NAME

     freetds.conf — 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 [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 (‘;’) or pound sign (‘#’) and continue to end of line.  Blank lines are
     ignored.  Whitespace surrounding the ‘=’ 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 port and instance.  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     Meaning
             0x02    severe error
             0x04    error
             0x08    warning
             0x10    network
             0x20    information level 1
             0x40    information level 2
             0x80    function trace and info
           0x1000    show pid
           0x2000    show time
           0x4000    show source level info (source file and line)
           0x8000    thread 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 programmatically 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.   /etc/freetds/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 programmatically 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

     /etc/freetds/freetds.conf, ${HOME}/.freetds.conf

SEE ALSO

     FreeTDS User Guide

HISTORY

     .conf files first appeared with version 0.53 of FreeTDS.