Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge Getting Started Guide
This guide will lead you through the download, installation and licensing of the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge.
At the end you will be able to access your Windows ODBC data sources from Linux using isql, an interactive SQL tool installed with unixODBC, the open source Driver Manager that is an optional component of the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge.
The process will take 15-30 minutes, excluding software download time.
If you are installing in order to evaluate the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge, the process will allow you to obtain a free trial license.
The instructions for the Linux client installation of the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge are quite specific. For installation details on any alternative platforms please refer to the product manual (HTML or PDF).
If you have already installed the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge and need help using a particular development tool or application, more information can found in the Applications and Developer sections of the web site.
Assumptions
- The Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge server component is to be installed on a Windows 2000 Server, NT Server or later. You will need to note the full computer name or IP address of this machine.
- You are familiar with the Microsoft ODBC driver manager, have configured one or more System Data Sources and have the necessary usernames and passwords to access your target databases.
- The Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge client component is to be installed on a Linux system to which you have
root
access. - You are using Internet Explorer as your browser.
- You have unrestricted access to the Internet in order to complete the licensing part of the installation routine. If you are NOT online, you can get a license from Easysoft by telephone or email. Full details can be found in the Easysoft Licensing documentation (HTML or PDF).
Refer to the product manual (HTML or PDF) if your installation does not comply with any of these requirements or contact . In particular, the instructions to install on other platforms will vary from the Linux installation.
Overview
The process is in five steps:
- Login.
- Download the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge software.
- Install the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge server component on Windows.
- Install the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge client component on Linux.
- Access your data sources.
Procedure
Step 1. Login
- Login. If you have not yet done so, you need to register first. On the registration form, an asterisk (*) indicates that a field is mandatory.
Step 2. Download the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge software
- Select Download from the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge section of the web site.
- In the download page, choose Linux x86 as the client platform and Windows x86 as the server platform.
- The page allows you to download both client and server versions. Remember you will need both.
- Click download for each component you require. You will need one server download and one client download. For each download you choose a Save As dialog box will appear. Select the directory where you want to save the program and click Save.
Step 3. Install the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge server component on Windows
- Double click the
ODBC-ODBC-Bridge-version-windows-x86.msi
file to start the installation. Accept all the defaults, leaving Typical as the installation type. In the Initial Server Configuration dialog box, enter a valid Windows user name in the Username box. - Obtain a free trial licence using the Easysoft Data Access License Manager:
- On the main window complete all of the Contact Information and click Request License.
- In License Type ensure that Time Limited Trial is selected and click Next.
- Select Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge from the drop-down list of products and click Next.
- Click On-Line Request. You will get a message to tell you that your license has been added. Click OK.
- Click Finish on the main window.
- Complete the installation process.
- Test the server installation:
- Choose Programs > Easysoft > Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge > OOB Web Administrator from the Windows Start menu. This will start your browser with the URL to the OOB Server Web Administrator.
If you get a message saying the requested URL could not be retrieved then you may have to examine your proxy settings or change the URL to http://mywindowsmachine.domain:8890 where mywindowsmachine is the name of you machine and domain is the internet domain your machine is in.
- Click Datasources for a list of the System Data Sources you will be able to access. You might want to take a note of these for later.
- Choose Programs > Easysoft > Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge > OOB Web Administrator from the Windows Start menu. This will start your browser with the URL to the OOB Server Web Administrator.
Step 4. Install the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge client component on Linux
- Before leaving Windows, use FTP or a similar product to transfer the Linux distribution in binary mode to the
/tmp
directory of your client system. - Login to the Linux system as
root
and change to the/tmp
directory. - Untar the resulting file:
tar -zxvf odbc-odbc-bridge-version-linux-x86-glibc.tar.gz
- This will create a directory called
odbc-odbc-bridge-version-linux-x86-glibc
.Change into that directory.
- Type
./install
to begin the install. Select the defaults except:- Choose to install unixODBC
- Edit the file
/etc/odbc.ini
, adding a new entry as follows:[mydemo] Driver = OOB SERVERPORT = SERVERNAME:8888 TARGETDSN = TARGETDSN LOGONUSER = LOGONUSER LOGONAUTH = LOGONAUTH TARGETUSER = TARGETUSER TARGETAUTH = TARGETAUTH
where:
- mydemo is the name of the local data source
- SERVERNAME is the Windows computer name or IP address
- TARGETDSN is the ODBC system data source on the Windows system to which you wish to connect
- LOGONUSER and LOGONAUTH are your Windows username and password on SERVERNAME
- TARGETUSER and TARGETAUTH are the user and password for the target database, if required by the database.
Step 5. Access your data sources
- Change directory to
/usr/local/easysoft/unixodbc/bin
. - To access your Windows ODBC data sources from Linux using isql, type:
./isql -v mydemo
- At the prompt you will be able to enter SQL commands to query your database (e.g.
select * from mytable
) or you can typehelp
to display a list of tables in your database.
What Next?
- You are now ready to use the Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge with your own applications or development tools.
Further Support
- The Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge product manual (HTML or PDF) provides detailed instructions for the installation process.
- You can refer to our online Knowledge Base.
- You can mail questions to .
- More details of configuring data sources with unixODBC can be found at www.unixodbc.org.