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Informix Error -923: IBM is licensed to access the current database server only.

Cause and resolution

IBM is licensed to access the current database server only.

This version of the IBM Informix product is not licensed for network use. Locate the version of the software that is licensed for use with Informix STAR or IBM Informix NET, and reset your INFORMIXDIR environment variable and the SQLEXEC environment variable (for database servers prior to Version 6.0) to point to it.

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-923 fires when the installed Informix product isn't licensed for network use at all — per the official guidance, a different, network-licensed version of the software is needed, along with pointing INFORMIXDIR (and, pre-6.0, SQLEXEC) at it.

  1. A locally-licensed-only Informix product installed, per the official guidance — this version simply can't do network/STAR access under any configuration.
  2. INFORMIXDIR (or SQLEXEC, pre-6.0) pointing at the wrong installation, if a network-licensed version is actually installed elsewhere on the same system but not currently referenced.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Locate the version licensed for use with Informix STAR or IBM Informix NET, per the official guidance.
  2. Reset INFORMIXDIR (and SQLEXEC, for versions prior to 6.0) to point to that licensed version, per the official guidance:
    export INFORMIXDIR=/path/to/network-licensed/installation
  3. If no such licensed version is installed at all, contact whoever manages Informix licensing to obtain one — this is a licensing decision, not a configuration fix.
Examples
Checking and resetting INFORMIXDIR
$ echo "$INFORMIXDIR"
$ export INFORMIXDIR=/path/to/network-licensed/installation
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Confirm whether a network-licensed Informix installation exists on the system at all, separate from the current, locally-licensed-only one.
  2. Check INFORMIXDIR's current setting against where that licensed version actually lives.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -924 — "IBM is not licensed to access the specified database server." A related licensing restriction, about accessing a specific remote server rather than network access being unlicensed entirely.
  • -926 — "The database server is not licensed for distributed data access." A related licensing restriction, about the server side lacking Informix STAR status rather than the client side lacking network licensing.

This installed version simply isn't licensed for network use at all — locate and point to a network-licensed installation instead.