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Informix Error -468: Cannot obtain the user ID from the system. Unable to start the database server.

Cause and resolution

Cannot obtain the user ID from the system. Unable to start the database server.

Your application is trying to open communications to a database server. As part of this action, it has to read your user ID from the system password file, and it failed to do this. Look for operating-system error messages that might give more specific information. Consult with a system administrator to ensure that the file of user IDs is readable to all users.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-468 is a system-level failure at connection-initialization time: the application couldn't read the current user's ID from the system password file (or equivalent user database), which is needed to initialize communication with the database server.

  1. The system password file (or equivalent) isn't readable by the connecting user — a permissions issue at the OS level.
  2. A broken or misconfigured system user database (e.g. NIS/LDAP integration issues on systems using those instead of a local flat file).
  3. The connecting process running under an unusual or malformed user context that the OS can't resolve to a valid user ID.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Verify the user ID file remains readable to all users, per the official guidance — this is a system-administration task, not something fixable at the application/SQL level.
  2. Investigate any underlying operating-system error messages, per the official guidance, for more specific detail on the actual failure.
  3. If using NIS/LDAP or another networked user database, check that service's health and connectivity as well as the local password file.
Examples
Checking password file readability
ls -la /etc/passwd
-- confirm the file (or the relevant NIS/LDAP equivalent) is
-- readable by the user running the connecting application
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the system password file's (or equivalent's) permissions.
  2. Check OS-level error messages around the time of the failure.
  3. Check NIS/LDAP or other networked user-database health, if applicable to the environment.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -409 — "Sqlexec was not found or was not executable by the current user." Another connection-initialization-level failure, in the same general startup-configuration family.

This is a system-administration-level issue, not an application bug — the fix lives in OS/user- database configuration, not the SQL statement or connecting application code.