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Informix Error -928: The database server is not licensed for distributed data access.

Cause and resolution

The database server is not licensed for distributed data access.

This statement refers to a database on a different computer system (for example, by qualifying the name of a table with dbname@sitename:table). However, the database server that is active at the indicated site is not licensed for such use. This situation indicates an error in the setup of the remote computer system: it was configured for network access, but the wrong database server was started. Contact the network administrator, and ask for a check of the environment variables when starting the sqlexecd daemon. If you are using IBM Informix OnLine for NetWare, you tried to access a table on an database server that is not licensed for remote access; you can access only other IBM Informix NET PC systems.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-928 shares its message text with -926 but describes a different underlying situation: per the official guidance, this specifically means the remote site's active database server isn't licensed for distributed access — a setup error on that remote system (it was configured for network access, but the wrong, non-STAR-licensed database server was started there).

  1. The remote site's sqlexecd daemon started with the wrong (non-STAR-licensed) database server, per the official guidance — a remote-side configuration error, not a local one.
  2. On IBM Informix OnLine for NetWare specifically, an attempt to access a database server not licensed for remote access, per the official guidance — only other IBM Informix NET PC systems are accessible in that configuration.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Contact the network administrator, and ask for a check of the environment variables when starting the sqlexecd daemon on the remote site, per the official guidance — this is the documented, specific fix, since the problem is on the remote system's setup.
  2. On IBM Informix OnLine for NetWare, confirm the target is another IBM Informix NET PC system, per the official guidance, since that's the only kind of remote access this configuration supports.
Examples
N/A

A remote-side setup problem — escalate to the network administrator for that specific site rather than troubleshooting locally.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Identify the specific remote site/server named in the failing statement.
  2. Escalate to the network administrator for that site, per the official guidance, to check the environment variables used when sqlexecd was started there.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -926 — "The database server is not licensed for distributed data access." Shares this exact message text but describes the local server lacking STAR licensing, rather than a misconfigured remote site.
  • -923 — "IBM is licensed to access the current database server only." A related licensing restriction, about the local client lacking network licensing entirely.

Despite sharing -926's exact message text, this is a remote-site setup problem — escalate to that site's network administrator, not local troubleshooting.