Miguel,
James is correct that, inevitably, you will stumble upon a DB2 Connect if any Midrange(IBM i) / Mainframe(Z/os) system is connected to from other DB2 variants (LUW).
If you just need to connect from the Linux Server itself , use the ODBC driver that you can download from this link: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-i-access-client-solutions
It uses a normal UNIX ODBC interface by any Linux variant to connect to.
If you really need to connect DB2 LUW to IBM i , your best course of action is to consider other alternative means by either coding (Python , C++ , Java) or vendor solutions (such as DB2 Connect, Stelo, CDATA, etc.).
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Marius le Roux theIBMiGuy
Owner , IBM i Modernization and Integration Consultant
MLR Consulting
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Original Message:
Sent: Mon March 02, 2026 05:33 AM
From: James Cole
Subject: DB2 CLI VS IBMi
Hi Miguel,
I cannot comment on the DB2 CLI specifically. However I do know that you are wanting to connect from other systems like Linux and Windows as a test environment etc, then you have had to purchase IBM DB2 Connect if you wanting to use the DB2 for i functionality. Where I have seen it is with application like PHP on Linux connecting to IBMi on the backend.
I know this is not a direct answer to your question however, hopefully it helps.
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James Cole
Original Message:
Sent: Thu February 26, 2026 05:56 PM
From: Miguel Peralta
Subject: DB2 CLI VS IBMi
Hello, I installed the DB2 CLI on a Linux system to connect to the IBM i DB2 server. When I run the command, it connects but hangs, and we have to terminate the connection. It doesn't send any messages, and I haven't found any messages from the IBM i side. What could I check? Do I need a different driver? Could it be that the Linux system needs a license?
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Miguel Peralta
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