Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 Adapters for Host Systems 2.0 on BizTalk 2009 64 bit


Hi All,
BizTalk Server 2009 Adapters for Host Systems 2.0 are used to communicate with Host Systems like DB2 Databases.
  • Do we need HIS to be installed to work with these adapters?
          No,Host System Adapters can work with BizTalk just like normal adapters without HIS Server.
  • Are there any 32 bit or 64 bit Adapters for Host System?
          The Host System Adapters installation files are by default 32 bit installers.
          So you wont find any 64 bit installation files.
  • Does BizTalk 2009 64 bit support these Adapters?
          No,Biztalk only supports these adapters in 32 bit  mode.
          http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa560166(BTS.10).aspx
32-bit support64-bit support
HTTP-based adapters (IIS)
Yes
Partial
BizTalk Host instances
Yes
Yes
Enterprise SSO
Yes
Yes
BAM portal (IIS)
Yes
No
 SQL Server
Yes
Yes
  • So how we work with these adapters if we install BizTalk 2009 in 64 bit mode?
          You can install 64 bit BizTalk on a 64 Bit Operating System like Windows 2008 R2 but you will have to configure BizTalk to run in 32 Bit mode only.

If you install the Adapters for Host System on a 64 bit BizTalk installed over a 64 bit Operating system,it will install successfully but you will not find those adapters(DB2...etc) in the Adapter list or on any ports.
So best option is to Install BizTalk in 64 bit mode but configure it to run in 32 bit mode using "BizTalk Configuration Wizard" and then install the Adapters for Host System.

Hope it helps you as it took few hours before I could figure this out and I did not get any Error while installing the Adapters and nor could I see them in the Adapter List.