Newbie: No "dbserv" in SQL Anywhere 17 Installation

[Former Member]

Hello all,

First, thank you in advance for your help. I recently purchased SAP SQL Anywhere 17 and I'm having trouble.

I should mention that I am not a database expert or programmer. I only need to install SAP SQL Anywhere 17 because it is a basic prerequisite for another, separate software package from a different company that my small company uses to manage our clinical trial data.

So, I purchased SAP SQL Anywhere 17 from the SAP store. I chose this configuration option at the time of purchase: "SAP SQL Anywhere, Edge Edition, workgroup version (core)". I can find no explanation as to what "Edge Edition" means, but I think workgroup version (core) is correct.

After downloading the files (Windows) and running through a fairly straightforward installation process, I began the installation of our clinical trial data software, which failed. One of the few files that is absolutely required is "dbserv" which is supposed to be part of the SAP SQL Anywhere 17 installation, according to the vendor for our clinical trial software.

Any ideas as to what I did wrong? We have an old version of Sybase running on an older server with the same clinical software and it is working fine. The SAP website is so complicated that I don't even know where to begin to request technical support for this basic installation question. It was nightmarishly complicated just to purchase the software and then download it through the software download portal. My company only has 8 employees and we're using this software to manage our small database, so we are not a giant multinational client.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Sounds like you have done everything correct from the SQL Anywhere perspective.

There is no file with the name "dbserv" in the product and there has never been. 
I wonder if that is just a stand-in convention that your other vendor is using.

It could be a .cmd or .bat file that they install (or you may need to add or configure)
or it may be shorthand used to indicate to you to supply the real .exe file name
somewhere in the setup.  As such you may need to contact that other vendor
to get more details.

On Windows the *server* executible names for SQL Anywhere have always been of the form:

    dbsrv17.exe, dbeng16.exe, mlsrv12.exe

for example where the number is version specific.  You could try typing in dbsrv17 or dbsrv17.exe
if that is an editible field.

There is a DLL file called dbserv17.dll but I don't believe that is the missing piece here; applications
will never load that directly from there software so don't be confused by that name.

If you get nowhere with the other vendor on this ... you can report back your findings here ... or ...

If this gets too complicated support can be accessed via https://support.sap.com/home.html

Best wishes

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Nick,

Thank you very much for your response! You are absolutely correct and I apologize for the error I made in my initial posting. The file I am looking for (and which is missing from the installation) is dbsrv17.exe. I incorrectly had stated "dbserv".

dbsrv17.exe is the required server file for the clinical management software that "runs on" Sybase (pardon my inexact newbie terms) and that is missing from my installation. Our vendor can't understand how the file could be missing, since it is a critical component. Did I perhaps install a windows client version of the software rather than a server installation? I thought I had done this correctly but maybe not.

Also, upon checking yesterday, I see that the SAP download portal has changed and now has a dropdown for various OS's. I will try to re-download the Windows files and re-install on the server. Would you be so kind as to review the attached image and confirm that this is the correct selection?

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Thomas,

License key you enter during installation determines which components are installed. And it appears the key used does not have network server (dbsrv17) component. Do you have any .lic in bin32 or bin64 of SQL Anywhere installation folder? If you do, you can run dblic.exe against that file and get the edition info but there's a chance you don't have any.

I can verify if you direct message me the license key you used. But if that's the case, you need to talk to your account rep and make sure you are entitled to different type of key, and request one from support portal.

PS. To send DM, just mouse over my profile and you should have the option.

Regards,

Jinwoo

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Jinwoo,

Thank you for your reply! I requested a permanent license key from SAP in their portal and then uninstalled and reinstalled SQL Anywhere 17 using the new key. It worked! the bin64 folder now contains dbsrv17.exe and several .lic files! I will now attempt to install the clinical trial management software that runs on Sybase and hope all goes well. I will reply here if not.

Thank you!

- Vernon