Comments on: Installing Informix on a Mac

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:32:05 +0000

Glad to hear the issues are being fixed! My previous project used DB2 Express-C on the Mac developer workstations. It did not receive updates that the Windows and other versions did. (Mac is still at version 9.5 while others are at 9.7.) For anyone else who happens to read this, what is the recommended way to find the most up-to-date downloads on IBM's site? Google searches tend to point to apparently out of date resources. Searching the IBM site itself, I tend to end up chasing my tail. I was able to find a relatively simple path to get to the page that Judy mentions without using the direct link:

Go to ibm.com and sign in if you are not already
Use the top menu to find: Products/Informix
Select "Trials and Demos" from the menu on the left
Click on "Informix Dynamic Server Enterprise and Developer Editions" in the middle
Fill out the form with information that you have had to provide almost every time you access IBM's site (of course the questions never seem to be quite the same
Submit the form and if the redirects work correctly you will be on the page Judy links to.

That sounds simple enough given the number of products IBM has to support, and you can save a click if on the Informix product page you scroll to the bottom and click the "Trial software: IDS Enterprise and Developer Editions" link in the middle. The problem is really that form step. Let's say you download what you need, install it and then delete the installer. Someone else wants the download so you go to download it for them. You have to fill the form out again. Better yet, let's say you see something of potential interest and click on a link before downloading. If you try to navigate back using the same path rather than the back button you have to fill out the form again. Note that this is the case even though you have a logged in account.

By: Judy

Judy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:02:44 +0000

A better mac DE installation to point to is here:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/downloads/im/ids/dev.html?S_TACT=105AGX28&S_CMP=DLMAIN

the one in your link above is to an older version (we need to fix that). The new version has fixes, including those for some of the UID issues you’re finding. thanks!

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:39:49 +0000

Thanks Carlton, this is the same one that Eric mentions above. As I mention in part 2, this is more up-to-date, but still not quite current as far as where to find the latest/most appropriate version of the Mac Server Admin Tools at least. A better question is... how do you know where to find these and find out when they are updated? For other folks' benefit, it seems Carlton is Carlton Dee, the author of a number of books on Informix. Hopefully, he will point us to the place he posts when updates to his install guide happen.

By: Carlton

Carlton — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:30:34 +0000

As an FYI, a much more up-to-date installation guide has been available here for some time: http://www.xmission.com/~dbaresrc/Intro_IDS_on_Mac_v3.pdf

By: Informix on a Mac, Part 2 | Practically Agile

Informix on a Mac, Part 2 | Practically Agile — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:57:09 +0000

[...] I posted my technique for installing Informix on a Mac. Well, it turns out I wrote just a bit too soon. What I had was indeed working, but only for the [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:28:31 +0000

Thank you for the pointer. I am having some difficulty at present getting a JDBC connection to the IDS demo database. I believe some of the information in that PDF may help. That said, I have noticed at least one outdated piece of information (the download location for the Server Admin Tools to get the Workgroup Manager). As I attempt to fix my issues, I will post the updates here.

By: Eric Herber

Eric Herber — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:09:19 +0000

Nice summary about installing IDS on the MAC. Well done.

You might also consider this PDF document about installing IDS on the MAC:

http://www.xmission.com/~dbaresrc/Intro_IDS_on_Mac_v3.pdf

-Eric