IBM Data Server Driver restrictions

Application deployment can take advantage of IBM® Data Server Driver Package. However, certain restrictions apply.

The following restrictions apply to IBM Data Server Driver Package:
  • You cannot install any other database product in the same path with the IBM Data Server Driver Package.
  • On Windows operating systems, you can install a maximum of 16 copies of IBM Data Server Driver Package.
  • To connect to Db2® for z/OS® or Db2 for IBM i server, you must register a Db2 Connect license key. (Retrieve the license file from your Passport Advantage® distribution, for example db2conpe.lic, and then copy the license file to the license directory under the directory where the driver was installed.)
  • XA connections against Db2 for z/OS server are supported. However, XA connections against Db2 for IBM i server are not supported.
  • If you use the IBM data server driver configuration file (db2dsdriver.cfg) to specify aliases, the following entries must contain a value:
    • <dsncollection> entries (alias, name, host, and port)
    • <database> entries (name, host, port).
  • The CLI/ODBC configuration keyword DBNAME is not supported.
  • Only the attributes sql_attr_use_load_api and sql_attr_load_message_file are supported.
  • IBM Data Server Driver package only supports the JDBC type 4 driver.
  • The CLIENT type authentication is not supported with IBM Data Server Driver Package or IBM Data Server Driver for ODBC and CLI. The CLIENT type authentication type is ignored if specified.
  • There is a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version of the IBM Data Server Driver Package, however, you cannot have both a 32-bit copy and a 64-bit copy of the software installed at the same time.

Functionality supported with restrictions

  • There is no local database directory. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is supported. As CLP is not part of the IBM Data Server Driver product, CLP commands that are related to LDAP are not supported. Starting with Db2 Version 10.5 Fix Pack 5, LDAP cache is saved to the IBM data server driver configuration file by entering the DB2CLI REFRESH LDAP command. Information about the LDAP databases that are stored in the local catalog is also automatically populated to the IBM data server driver configuration file when you run the db2dsdcfgfill command.
  • Runtime support for embedded SQL is available with the following restrictions:
    • Support is runtime only; there is no PREP or BIND capability.
    • Support is available for DDL and DML SQL statements that are called from EXEC SQL or cursors.
    • When reading the db2dsdriver.cfg configuration file, embedded SQL applications can access connection information (for example, database name, host name, and port number), automatic client reroute (ACR) related parameters, workload balancing (WLB) related parameters, connection parameters, and listed communication-related parameters from the database section:
      • ReceiveTimeout
      • ConnectionTimeout
      • tcpipConnectTimeout
      • MemberConnectTimeout
      • keepAliveTimeOut
      • CommProtocol
      • Authentication
      • SSLClientLabel
      • TargetPrincipal
      • SecurityTransportMode
      • SSLclientkeystoredb
      • SSLclientkeystash
      • SSLClientKeystoredbPassword
    • The following APIs are not supported:
      • APIs for loading (db2Load and db2LoadQuery), exporting (db2Export), and importing (db2Import) data.
      • API for getting the current user authorities (sqluadau).
      • API for forcing users and applications off the system (sqlefrce).
  • Executing an embedded compound statement with nested statement is not supported.
  • The db2look utility is supported with the IBM Data Server Driver Package. However, the db2look utility issues administrative commands, some of which might fail with errors such as SQL1013N.

Functionality not supported

  • Command Line Processor (CLP)
  • Administrative APIs
  • Installation program
  • Visual Explain (VE) tool
  • Optimization Service Center (OSC) tool
  • The CLIENT type authentication is not supported by the IBM Data Server Driver for ODBC and CLI and by the IBM Data Server Driver Package.
  • The MAP file support as used in DCS directory is not supported with SQLCODEMAP db2dsdriver.cfg, db2cli.ini, connection string keyword, and SQL_ATTR_SQLCODEMAP connection attribute.