Oninit
Talk to an expert →

Informix Error -32020: Resource Manager unavailable.

Cause and resolution

Resource Manager unavailable.

This error is same as XAER_RMFAIL in the X/OPEN XA Specification Standard. For more information, refer to the "Distributed Transaction Processing: The XA Specification".

According to the X/OPEN XA Specification Standard :

In the xa_commit, xa_end, xa_forget, xa_recover, xa_rollback, xa_start context, An error occurred that makes the Resource Manager unavailable.

In the xa_prepare context, an error occurred that makes the Resource Manager unavailable. The specified XID might or might not have been prepared.

Also refer to the Resource Manager guide for more details.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-32020 is the Informix representation of XAER_RMFAIL from the X/Open XA Specification — per the official guidance, an error occurred that makes the Resource Manager unavailable.

  1. xa_commit/xa_end/xa_forget/xa_recover/xa_rollback/xa_start: an error made the Resource Manager unavailable, per the official guidance — the first named case.
  2. xa_prepare: an error made the Resource Manager unavailable, per the official guidance — the specified XID might or might not have been prepared.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Consult the Resource Manager guide for details, per the official guidance.
  2. Restore Resource Manager availability (restart the resource, check connectivity) before retrying the transaction.
Examples
N/A

No specific triggering statement is documented — this is a Resource-Manager-side XA return code.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the Resource Manager's availability/status directly.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -32016 — "An Resource Manager error occurred in the transaction branch." A related Resource-Manager-error code (XAER_RMERR), for a per-branch failure rather than the Resource Manager becoming entirely unavailable.

The Resource Manager became unavailable (XAER_RMFAIL) — restore its availability before retrying.