To: ids@iiug.org (ids@iiug.org)

Hi all,

we have the problem that longer lasting remote client sessions on informix databases are interrupted by the firewalls, particulary when no packets were sent. It's possible to configure the port on the firewall to extend the time before the connection is
interrupted. The disadvantage is that you never know if the time you choose is long enough or if you found all database-server ports.

We found a parameter which can be set in the sqlhosts file of the server, if I understand aright.

From http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21160988

To enable the keep-alive option for an Informix database server TCP port, specify k=1 in the fifth column of the related line of the server in the sqlhosts file. The following table is a summary of possible setting of the keep-alive option in an IBM
Informix server sqlhosts file and its results.
k setting in the options field Result

k=0 Disables keep-alive feature: this means the local TCP driver does not check whether a connection is active. For example, from a PC, if you make a connection to an IBM Informix database server, and then switch off the PC, then netstat -a and onstat
-u
shows the TCP and database network connection are still established. The TCP connection is never terminated until stopping and restarting the Informix server.

k=1 Enables the keep-alive feature

My question: Does this setting solve the issue? Or can it cause unexpected side-effects.

Thanks,

Reinhard  Habichtsberg
Dienstleistungsverantwortlicher IT-Rechenzentrum
Solaris- und Datenbanksysteme
Abrechnungszentrum Emmendingen
Tel.: 07641/9201-203

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