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Getting DB2 .NET Provider to work on Windows 8(64bit)

With every new releases of the Microsoft OS, I’ll have to go through the same pain to get the DB2 providers working. IBM seems not able to release a driver that works out-of-the-box.

So what are the hacks this time to get it working?
  • Start with a normal installation of the DB2 client on your system(don’t forget to run as an administrator).
  • The installation will end successfully but  when you try to connect to a DB2 database, you’ll probably get an error similar to this one:

“sql1159 initialization error with db2 .net data provider reason code 7” 

  • Go to Start -> Programs -> Visual Studio -> Developer Command Prompt.
  • Open the prompt as an administrator
  • Add the following assemblies to the GAC using gacutil:
    • gacutil /if "C:\Program Files\IBM\SQLLIB\BIN\netf40\IBM.Data.DB2.dll"
    • gacutil /if "C:\Program Files\IBM\SQLLIB\BIN\netf40\IBM.Data.DB2.entity.dll"
    • gacutil /if "C:\Program Files\IBM\SQLLIB\BIN\netf40\IBM.Data.Informix.dll"
    • gacutil /if "C:\Program Files\IBM\SQLLIB\BIN\netf20\IBM.Data.DB2.dll"
    • gacutil /if "C:\Program Files\IBM\SQLLIB\BIN\netf20\IBM.Data.Informix.dll"
    • gacutil /if "C:\Program Files\IBM\SQLLIB\BIN\netf20\IBM.Data.DB2.entity.dll"
  • Go to the Windows  8 Start screen and start typing REGEDIT
  • Open the Registry Editor.
  • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SOFTWARE -> IBM -> DB2 –> InstalledCopies
  • Click on the folder InstalledCopies
    • Right Click -> New -> String Value
    • Set the value to 10.1.1.DEF.2(the name can be different depending on the DB2 version you tried to install, but you can find the name in the error message when you try to connect)
    • Right Click and Modify. Set the value to DB2COPY1 (your instance name may be different- this is the default)
  • Repeat the task for the registry entry for 10.1.1.DEF.4

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