Windows IBM 11.1 Driver Support

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John Mull

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Apr 9, 2019, 11:02:28 PM4/9/19
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When will Windows 11.1 Driver be supported for the Windows platform using this library? Currently it uses 10.5 by default. Can I use 11.1 via the IBM_HOME path?

John Mull

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Apr 9, 2019, 11:02:28 PM4/9/19
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I have read the documentation, and it appears that driver version 11.1 is not supported with this framework. When the driver is automatically downloaded, it always installs the 10.5 driver. I am need of using the 11.x driver for Windows and I would really like to know if that is possible to do using IBM_HOME path, or if not, is there a roadmap/timeline to support the latest 11.1 version on Windows? I see on Linux and others it does use 11.1.

Saba Kauser

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Apr 9, 2019, 11:12:07 PM4/9/19
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Hello John,

V11.1 driver can be used with python ibm_db driver. You can install a V11.1 driver and set IBM_DB_HOME to the install location of this driver and then install ibm_db driver.
Alternatively, you can add the v11.1 driver's bin to PATH, lib to LIB so that existing ibm_db can load the CLI lib from the LIB reference.

Hope that helps!

Thanks,
Saba.

Saba Kauser

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Apr 9, 2019, 11:21:33 PM4/9/19
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John,
I realized that we have recently updated the clidriver version for autodownload to V11.1.
Following the db2level for autodownload on windows 64.

DB21085I  This instance or install (instance name, where applicable: "*") uses
"64" bits and DB2 code release "SQL11013" with level identifier "0204010F".
Informational tokens are "DB2 v11.1.3031.295", "s1804271300",
"DYN1804271300WIN64", and Fix Pack "3a".
Product is installed at "C:\ntx64_odbc_cli\clidriver" with DB2 Copy Name "IBM
Data Server Driver For ODBC and CLI".

Did you refer to the README and found out that we support v10.5 or is there some other reason for you to think so. Kindly confirm. I am updating the README to show the V11.1 support.

John Mull

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Apr 10, 2019, 1:50:04 AM4/10/19
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Yes, I referred to the readme, but also within the past week I have recompiled and found it downloading the 10.5 driver. Was it updated very recently? It is also good to know that I can package the driver and point the IBM_HOME to that path alternatively.

Saba Kauser

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Apr 10, 2019, 1:52:19 AM4/10/19
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The driver's level was updated I think in last year. That's the reason I needed you to re-confirm if installing from pip solved the problem as we have the latest driver at v11.1.
There is only one copy of cli driver for ntx64 and it is at level v11.1.

John Mull

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Apr 10, 2019, 11:05:24 PM4/10/19
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I have been using version 2.0.8 of the package up until now. Today I just uninstalled and reinstalled 2.0.9, 3.0.0, and 3.0.1. in each case a folder is created in site-packages/clidriver. When checking the license file, it shows version 10.5.0.5.

I used pip to do this, and in the past prefer to use easy_install. I am on a Windows 7 64-bit machine, but the flavor of Python is 2.7 32-bit.

Can you validate my findings whether the driver is update or not?

Saba Kauser

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Apr 10, 2019, 11:24:29 PM4/10/19
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Hello John,
python ibm_db autodownload of clidriver kicks only if the clidriver folder is not already present under site-packages. Looks like you already have one from older installs and is not removed.
With all versions you have tested i.e  2.0.9,3.0.0 and 3.0.1 of ibm_db, you should be able to see V11.1 clidriver.

John Mull

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Apr 11, 2019, 12:44:40 AM4/11/19
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Thank you for clarifying. I tested on a fresh install and it got the latest 11.1 version. I'll clean up my site packages folder and troubleshoot accordingly.

John Mull

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Apr 14, 2019, 11:04:18 PM4/14/19
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I have discovered that when the driver is automatically downloaded for 32-bit, that it is running the old 10.5 driver. This is the location it is getting the driver from:

Downloading https://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/data/db2/drivers/odbc_cli/nt32_odbc_cli.zip

When I use a 64 bit install of Python, it gets the newest one.

Saba Kauser

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Apr 14, 2019, 11:06:24 PM4/14/19
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John Mull

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Apr 22, 2019, 2:49:36 AM4/22/19
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With this being deprecated, are there any plans to support the 11.1 driver on Windows 32 bit? Perhaps by end if this year?

Saba Kauser

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Apr 22, 2019, 4:00:20 AM4/22/19
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Hello John,

I will let you know once the driver is upgraded to V11.1 for python ibm_db on win32 and it will happen before end of this year :)

John Mull

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Mar 4, 2020, 11:32:59 PM3/4/20
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Hello,

There has been increased urgency to support 32-bit 11.x Windows Driver with this package. Can you provide an update on the progress for this? The readme on github still states that the 32-bit driver is deprecated on Windows.

Saba Kauser

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Mar 4, 2020, 11:50:16 PM3/4/20
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Hello John,

I will need to validate V11.1 Db2 odbc driver for 32-bit windows. Once I have done that, I will have the v11.1 driver updated for auto download. I will get back to you on this by monday.

John Mull

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Jul 6, 2020, 10:14:14 PM7/6/20
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Hey Saba,

I noticed a new release came out in March, but it's still auto downloading version 10.5 on 32-bit. Any update on this? I appreciate your help.

Saba Kauser

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Jul 7, 2020, 12:00:12 AM7/7/20
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Hello John,

As of today, win 32 is still on V10.5. Since other Open source drivers also install the db2 clidriver from same location, I need to check with other owners and take a call w.r.t upgrading the driver version. Although this does not require a new release, we still need to evaluate the support w.r.t windows 32-bit on V11.1.

I will get back shortly.
In the meantime, can you please let me know if there is any particular reason you want to upgrade to V11.1 clidriver.

John Mull

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Jul 7, 2020, 2:39:19 AM7/7/20
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Hello Saba,

The specific reason I would like the upgrade to the V11.1 driver is because our mainframe is being updated to V12 and the 10.5 driver will no longer be supported. There is an initiative to phase out the older 10.5 driver within my company before the upgrade on September 27th, 2020. The application that is using the ibm-db package cannot be re-compiled to 64-bit due to a 32-bit dependency.

I hope you can deliver early on that timeline, otherwise I'll have to engineer something very creative.

That's great to hear it won't require a new release.

John Mull

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Jul 15, 2020, 2:06:40 AM7/15/20
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Please keep me updated. Thanks.

Saba Kauser

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Jul 22, 2020, 3:05:12 AM7/22/20
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Hello John,
The clidriver is updated to DB2 v11.1.4050.860", "special_39510" in the https://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/data/db2/drivers/odbc_cli/ for win 32.
Can you retry installation.
pip install ibm_db --no-cache-dir

John Mull

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Jul 23, 2020, 2:01:20 AM7/23/20
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Thank you SO much! This is working great now. You have saved me a handful of weeks and likely much heartache.

You may want to update the documentation to reflect that the 32-bit Windows driver is no longer deprecated in version 11.1. https://github.com/ibmdb/python-ibmdb

Thanks again!

Saba Kauser

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Jul 23, 2020, 2:07:14 AM7/23/20
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Hi John,
Yes, will update the support shortly after validation.
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