IBM DB2 manual Compatibility, Multiple instance compatibility, Client /Server compatibility

To read more about db2cli.ini and keyword option, use the DB2 Information Center:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v9r5/topic/com.ibm.db2.luw.apdv

.cli.doc/doc/c0007882.html

Note: The initialization file is NOT a part of the configuration profile. You have to handle them separately.

3.1.5 Compatibility

You also have to consider compatibility issues in the deployment planning.

Multiple instance compatibility

If the application must coexist with other applications that use DB2, you might face compatibility problems. You must decide if all the DB2 dependent applications can use the same client, or if multiple clients are required.

DB2 does support multiple instances of clients on the same machine. These instances might be of different versions or multiple instances of the same version. However, the compatibility considerations should be extended beyond DB2. An example is the use of distributed transactions, where the application is dependent on an external transaction manager. This transaction manager might not be able to handle more than one DB2 instances, which is the case with Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC).

Client /Server compatibility

DB2 clients are backwards compatible, which means that you are not bound to have the same version level of DB2 on the client side as on the server side. Refer to Table 1-3 on page 12 for a matrix that shows the compatibility between different client and server versions.

If any of your clients differ in version from the server, or if any of your clients are running on a different platform than the server, you will require at least one IBM Data Server Client for each version/platform that differs from the server. The reason is that a given client requires some bound packages on the server. These packages are created though the bind files that only come with the IBM Data Server Client. The packages are automatically bound the first time you connect through the IBM Data Server Client. The only scenario where you do not require the IBM Data Server Client is when all the clients are the exact same version as the server and they are running on the same operating system

Chapter 3. DB2 client deployment 93