nettype" in Informix's documentation), field 3 is the DNS name or IP address, field 4 is the service name or port number.

11) If you want you can test your connection trying some of the demos in /opt/informix/demo. I wasn't so successful in this: I suppose you have to create some db/tables/permissions on the server to let the demos work. Anyway if you get some error code you can use /opt/informix/bin/finderr to get a textual description.

12) Add the "informix" use flag in /etc/make.conf and emerge mod_php.

13) Add these lines to /etc/apache2/conf/apache2.conf:
SetEnv INFORMIXDIR /opt/informix
SetEnv ODBCINI /usr/local/etc/odbc.ini
SetEnv INFORMIXSERVER firm_name_01

14) The /etc/init.d/apache2 scripts clears the environment (env -i) before starting the Apache daemon, but we need to preserve some variables if we want mod_php to work, so modify the script this way (the original lines are commented):
#env -i PATH=$PATH /sbin/start-stop-daemon --quiet \
# --start --startas /usr/sbin/apache2 \
# --pidfile ${PIDFILE} -- -k start ${APACHE2_OPTS}
env -i \
PATH=$PATH:/opt/informix/bin \
INFORMIXSERVER=firm_name_01 \
INFORMIXDIR=/opt/informix \
ODBCINI=/opt/informix/etc/odbc.ini \
/sbin/start-stop-daemon --quiet \
--start --startas /usr/sbin/apache2 \
--pidfile ${PIDFILE} -- -k start ${APACHE2_OPTS}

NB: if you use the statement VARIABLE=$VARIABLE (as for PATH) it will not work when Apache is started at boot time, probably because Apache is started before the variables in /etc/profile are added to the environment.

15) /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

16) Execute a phpinfo() to check if PHP sees the environment variables: looking in the "PHP Variables" section you should see the values you added in /etc/apache2/conf/apache2.conf as _SERVER variables (example _SERVER["INFORMIXDIR"]="/opt/informix") and the ones you added in /etc/init.d/apache2 as _ENV variables (example _ENV["INFORMIXDIR"]="/opt/informix").

[Niosop]

My current project requires interfacing with an HP-UX Informix DB. I was dreading setting this up, as all the information I had gathered so far was fragmentary. Then I found this post (I should have known it would be on gentoo forums, everything is) and it worked like a charm.

Thanks so much for posting this, I'm sure it saved me hours (or more likely, days) of pounding my head trying to get it to work.

Very appreciatively,
Niosop

P.S. I especially like the cpio arguments -idumB. Was that intentional on your part?

[EDIT] You may also want to move step 7 to after step 9 as the installclientsdk script wants the env vars set.

[queru]

Same for 2.90.UC3?

Thanks.
_________________
queru - http://queru.org
Linux Registered User: 170191

[queru]

This works for me until yesterday. In the today upgrade of apache2, changes are made by Gentoo in the location of the files. I adjust everything, re-emerge the mod_php, and all that I get is:

[queru]

Ok, it works now.

Is really very very important to see the INFORMIX vars in the _ENV array in a phpinfo() page. I only can get this using this start function in /etc/init.d/apache2 bash script:

[midan]

in /etc/conf.d/apache2

# Environment variables to keep
# All environment variables are cleared from apache
# Use this to preserve some of them
# NOTE!!! It's very important that this contains PATH
# Also, it will fail if the _value_ of any of these variables contains a space
KEEPENV="PATH INFORMIXDIR INFORMIXSERVER"

and there is no need to modify /etc/init.d/apache2 bash script:

[5Ball]

Since there is only one INFORMIXSERVER environment variable set in the Apache configuration file, is it not possible to connect to more than one database server?

[Niosop]

After hours of pounding my head, I've finally got PHP5+Informix client working on a new AMD64 server. I didn't document everything I did, because I didn't really think I'd get it to work, but here are some hints for anyone trying to do the same. If you attempt it, please document it and post it here.

-Download the 64 bit Linux Informix client SDK from IBM.
-Do everything in the original post
-Using rpm and cpio, run all the install programs you can. I never got all the way through w/o errors, but evidentally enough was finished to get it to work.
-Comment out the informix entry in /usr/portage/profiles/default-linux/amd64/use.mask
-Start a dev-lang/php emerge, but at some point your going to have to Control-Z and fix the file described in http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-php-maint/2005-September/000194.html
-Resume the emerge w/ fg.

After that, it should work ok.

The configure script and/or Makefile should really be fixed instead of the ugly pause compiling/fix file/resume hack above, but that's for someone wiser than me.

Hope this helps someone.

[asommer]

Hello,

I found this thread and thought FREAKIN Awesome I need Informix on Gentoo...

Then I realized I'm running an AMD64...heh

Anyway, I finally got the informix client-sdk to run on Gentoo. I did it in a sort of round about way:

[mafonso]

Hello, list

I need to install php with informix support, but seems that informix is no longer supported in portage (read somewhere that the informix use flag was removed...)

Do I need to do it all 'by hand'? (downloading source from php site, configure, make and make install...)

The machine is an AMD64

thanks in advance.

btw, merry christmas

[mafonso]

Hi

I did this (after installed the IBM client sdk and setted all the environment variables):

[mafonso]

hum... I guess I can't use ifx_* anymore...

the sintax from php v5.2.1 on is something like:

[mafonso]

I found this.

I successfully compiled and installed informix.so from php 5.2.0.
ifx_connect apparently works, but php segfaults with an ifx_query

The problem may be something about informix configuration, or the module informix.so just doesn't work

I'm also trying to connect with pdo like this: