Provided by: freetds-common_1.5.2+ds-1_all 
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
request
use if available (default when tds version greater than 7.0)
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.
FreeTDS 1.5.2 May 2, 2017 FREETDS.CONF(FreeTDS 5)