Downloading The Driver

ODBC/JDBC Driver for Firebird Client ApplicationsFirebird ODBC Configuration

Downloading the Driver

The Downloads section at https://www.firebirdsql.org/en/odbc-driver/ clearly identifies the bitness of the various kits available, with the latest release at the top of the page.For example, the 32-bit installer kit for Windows, at the time this document was prepared, was named Firebird_ODBC_2.0.5.156_Win32.exe, indicating that it is the executable installer for the 32-bit version.The following table should help to indicate what you will need.The “N.n.n.xxx” infix used here indicates “Major1.Major2.Minor.Subrelease”.The “Subrelease” part changes the most frequently.

Table 1. Firebird ODBC/JDBC Driver Kits
Kit Name	Purpose
`OdbcJdbc-src-N.n.n.xxx.tar.gz`	Source code, which is bitness-independent.Recommended for POSIX installs with unusual rules about the location of libraries — instructions below.
`Firebird_ODBC_N.n.n.xxx_Win32.exe`	Executable installer for use with 32-bit client applications.Use this for an initial installation.
`Firebird_ODBC_N.n.n.xxx_x64.exe`	Executable installer for use with 64-bit client applications.Use this for an initial installation.
`OdbcFb_DLL_N.n.n.xxx_Win32.zip`	Zip kit containing just the dynamic and static 32-bit libraries and documentation.This can be used to update the library of an existing installation when the driver is not active.On a 64-bit machine, the older version can be found in the folder `c:\Windows\SySWOW64` and Administrator privileges will be required to overwrite it.
`OdbcFb_DLL_N.n.n.xxx_x64.zip`	Zip kit containing just the dynamic and static 64-bit libraries and documentation.This can be used to update the library of an existing installation when the driver is not active.On a 64-bit machine, the older version can be found in the folder `c:\Windows\system32` and Administrator privileges will be required to overwrite it.It will not work on a 32-bit machine.
`OdbcFb-LIB-N.n.n.xxx.i686.gz`	32-bit binary for a POSIX client, gzipped
`OdbcFb-LIB-N.n.n.xxx.amd64.gz`	64-bit binary for a POSIX client, gzipped

Getting the Right Firebird Client Library

All Firebird RDBMS kits contain at least one version of the Firebird client library.If there is only one, then it will have the same “bitness” as the server installation kit itself.

Important

Make sure you get the fbclient library that has the same major version number as the server it is going to connect with.

On a 32-bit Windows installation, fbclient.dll is in Firebird’s bin folder in Firebird versions lower than version 3.0.For version 3.0 and above, it is in Firebird’s root folder, e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Firebird\Firebird\Firebird_3_0, or wherever Firebird was installed.
On a 64-bit Windows installation, the version of fbclient.dll in Firebird’s bin folder (or Firebird’s root folder for version 3.0 and higher) is the 64-bit one.In some builds, the 32-bit client is located in a folder, named either WOW64 or system32, that is beneath Firebird’s root.

If your ODBC DSN setup is going to need the 32-bit fbclient.dll and it is not there, you will need to download the 32-bit Windows .zip kit from the main Firebird download page, extract the 32-bit client from it and place it in the same folder as your application.An alternative is to download the 32-bit installer instead and perform a client-only install, configuring the installer to place it where you want it to be.
The POSIX server kits always come with only the matching libfbclient.so.You will need to extract it from an .i686 kit if your POSIX client application is 32-bit.

Have the client library in its proper place before installing the driver and configuring the DSN.

Note	Compatibility of the Driver with Firebird Versions The most current version of the ODBC/JDBC driver is expected to be compatible with any supported version of Firebird.