freetds.conf(5) configuration file for FreeTDS

SYNOPSIS

The freetds.conf file describes Sybase and Microsoft database servers to the FreeTDS library. It comprises sections headed by a servername, followed by a list of connection properties denoted as name-value pairs. Defaults are defined via a Bq global section. This file supersedes the interfaces file that Sybase defines for the same purpose, although the latter is still supported.

DESCRIPTION

A section begins with a servername --- the name of the server --- in square brackets. The servername is chosen at the client's descretion. (One exception: with Sybase ASA the servername must match the database name to be used.)

Sections contain properties, one per line, in the form

name = value

where name is the connection property to be described. Servernames and properties are not case sensitive. Values are case-preserving i.e., copied literally. Comments begin with either a semicolon (So ; Sc or pound sign ) (So # Sc and continue to end of line. Blank lines are ignored. Whitespace surrounding the ) So = Sc is ignored.

PROPERTIES

client charset
encoding of client data; overrides locale(1) settings

Domain:
iconv character set names
Default:
ISO-8859-1

connect timeout
seconds to wait for response from connect request

Domain:
0 to MAX_INT
Default:
none

debug flags
logging granularity

Domain:
32-bit integer
Default:
0x4fff

dump file
specifies location of a logfile and turns on logging

Domain:
valid file name
Default:
none

dump file append
log data appended to file instead of re-writing for each connection

Domain:
yes/no
Default:
no

emulate little endian
forces big endian machines to act as little endian to communicate with Microsoft Servers

Domain:
yes/no
Default:
no

encryption

off
disables encryption (default)
request
use if available
required
allow encrypted connections only

host
Name of the host the server is running on.

Domain:
host name or IP address
Default:
SYBASE

initial block size
maximum size of a protocol block

Domain:
multiple of 512
Default:
512

instance
name of Microsoft SQL Server instance to connect to (supersedes port

Domain:
instance name
Default:
none

port
port number that the server is listening to

Domain:
any valid port
Default:
TDS 5.0, 5000; TDS 7.0 and up, 1433

tds version
TDS protocol version to use

Domain:
4.2, 5.0, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2
Default:
--with-tdsver value (5.0 if unspecified)

text size
default value of TEXTSIZE, in bytes

Domain:
0 to 4,294,967,295
Default:
4,294,967,295

timeout
seconds to wait for response to a query

Domain:
0 to MAX_INT
Default:
none (wait forever)

Do not define both Fa port and Fa instance Ns . One implies the other.

Boolean property values may be denoted as on/off, true/false, or 1/0.

DEBUG FLAGS

The log's granularity can be controlled with the debug flags property.

Value Ta Meaning
  0x02    severe error
  0x04  error
  0x08 warning
  0x10       network
  0x20information level 1
  0x40information level 2
  0x80function trace and info
0x1000show pid
0x2000show time
0x4000show source level info (source file and line)
0x8000thread id (not implemented).

NAMES AND LOCATIONS

The file is normally named
/etc/freetds.conf or ${HOME}/.freetds.conf That name can be overridden with the FREETDSCONF environment variable.

FreeTDS will search conf files for a servername in the following order:

  1. a filename set programatically via dbsetifile() that is in .conf format
  2. a filename in the environment variable FREETDSCONF that is in .conf format
  3. ${HOME}/.freetds.conf if extant
  4. @sysconfdir@/freetds.conf

The search stops with the first file containing the servername.

If no conf file is found, FreeTDS searches for an interfaces file in the following order:

  1. a filename set programatically via dbsetifile() that is in interfaces format
  2. ${HOME}/.interfaces
  3. $SYBASE/interfaces (where $SYBASE is an environment variable)

If the requested servername is not found in any configuration file, the fallback mechanism is:

  1. attempt to convert the name to an IP address with inet_addr(3), else
  2. attempt to convert the name to an IP address with gethostbyname(3), else
  3. attempt to look up the literal name ``SYBASE''

ENVIRONMENT

FREETDSCONF
overrides name and location of the system-wide conf file
TDSDUMP
overrides the name and location of the FreeTDS log file
TDSDUMPCONFIG
specifies a name and location of a file that logs the search of configuration files
TDSHOST
overrides the host property
TDSPORT
overrides the port property
TDSQUERY
synonym for DSQUERY, the default servername
TDSVER
overrides the version specified in the freetds.conf

The environment variables TDSVER, TDSDUMP, TDSPORT, TDSQUERY, and TDSHOST override values set by a .conf or interfaces file.

FILES

@sysconfdir@/freetds.conf , ${HOME}/.freetds.conf

HISTORY

.conf files first appeared with version 0.53 of FreeTDS.