Connect SQL Server Management Studio to Firebird via ODBC Driver

Requirements

Connecting to Firebird from SQL Server Management Studio using ODBC Driver for Firebird

You can use the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio to connect your Firebird data to an SQL Server instance. Linked Server is a tool of MS SQL Server that allows to execute distributed queries to refer tables stored on non-SQL Server datbase in a single query. With linked servers, you can execute commands against different data sources such as Firebird and merge them with your SQL Server database. You can create a linked server with one of these methods: by using the options in the Object Explorer or by executing stored procedures.

Below are major advantages of using SQL Server Linked Servers to connect to Firebird:

1. The ability to connect other database instances on the same or remote server.
2. The ability to run distributed queries on heterogeneous data sources across the organization.
3. The ability to work with diverse data sources in the same way.

How to configure a SQL Server Linked Server to connect to Firebird

You can follow the steps to create a linked server for Firebird in SQL Server Management Studio by using Object Explorer:

1. Start your Management Studio and choose your SQL Server instance.
2. In the Object Explorer pane, expand the Server Objects, right-click on Linked Servers and then click on New Linked Server.
3. Configure your linked server in the dialog box:
• Give a name for your server in the Linked server field.
• Under Server type, select Other data source .
• Choose Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers in the Provider drop-down list.
• In the Data source field, enter the name of your DSN, e.g. Devart ODBC Driver for Firebird . Alternatively, you can input the ODBC Driver connection string in the Provider field.

The linked server will appear under the Linked Servers in the Object Explorer Pane. You can now issue distributed queries and access Firebird databases through SQL Server.

Retrieving Data From Firebird

Ensure the Allow inprocess option of MSDASQL OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers is enabled. For this, find the MSDASQL provider in the list of Linked Servers and double-click on it

In the appeared Provider Options window, enable the Allow inprocess checkbox:

Create a new Linked Server

Make sure to select Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers:

Now you need to input the Linked Server name, e.g. FIREBIRD. In the Product Name and Data Source fields you need to indicate the System DSN that you've previously created - more info on System DSN setup can be found here.

The Firebird tables are already available to be fetched. To query the linked server, click New Query in the toolbar:

Enter your SQL query in the editor window and click Execute to run the query:

As a result, you can see the contents of the selected table retrieved directly from the Firebird account you are connected to.

See also

• Troubleshooting SSMS