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ODBC Installation and Validation on UNIX® Systems

This chapter provides detailed information about ODBC installation and validation on UNIX® and related operating systems. It discusses the following topics:

Troubleshooting for Shared Object Dependencies

After installing, you should validate dependencies on other shared objects and correct any problems. The process is as follows:

  1. Use the appropriate command to list the dynamic dependencies of the InterSystems ODBC driver.

    For example, on Solaris and other platforms, the command is ldd:

    # ldd install-dir/bin/libirisodbc.so
    

    Here install-dir is the InterSystems installation directory. If no dependencies are found, you will see a message like the following:

    libstlport_gcc.so => not found
    
  2. If there are no errors, then all dependencies are valid; if there are errors, run the following commands to force the shared object loader to look in the current directory:

    # sh
    # cd install-dir/bin
    # LD_LIBRARY_PATH=`pwd`:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
    # export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
    
    

    The sh command starts the Bourne shell; the cd command changes to the appropriate directory; and the export command sets the path to look up shared objects.

    Note that on AIX®, you would use LIBPATH instead of LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

  3. Once you have added the current directory to the path, run ldd again and check for missing dependencies. If any shared objects cannot be found, add them to the same directory as the ODBC client driver.

Performing a Stand-alone Installation

By default, a full ODBC installation is performed with a standard InterSystems installation. If you perform a custom installation (as described in the Installation Guide), you can select the “SQL client only” option to install only the client access components (ODBC client driver).

In addition, however, a stand-alone installer is provided for InterSystems ODBC. To use this installer:

  1. Create the directory where you wish to install the client, such as /usr/irisodbc/.

  2. Copy the appropriate zipped tar file into the directory that you just created.

    The ./dist/ODBC/ directory contains zipped tar files with names like the following:

    ODBC-release-code-platform.tar.gz
    

    where release-code is a release-specific code (that varies among InterSystems versions and releases) and platform specifies the operating system that the ODBC client runs on.

  3. Go to the directory you created and manually unpack the .tar file, as follows:

    # gunzip ODBC-release-code-platform.tar.gz
    # tar xvf ODBC-release-code-platform.tar
    
    

    This creates bin and dev directories and installs a set of files.

  4. Run the ODBCInstall program, which will be in the directory that you created. This program creates several sample scripts and configures irisodbc.ini under the mgr directory. For example:

    # pwd
    /usr/irisodbc
    # ./ODBCInstall
    
    
Note:
Identifying the correct platform name

In some releases, the ./dist/ODBC/ directory contains the following command to display the platform name that identifies the file you need:

# ./cplatname identify

This command is not present in releases where it is not required.

SQL Gateway Drivers for UNIX® and Related Platforms

The <install-dir>/bin/ directory contains the following versions of the shared object used by the SQL Gateway. This enables you to connect from InterSystems IRIS to other ODBC client drivers. These files are not installed if you perform a stand-alone installation.

linked against iODBC

  • cgate.so — supports 8-bit ODBC.

  • cgateiw.so — supports Unicode ODBC.

linked against unixODBC

  • cgateu.so — supports 8-bit ODBC.

  • cgateur64.so — supports 8-bit ODBC for 64-bit unixODBC

For more information, see “Using an InterSystems Database as an ODBC Data Source on UNIX®”.

Note:
Setting the Shared Library Path on UNIX® Systems

When using third-party shared libraries on a UNIX® system, LD_LIBRARY_PATH must be defined by setting the InterSystems IRIS LibPath parameter (see “LibPath” in the Configuration Parameter File Reference). This is a security measure to prevent unprivileged users from changing the path.

Custom Installation and Configuration for iODBC

If you want to build your own iODBC driver manager to operate under custom conditions, you can do so. The iODBC executable and include files are in the directory install-dir/dev/odbc/redist/iodbc/. You need to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH (LIBPATH on AIX®) and the include path in order to use these directories to build your applications.

If you want to customize the iODBC driver manager, you can also do that. Download the source from the iODBC Web site (www.iodbc.orgOpens in a new tab) and follow the instructions.

Configuring PHP with iODBC

You can use InterSystems ODBC functionality in conjunction with PHP (PHP: Hypertext Processor, which is a recursive acronym). PHP is a scripting language that allows developers to create dynamically generated pages. The process is as follows:

  1. Get or have root privileges on the machine where you are performing the installation.

  2. Install the iODBC driver manager. To do this:

    1. Download the kit.

    2. Perform a standard installation and configuration, as described earlier in this chapter.

    3. Configure the driver manager for use with PHP as described in the iODBC+PHP HOWTOOpens in a new tab document on the iODBC web site (www.iodbc.orgOpens in a new tab).

    Note that LD_LIBRARY_PATH (LIBPATH on AIX®) in the iODBC PHP example does not get set, due to security protections in the default PHP configuration. Also, copy libiodbc.so to /usr/lib and run ldconfig to register it without using LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

  3. Download the PHP source kit from https://www.php.netOpens in a new tab and un-tar it.

  4. Download the Apache HTTP server source kit from http://httpd.apache.org/Opens in a new tab and un-tar it.

  5. Build PHP and install it.

  6. Build the Apache HTTP server, install it, and start it.

  7. Test PHP and the Web server using info.php in the Apache root directory, as specified in the Apache configuration file (often httpd.conf). The URL for this is http://127.0.0.1/info.php.

  8. Copy the InterSystems-specific initialization file, irisodbc.ini to /etc/odbc.ini because this location functions better with the Apache Web server if the $HOME environment variable is not defined.

  9. Configure and test the libirisodbc.so client driver file.

  10. Copy the sample.php file from the InterSystems ODBC kit to Apache root directory (that is, the directory where info.php is located), and tailor it to your machine for the location of your InterSystems installation directory.

  11. You can then run the sample.php program, which uses the SAMPLES namespace, by pointing your browser to http://127.0.0.1/sample.php

Key File Names

Depending on your configuration needs, it may be useful to know the specific file names of some of the installed components. In the following lists, install-dir is the InterSystems installation directory (the path that $SYSTEM.Util.InstallDirectory() returns on your system).

ODBC driver managers

The install-dir/bin/ directory contains the following driver managers:

  • libiodbc.so — The iODBC driver manager, which supports both 8-bit and Unicode ODBC APIs.

  • libodbc.so — The unixODBC driver manager, for use with the 8-bit ODBC API.

Note:
ODBC on 64-bit UNIX® platforms

Between releases of the ODBC specification, various data types such as SQLLen and SQLULen changed from being 32-bit values to 64-bit values. While these values have always been 64-bit on iODBC, they have changed from 32-bit to 64-bit on unixODBC. As of unixODBC version 2.2.14, the default build uses 64-bit integer values. InterSystems drivers are available for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of unixODBC.

InterSystems ODBC client drivers

InterSystems ODBC client drivers are provided for both ODBC 2.5 and ODBC 3.5. The ODBC 3.5 versions will convert 3.5 requests to the older 2.5 automatically, so in most cases either driver can be used. The install-dir/bin/ directory contains the following versions (*.so or *.sl):

iODBC-compliant drivers
  • libirisodbc — default driver for 8-bit ODBC 2.5

  • libirisodbc35 — supports 8-bit ODBC 3.5

  • libirisodbciw — supports Unicode ODBC 2.5

  • libirisodbciw35 — supports Unicode ODBC 3.5

  • libirisodbciw.dylib — supports Unicode ODBC for MAC OS

unixODBC-compliant drivers
  • libirisodbcu. — default driver for 8-bit ODBC 2.5

  • libirisodbcu35 — supports 8-bit ODBC 3.5

  • libirisodbcur64 — supports 8-bit ODBC 2.5 for 64-bit unixODBC

  • libirisodbcur6435 — supports 8-bit ODBC 3.5 for 64-bit unixODBC

Other files

The install-dir/mgr/irisodbc.ini file is a sample ODBC initialization file.

The files for the test programs are discussed in “Testing the InterSystems ODBC Configuration”.

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