Creating databases and testing the connection of a IBM Informix DB

This blog post will be mainly focused on how to start / stop the informix server. Create a database and table etc.

Login from informix user and run the server instance

Login with the informix windows user that was created during the installation and simply search for informix under start and you will find a server instance similar to "ol_informix1210". Run the server instance as Administrator.

Basic commands to get started with informix

Run the below commands in the cmd that was open.

• Start informix server - oninit -ivy
• Shut down informix server - onmode -ky
• Check server status   - onstat -g dis

Create Informix DB

Use the command "dbaccess" cmd to navigate to db creation section. You will be getting the following options.

Navigate to Database  - > Create

Provide a suitable name for the database which needs to be created.

Select a DB space

After selecting a DB space select  "Create-new-database" and click enter. This will create the new database.

Create a table

Select the DB that was created and go to tables section the select "Create" and provide a table name.

Add columns as your requirement refer below pic to get an idea.

Once you are done select "Build-new-table" this will create the table.

Connect and test the informix DB created

You can use a client like DBeaver to connect to the database you created. You have to provide the host, Port, server,database/Schema, username and password in order to connect to the server.

NOTE - Informix by default binds a ipv6 for the port. So to connect to the db follow the below sample.

* You can use a simple tool such as cports to view the ports and the address that it is bind to or you can use the command

netstat -a | findstr 'Port number' 


jdbc connection URL looks like this, which needs for the connection.

jdbc:informix-sqli://{hostip}:{port}/{DBName}:INFORMIXSERVER={InformixServerName}

jdbc:informix-sqli://fe80::f16e:99a8:22ca:682:9088/test:INFORMIXSERVER=ol_informix1210

Now you can view the table that was created via dbeaver client

Binding the Port to a IP V4  

After the installation you will be able to see a separate option called the 'IBM informix' in the start menu. You can create any number of server instances from the 'Server Instance Manager' tool under that option the Start Menu.

In informix you have the possibility to create a server with a IP V4 or IP V6. We can create a IP V4 from the 'Server Instance Manager'.

From there you will be asked to set a 'service name' and a 'port number'  while proceeding.  Set the desired values for these fields, So they can be referred lately.