Starting servers with the startup utility

Sybase recommends that you use the startup utility, start_asiq, to start all non-multiplex servers. This command-line utility runs on all platforms, and ensures that all required parameters are set correctly, except in special situations described later in this chapter.

The general form for the startup utility is as follows:

start_asiq [ server-options ] [ database-file 
[ database-options ], ...]

The elements of this command line are as follows:

In examples throughout this chapter where there are several command-line options, we show them for clarity on separate lines, as they could be written in a configuration file. If you enter them directly on a command line, you must enter them all on one line (that is, without any carriage returns).

See “Using command-line options” for a descriptions of configuration files and commonly used options.

You can choose from many command-line options to specify such features as permissions required to start a database or stop the server, and the network protocols to use. The command-line options are one means of tuning Sybase IQ behavior and performance.

NoteFor ease of use, start the database and server together, by specifying the database name when you start the server. The server takes its name from the database name by default, or you can specify a different name for the server. See “Naming the server and databases” for more information on server and database names.

To start the server without starting any database, omit the database file from the start_asiq command and specify a servername. If you omit the database name, you must name the server explicitly using the -n server switch. Use this method when you create or restore a database, or when you only want to control starting and stopping the server, leaving database use to client software.

StepsStarting the server using the startup utility

  1. Change to a writable directory. If your database was created with a relative pathname, you must change to the directory that contains the database.

  2. Run the start_asiq utility at the system prompt. The simple form of this command is:

    start_asiq servername [ database ]
    

This command starts the named server as a background process, starts the named database if you specify it, and sets all required startup options. Once the server starts, it sends a message to the window or console where you started the server indicating that the server is running. It also displays other information about your server environment, as well as “possible problems” messages on failure to start. For an example of the version string and other startup messages, see “Message logging” in Chapter 1, “Overview of Sybase IQ System Administration.”

All server messages go to the server log. The server log is in $ASLOGDIR/servername.nnn.srvlog, where nnn is the number of times the server has been started. You can also name the server log using the -o startup option.