Just wondering if someone could answer the following for me. We are planning to upgrade our version of informix from 7.21 to 7.31. In the interim we will be using both versions but was wondering if we are to run on version 7.31 and take a L0 backup will we be able to restore the L0 backup onto the 7.21 version?

Questions also goes the other way - will the 7.21 L0 be loadable onto the 7.31 version?

Thanks

There's no way to restore to a previous version (guaranteed). The best solution is. Restore to a 7.31 env. en then revert to 7.2 with onmode -b 7.2. Normally this should work. Make sure their are no in-place alter tables open.

Hope this helps,

Rob Prop

Thanks Rob.

We will be installing 7.31 from scratch on a new server and transferring the database from one to another. Can the onmode command you suggest be used even if version 7.2 was not previously installed i.e. could we run 7.31, use the onmode and the take the L0?

Yes, this shouldn't be any roblem. Of course you need to re-install 7.21 back on the machine before you can start it up. It is wise to install both versions at once (lowest version first). The reason for this is a few shared libraries Informix will install in the general lib (/usr/lib) directory. The newer version are downwards compatible (that's why you need to install latest version last).

Remark: From version 9.40 and up informix is not placing files in the general library path anymore. So from this point version are really independent.

Hope this helps,

Rob Prop