Informix Error -185: ISAM error: DDR log post processing is not active.

Reasons / Common Causes

-185 is the direct opposite of -183, and the official explanation is refreshingly specific for how terse it is: this message means Enterprise Replication (ER) is down. DDR log post-processing depends on ER being active, so anything checking on or expecting that post-processing to be running gets this message whenever ER itself isn't up.

1. Enterprise Replication (ER) is down, so DDR log post-processing — which depends on it — is inactive as a direct consequence.
2. An operation or check expects DDR log post-processing to be running (checking replication status, or an internal call assuming it's active) while ER isn't currently running.
3. ER was stopped deliberately (an administrative replication shutdown), but something still checks post-processing state as though it should be active.
4. ER crashed or failed to start correctly, leaving DDR log post-processing inactive as a downstream effect rather than a direct, independent failure.

Solutions / Resolution

1. Check whether Enterprise Replication is actually running — per the official guidance, this message directly means ER is down, so that's the first and most direct thing to verify.
2. If ER is down and should be running, investigate why (a crash, a deliberate stop, a configuration issue) and restart it.
3. If ER was deliberately stopped, and DDR log post-processing being inactive is expected, no action is needed — update monitoring or alerting to reflect that this state is expected during planned ER downtime, rather than treating it as an unexpected error.
4. Review ER startup logs for the actual root cause if it crashed or failed to start, rather than focusing on DDR log post-processing itself, which is just reflecting ER's own state.

Examples

Confirming ER status directly

cdr list server
-- or the version-appropriate Enterprise Replication status command

If this shows ER down or in an error state, that's the actual root cause -185 is reporting — address ER's own status rather than treating DDR log post-processing as an independent problem.

Expected downtime

-- ER was deliberately stopped for planned maintenance
-- A monitoring check expecting DDR post-processing to be active
-- reports -185 during this window — expected, not a fault

Diagnostic Checks

1. Check ER status directly:

   cdr list server
   

2. Review ER logs for crash or startup-failure details if it's down unexpectedly.
3. Confirm whether the ER downtime was planned or unexpected, before treating this as an incident requiring investigation.

Related Errors / Related Topics

• -183 — "ISAM error: DDR log post processing is already active." The direct opposite condition — worth knowing together as the two ends of the same status check.
• -100 — "ISAM error: duplicate value for a record with unique key." The other foundational ISAM-level error in this family, unrelated in cause.

Check Enterprise Replication's own status first — per the official guidance, this message is simply a reflection of ER being down, not an independent condition to diagnose on its own.