The ifxdeployassist command

Use the ifxdeployassist command to create and customize a snapshot. If you do not pass any options on the command line, the deployment assistant runs in GUI mode.

Syntax


1  ifxdeployassist?   -a archive_format?   -f path_name?   -i connectivity_information?   -c
1?   -d?   -n
2?   -h
2?   -v

Command options

Table 1. Options for the ifxdeployassist command
Option Purpose Key Considerations
-a archive_format

Specifies the archive format and compression type to save the snapshot.

The following values can be used in the place of archive_format:

  • BZIP2 (tar archive with BZip2 compression)
  • GZIP (tar archive with GZIP compression)
  • TAR (tar archive with no compression)
  • ZIP (zip archive with compression)
 If you do not pass the -a option in the command, the snapshot is saved as a tar archive with Gzip compression. If you use the standard Gzip format to create snapshots of data spaces, each data chunk must be less than or equal to 4 GB.
-f path_name Specifies the path and file name of the snapshot to be created. If you do not specify the -f option, the default file name of the server snapshot is:

server_name_yymmdd-hhmm.tar.gz

The server_name is the name of the server. The yymmdd-hhmm is the time the snapshot is taken.

The default file name of the data snapshot is:

server_name_yymmdd-hhmm_db.tar.gz

The archive and compression selection set by the value in the -a option overrides any archive and compression settings indicated in the file name suffix set with the -f option. For example, if a command contains the following:ifxdeployassist -a TAR -f C:\HCL OneDB™\server.zip then the snapshot will be saved as a tar archive with no compression rather than as a zip archive with compression.
-i connectivity_information

Specifies the connectivity information for the template instance from which to create a snapshot. If you do not use the -i option, the deployment assistant detects the connectivity information from the current environment and uses the same connectivity settings.

In the place of connectivity_information, indicate specific connectivity settings for the snapshot to use after it is deployed. Set values for the following variables, separated by colons without spaces:
  • name of the database server instance
  • name of the template computer for which the database server instance is configured
  • service port number
  • protocol for the connection

The only valid values for the protocol information are SQLI and DRDA. If no protocol is specified, the command sets the connection to SQLI.

The connectivity information here is contained in the sqlhosts file.

Example: ifxdeployassist -i hrapps:oscar:40:DRDA
-c Directs the deployment assistant to run in a command-line interface. The -c option is required only if you are taking a snapshot of an instance that you do not want to customize (that is, accept all features of the template instance), but want to capture the snapshot in a scripting environment.
-d Includes the data associated with the instance in the snapshot.
-n Captures a snapshot without the HCL OneDB database server instance installation. You must run the -d option in the command in order to use the -n option.
-h Displays the online help for the ifxdeployassist command.
-v Runs the ifxdeployassist command in verbose mode.

Usage

If you run the ifxdeployassist command without any options, the deployment assistant starts in GUI mode instead of as a command-line interface.

Examples of script-based usage of the deployment assistant

The examples of snapshot creation and modification below are based on a Windows™ environment in which:

  • An installation of the HCL OneDB database server exists in C:\informix.
  • The ifxdeployassist command is run in C:\informix\bin.
  • The INFORMIXSERVER environment variable is set to informix1.
  • The template instance has data associated with it.
Snapshot containing only the data space for the server

The following command creates a snapshot of the server only at C:\informix\bin\informix1.tar.gz.

ifxdeployassist -c
Snapshot containing the server and data, with specified archive type and full path name, from a template instance outside the current environment variable setting

The following command creates a snapshot of the database server at C:\temp\snapshot_1.zip and of the associated data at C:\temp\snapshot_1_db.zip. The value informix2:localhost:9090 directs the deployment assistant to take a snapshot of the informix2 instance, which is configured for localhost, and to set the service port to 9090. Because neither DRDA® nor SQLI is specified after 9090, the connectivity port of the snapshot is set to use the SQLI protocol.

ifxdeployassist -c -d -i informix2:localhost:9090
 -a zip -f C:\temp\snapshot_1
Snapshot in specified archive type capturing only the data associated with the instance, running in verbose mode

The following command creates a snapshot of data at C:\Informix\bin\informix2_db.tar. The template instance, host computer name, and connectivity information used are the same as described in the previous example. 

ifxdeployassist -cvndi informix2:localhost:9090 -a tar