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Install Firebird Database Server on CentOS 8

Alaric Bird
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Learn how to install Firebird Database Server on CentOS 8 with our step-by-step guide. Ensure a secure and efficient setup for your database needs on CentOS 8. #centlinux #linux #firebird

What is Firebird Database?

Firebird is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) known for its high performance, scalability, and reliability. It is based on the InterBase database engine and has been actively developed since 2000. Firebird supports SQL-92 standard queries and provides advanced features such as:

Firebird is widely used in enterprise applications, point-of-sale (POS) systems, accounting software, and embedded solutions due to its flexibility, security, and cost-effectiveness.

Firebird Database Features

Some of the notable features of FireBird database are:

Install Firebird Database Server on CentOS 8

Linux Server Specification

We are utilizing a KVM-based CentOS 8 virtual machine, which provides robust virtualization capabilities with excellent performance and isolation. This virtual machine is configured with the following specifications, ensuring optimal efficiency and stability for our deployment environment.

Update Linux Software Packages

To establish a secure connection with the Firebird database server, access the KVM-based CentOS 8 virtual machine named firebird-02.centlinux.com as the root user. Use an SSH client such as OpenSSH (Linux/macOS) or PuTTY (Windows) to remotely connect to the server.

Once connected, ensure that the system is up to date by executing the following command, which updates all installed software packages and dependencies using the DNF package manager:

# dnf update -y

This step is essential for maintaining system security, stability, and compatibility with the latest software releases.

Install LibTomMath on CentOS 8

Firebird database requires LibTomMath library, a free open source portable number theoretic multiple-precision integer library.

LibTomMath package is not available in standard yum repositories. Therefore, we need to install the EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) first.

# dnf install epel-release -y

Build cache for EPEL and other yum repositories.

# dnf makecache
CentOS-8 - AppStream                            4.0 kB/s | 4.3 kB     00:01
CentOS-8 - Base                                 3.3 kB/s | 3.9 kB     00:01
CentOS-8 - Extras                               1.7 kB/s | 1.5 kB     00:00
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux Modular 8 - 4.1 kB/s | 6.6 kB     00:01
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64  5.5 kB/s | 6.7 kB     00:01
Metadata cache created.

We can now install LibTomMath library from EPEL repository by using dnf command.

# dnf install -y libtommath

Install Firebird Database Server on CentOS 8

At the time of this writing, Firebird 3.0.5 is the latest stable release, offering enhanced performance, security improvements, and bug fixes. Firebird is a cross-platform relational database management system (RDBMS), and its official downloads are available for multiple operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS.

To obtain the appropriate installation package for your system, visit the official Firebird download page. Here, you can find versions tailored for different platforms, including server, embedded, and development editions. Ensure that you select the correct version based on your operating system and deployment requirements.

Firebird Database Server Downloads

Copy the link of the Firebird compressed tarball and download it by using wget command.

# wget https://github.com/FirebirdSQL/firebird/releases/download/R3_0_5/Firebird-3.0.5.33220-0.amd64.tar.gz
--2020-05-11 01:55:07--  https://github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com/54005538/16a06c80-331a-11ea-92da-1c925f600370?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWNJYAX4CSVEH53A%2F20200510%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200510T205508Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Signature=2a96bb0157c8e155b02158bedc67321caa798088b10c76497fdf998eb65f5d8d&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&actor_id=0&repo_id=54005538&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3DFirebird-3.0.5.33220-0.amd64.tar.gz&response-content-type=application%2Foctet-stream
Resolving github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com (github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com)... 52.217.18.156
Connecting to github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com (github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com)|52.217.18.156|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 8561290 (8.2M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: âFirebird-3.0.5.33220-0.amd64.tar.gzâ

Firebird-3.0.5.3322 100%[===================>]   8.16M   663KB/s    in 18s

2020-05-11 01:55:27 (466 KB/s) - âFirebird-3.0.5.33220-0.amd64.tar.gzâ saved [8561290/8561290]

Extract downloaded tarball using tar command to install Firebird on Linux..

# tar xf Firebird-3.0.5.33220-0.amd64.tar.gz

We can install Firebird database by using install.sh script. But during Firebird installation, we have encountered following errors.

/opt/firebird/bin/gsec: error while loading shared libraries: libtommath.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

and

/opt/firebird/bin/gsec: error while loading shared libraries: libncurses.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

The reason behind the above errors is that the Firebird is looking for older versions of these libraries, while in CentOS 8 the new versions of these libraries has been installed.

To overcome these issues, we simply create the softlinks to the new version of these shared libraries.

# ln -s /usr/lib64/libtommath.so.1.1.0 /usr/lib64/libtommath.so.0
# ln -s /usr/lib64/libncurses.so.6.1 /usr/lib64/libncurses.so.5

Now, go to Firebird setup directory and start installation.

# cd Firebird-3.0.5.33220-0.amd64/
# ./install.sh

Firebird 3.0.5.33220-0.amd64 Installation

Press Enter to start installation or ^C to abort
Extracting install data
Updated /etc/services
Please enter new password for SYSDBA user: Str0ngPa55word
Install completed

Installer creates a systemd service for Firebird database.  The Firebird database engine is run in Superserver mode by default. However, you can customize it by using /etc/firebird/firebird.conf configuration file. 

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Check the status of the Firebird database service.

# cd
# systemctl status firebird-superserver.service
â firebird-superserver.service - Firebird Database Server ( SuperServer )
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/firebird-superserver.service; enabl>
   Active: active (running) since Mon 2020-05-11 02:07:57 PKT; 2min 21s ago
  Process: 27710 ExecStart=/opt/firebird/bin/fbguard -pidfile /var/run/firebir>
 Main PID: 27712 (firebird)
    Tasks: 4 (limit: 5916)
   Memory: 2.0M
   CGroup: /system.slice/firebird-superserver.service
           ââ27711 /opt/firebird/bin/fbguard -pidfile /var/run/firebird/firebi>
           ââ27712 /opt/firebird/bin/firebird

May 11 02:07:57 firebird-02.centlinux.com systemd[1]: Starting Firebird Databa>
May 11 02:07:57 firebird-02.centlinux.com systemd[1]: firebird-superserver.ser>
May 11 02:07:57 firebird-02.centlinux.com systemd[1]: firebird-superserver.ser>
May 11 02:07:57 firebird-02.centlinux.com systemd[1]: Started Firebird Databas>

Installer does not include the Firebird binaries directory in the PATH environmental variable. We need to do it by ourselves.

Edit .bash_profile of root user.

# vi ~/.bash_profile

Locate PATH variable and update it as follows.

PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:/opt/firebird/bin/

Save and exit.

We need to execute .bash_profile once, to update PATH environment variable for current session.

# source ~/.bash_profile

Check version of Firebird database.

# firebird -z
Firebird TCP/IP server version LI-V3.0.5.33220 Firebird 3.0

If you are planning to access your FireBird database server across the network, then you have to enable the FireBird default service port in Linux firewall.

# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=3050/tcp
success
# firewall-cmd --reload
success

We have successfully install Firebird on Linux server.

Basic Firebird SQL Commands

Connect to sample Firebird database i.e. employee by using isql command as sysdba user.

# isql -u sysdba -p Str0ngPa55word employee
Database: employee, User: SYSDBA
SQL>

We can list database users by using following command.

SQL> show users;
Users in the database
  1 #SYSDBA

Currently, we have only one user in the database, that is why the command provided a single user list.

Check the version of iSQL and Firebird database.

SQL> show version;
ISQL Version: LI-V3.0.5.33220 Firebird 3.0
Server version:
Firebird/Linux/AMD/Intel/x64 (access method), version "LI-V3.0.5.33220 Firebird 3.0"
on disk structure version 12.0

List down the tables in the employee database.

SQL> show tables;
       COUNTRY                                CUSTOMER
       DEPARTMENT                             EMPLOYEE
       EMPLOYEE_PROJECT                       JOB
       PROJECT                                PROJ_DEPT_BUDGET
       SALARY_HISTORY                         SALES

Query data from COUNTRY table by using SELECT statement.

SQL> select * from country;

COUNTRY         CURRENCY
=============== ==========
USA             Dollar
England         Pound
Canada          CdnDlr
Switzerland     SFranc
Japan           Yen
Italy           Euro
France          Euro
Germany         Euro
Australia       ADollar
Hong Kong       HKDollar
Netherlands     Euro
Belgium         Euro
Austria         Euro
Fiji            FDollar
Russia          Ruble
Romania         RLeu

Our CentOS 8 based Firebird database server is working fine.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, installing Firebird Database Server on CentOS 8 can greatly enhance your data management capabilities with its robust performance and flexibility. Whether you’re setting up a new database or migrating an existing one, Firebird offers the features and reliability you need for your applications.

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FAQs

Where is the default Firebird database directory?
The default database directory is: /var/lib/firebird/.

What is the default Firebird admin user and password?
The default user is SYSDBA, and the password is set during installation (or found in /etc/firebird/SYSDBA.password).

How does Firebird handle database storage on CentOS 8?
Firebird stores databases in the /var/lib/firebird/ directory by default, using a single-file database architecture for efficient access.

What authentication method does Firebird use?
Firebird uses its own authentication system with user credentials stored in security2.fdb. The default administrator account is SYSDBA.

How does Firebird manage network connections?
Firebird communicates over TCP/IP using port 3050 by default. Remote access requires proper firewall and security configurations.

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