Upgrading OS & Informix

Netters, We bundle Informix with our product. Till date the products in the field run Informix 4.0 on Odt1.1(Unix 3.2). We have decided to upgrade the product to Informix 5.0 running on Odt2.0(Unix 3.4). Challenge is to upgrade both SCO-Odt and Informix in the field simultaneously. I have already experimented with loading Informix 5.0 (Unix 3.2 port) on Odt1.1 and know the issues involved with new OnLine parameters etc. But having to wipe the disk clean for SCO upgrade complicates the problem. What would general approach for upgrade be? a. Take archive (tbtape -s) of Informix 4.0 raw-devices present on Odt 1.1 Load Odt 2.0 and Informix 5.0 Restore database This can work only if Informix Restore utility is fully backward compatible i.e. 4.0 archives (from Odt1.1) can be restored to 5.0 engine (on Odt 2.0) b. Load Informix 5.0 (Odt2.0 port) on Odt 1.1 Take archive of Informix 4.0 raw-devices Load Odt 2.0 & Reload Informix 5.0 Restore database This can work only if Informix Restore utility is partly backward compatible i.e. archives from Odt1.1 can be restored on Odt 2.0 c. Use UNLOAD for all tables Odt1.1 Informix 4.0 Save all ascii files Load Odt 2.0 and Informix 5.0 Extract all ascii files, LOAD tables into database This option which uses intermediate ascii form for data transport will work but needs data transfers which could be too resource (time,space) consuming. Any help, suggestions welcome! Bharat. ======================================================================== Bharat Shah - Principal Database Engineer Voice: (508)-663-7570 Unifi Communications Corp. Fax: (508)-663-7543 4 Federal St, Billerica, Mass 01821, USA bharat@unifi.com ========================================================================