Migrating Informix® (non-in-place migration)

Depending on your existing database server setup, you might need to move to a new architecture or a different server. This type of migration is more complicated than in-place migration. It requires more planning and it is more time consuming.

The non-in-place type of migration consists of these steps:

1. Prepare your system. That includes closing all transactions, verifying the integrity of the data with oncheck, and performing a level-0 backup. If you are using Enterprise Replication or High-Availability Data Replication, stop replication. Save a copy of your current database schema (dbschema -d dbname -ss).
2. Install the new product on a new machine.
3. Initialize the Informix® Version 15.0.0 instance.
4. Modify your database schema for new extent sizes, lock mode changes, new dbspaces, small vs. large tables, etc.
5. Create a database with the new schema.
6. Move data by using the appropriate utility or tool, or by using distributed queries.
7. After Informix® migration, review and upgrade applications before running them. Also, if you use Enterprise Replication or high-availability clusters, you must perform additional tasks.