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Informix Error -628

-628 Cannot end two-phase commit transaction at coordinator.

The database server acting as coordinator for the transaction cannot end this Informix STAR two-phase commit transaction, and the transaction remains open. Eventually, Informix STAR automatic recovery mechanics will end the transaction. No administrative intervention is required. See the ISAM error for more information about why the database server could not end the transaction properly.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-628 fires when the coordinator server in an Informix STAR two-phase-commit transaction can't end the transaction after it's otherwise completed — per the official guidance, the transaction remains open, but Informix STAR's automatic recovery mechanics eventually end it; no administrative intervention is required.

  1. A local failure on the coordinator server at the end-transaction step, per the official guidance's pointer to checking the accompanying ISAM error for the specific reason.
  2. A timing/communication issue between the coordinator and one or more participants during the final end-transaction phase, after prepare/commit already succeeded.
  3. Local resource contention on the coordinator at the moment the end-transaction step runs.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. No administrative intervention is required, per the official guidance — Informix STAR's automatic recovery mechanics eventually end the transaction.
  2. Check the accompanying ISAM error, per the official guidance, for the specific reason, if the underlying cause needs investigation.
  3. If this recurs frequently, monitor how long transactions take to actually close out via automatic recovery, and investigate the coordinator's local health if the delay or frequency becomes operationally significant.
Examples
Monitoring automatic recovery
$ onstat -G

onstat -G lists global transactions generated through the TP/XA library (external XA transaction managers such as Tuxedo) — useful if this coordinator is also participating in TP/XA-coordinated work, though it isn't documented as a view into Informix STAR's own server-to-server 2PC state specifically. For STAR itself, monitoring is mainly a matter of watching the online log for the transaction's automatic-recovery completion.

Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check the accompanying ISAM error for the specific local reason.
  2. Monitor outstanding distributed transaction state if recurrence or delay becomes operationally significant.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -627 — "Cannot prepare coordinator for two-phase commit." Same family, at the earlier prepare step rather than end-transaction.
  • -629 — "Cannot end heuristically rolled back transaction." Same family, for a transaction already heuristically rolled back specifically.
  • -630 — "Cannot prepare database server server-name for commit." Same family, naming a specific participant server.

Part of the Informix STAR two-phase-commit error family — automatic recovery closes the transaction; no administrative intervention is required.