Preview Release of the SQL Server [C/C++] ODBC Driver 13 for Linux

Hi all, we are delighted to share the second early technical preview of the Microsoft ODBC Driver 13 for Linux -  (Ubuntu, RedHat). The new driver enables access to SQL Server, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL DW from any C/C++ application.

The major highlight of this release is a native command line install experience (apt/yum), for RedHat 6.x, 7.x and Ubuntu 15.10, 16.04. With the native command line install experience, you can use the Microsoft ODBC Driver on OSX via Docker and VirtualBox.

Install the ODBC Driver for Linux on Ubuntu 15.10

[snippet slug=ubuntu-15-10-odbc-13-preview-instructions lang=bsh]

Install the ODBC Driver for Linux on Ubuntu 16.04

[snippet slug=ubuntu-odbc-13-0-1-instructions lang=bsh]

Install the ODBC Driver for Linux on RedHat 6

[snippet slug=rhel-instructions lang=bsh]

Install the ODBC Driver for Linux on RedHat 7

[snippet slug=rhel-7-odbc-instructions lang=bsh]

*This package contains the development files (headers and libraries) for unixODBC, an implementation of the ODBC interface for Unix systems.You should install this package if you intend to develop C language applications which use ODBC, or to compile ODBC-using applications from source.

Try our Sample

Once you install the driver that runs on a supported Linux distro, you can use this C sample to connect to SQL Server/Azure SQL DB/Azure SQL DW. To download the sample and get started, follow these steps:

[snippet slug=odbc-c-sample lang=bsh]

If you installed the driver using the manual instructions found here, you will have to manually uninstall the ODBC Driver and the unixODBC Driver Manager to use the deb/rpm packages. If you have an questions, feel free to leave a comment below. 

You can find the latest bits on the Microsoft Linux Ubuntu repository and RedHat repository.  We provide limited support while in preview on our Issues page. As always, we welcome contributions/questions/issues of any kind. I’d like to thank everyone on behalf of the team for supporting us in our endeavors to provide you with this preview release. Happy programming!

Future Plans

Going forward we plan to expand SQL Server 16 Feature Support (example: Always Encrypted), improve test coverage, and fix bugs reported on our Issues page.

Meet Bhagdev (meetb@microsoft.com)