# Install freetds with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper Libraries to talk to Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase databases. Version 1.5.18 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:freetds ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install freetds ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install freetds ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: databases/freetds/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add freetds ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: freetds from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install freetds-bin ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: freetds-bin from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install freetds ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: freetds from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#freetds ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fr/freetds/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S freetds ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: freetds from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install freetds-config ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: freetds-config from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:freetds - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.5.18 - **Source summary:** Libraries to talk to Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase databases - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:03:22-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - bsqldb (cli) - bsqlodbc (cli) - datacopy (cli) - defncopy (cli) - fisql (cli) - freebcp (cli) - osql (cli) - tdspool (cli) - tsql (cli) - bsqldb (alias) - bsqlodbc (alias) - datacopy (alias) - defncopy (alias) - fisql (alias) - freebcp (alias) - osql (alias) - tdspool (alias) - tsql (alias) ## Dependencies - openssl@3 - unixodbc ## Build dependencies - pkgconf ## Uses from macOS - krb5 ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.5.18 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-22 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.freetds.org/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage FreeTDS is a free implementation of the Sybase and Microsoft SQL Server client libraries and utilities for the Tabular Data Stream protocol. It gives Unix-like systems and other platforms DB-Library, CT-Library, ODBC, interactive SQL, and bulk-copy tooling for TDS-speaking databases. ### Project history The official user guide says FreeTDS began in early 1997 when Brian Bruns, a Sybase DBA, wanted DB-Library programs to run under Linux. The first work focused on DB-Library and TDS 5.0, then expanded to CT-Library compatibility, TDS 4.2, ODBC, and TDS 7.0/7.1 support. As the project matured, the official history names contributors who expanded the ODBC driver, BCP support, CT-Library cursors, and documentation. The README describes the resulting codebase as portable C libraries plus utilities for Unix-like systems, Windows, VMS, and macOS. ### Adoption history FreeTDS grew because many open source applications needed access to Sybase and Microsoft SQL Server without relying on proprietary client libraries. The user guide explicitly cites use from Perl, PHP, and other language bindings that expect DB-Library or CT-Library APIs. The project documentation describes the libraries as mature and stable, with users including large corporations, U.S. federal government systems, and web servers running Apache and PHP. That official framing explains why FreeTDS became a common dependency below scripting-language database adapters. ### How it is used Package users commonly install FreeTDS for libtds, ODBC drivers, and command-line tools such as tsql, freebcp, fisql, osql, bsqldb, defncopy, and datacopy. Configuration revolves around freetds.conf and ODBC driver manager integration. Current NEWS entries show ongoing maintenance around encryption, TDS 8.0, UTF-8 and old Sybase compatibility, Windows Unicode paths, ODBC behavior, bulk copy, and Unix configuration search paths. ### Why package nerds care FreeTDS is a classic compatibility-layer package: small command-line utilities on the surface, but a large C library stack underneath for database adapters. Packagers care about ODBC manager choices, OpenSSL support, iconv behavior, ABI naming, and where freetds.conf is searched. It is also historically important because it kept DB-Library-style clients useful after vendors shifted focus. The official guide notes Microsoft's DB-Library deprecation while presenting FreeTDS as a maintained route for code that still fits that API. ### Timeline - 1984: Sybase developed the TDS protocol for Sybase SQL Server, according to the FreeTDS user guide background. - 1990: Sybase and Microsoft entered a technology sharing agreement that led to Microsoft's SQL Server line. - 1997: Brian Bruns began FreeTDS to run DB-Library programs on Linux. - 2002: James K. Lowden became maintainer after joining to improve documentation. - 1.5: Release notes add TDS 8.0 support and allow freetds.conf under ~/.config on Unix. ### Related projects - FreeTDS/JDBC was a related Java JDBC driver mentioned in the official project history. - DBD::Sybase is cited in the user guide as a Perl binding that works well with FreeTDS. - unixODBC and iODBC are related driver managers used by the FreeTDS ODBC implementation. ### Sources - - - - - - ## Security Notes No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for freetds. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL. ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: ${HOME}/.freetds.conf, ${HOME}/.config/freetds.conf, ${sysconfdir}/freetds.conf (default /usr/local/etc/freetds.conf) ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** freetds - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - freetds-bin - 1.3.17+ds-2+deb13u1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: freetds-bin from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | FreeTDS command-line utilities | http://www.freetds.org/ - Debian apt - freetds-common - 1.3.17+ds-2+deb13u1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: freetds-common from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | configuration files for FreeTDS SQL client libraries | http://www.freetds.org/ - Debian apt - freetds-dev - 1.3.17+ds-2+deb13u1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: freetds-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | MS SQL and Sybase client library (static libs and headers) | http://www.freetds.org/ - Debian apt - freetds-doc - 1.3.17+ds-2+deb13u1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: freetds-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | FreeTDS documentation | http://www.freetds.org/ - Debian apt - libct4 - 1.3.17+ds-2+deb13u1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libct4 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | libraries for connecting to MS SQL and Sybase SQL servers | http://www.freetds.org/ - Debian apt - libsybdb5 - 1.3.17+ds-2+deb13u1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libsybdb5 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | libraries for connecting to MS SQL and Sybase SQL servers | http://www.freetds.org/ - Debian apt - tdsodbc - 1.3.17+ds-2+deb13u1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: tdsodbc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | ODBC driver for connecting to MS SQL and Sybase SQL servers | http://www.freetds.org/ - Nix - freetds: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fr/freetds/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - freetds-bin - 1.3.17+ds-2build3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: freetds-bin from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | FreeTDS command-line utilities | http://www.freetds.org/ - Ubuntu apt - freetds-common - 1.3.17+ds-2build3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: freetds-common from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | configuration files for FreeTDS SQL client libraries | http://www.freetds.org/ - Ubuntu apt - freetds-dev - 1.3.17+ds-2build3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: freetds-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | MS SQL and Sybase client library (static libs and headers) | http://www.freetds.org/ - Ubuntu apt - freetds-doc - 1.3.17+ds-2build3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: freetds-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | FreeTDS documentation | http://www.freetds.org/ - Ubuntu apt - libct4 - 1.3.17+ds-2build3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libct4 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | libraries for connecting to MS SQL and Sybase SQL servers | http://www.freetds.org/ - Ubuntu apt - libsybdb5 - 1.3.17+ds-2build3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libsybdb5 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | libraries for connecting to MS SQL and Sybase SQL servers | http://www.freetds.org/ - Ubuntu apt - tdsodbc - 1.3.17+ds-2build3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: tdsodbc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | ODBC driver for connecting to MS SQL and Sybase SQL servers | http://www.freetds.org/ - apk - freetds - 1.5.14-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: freetds from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Tabular Datastream Library | https://www.freetds.org/ ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Database and data packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/database-data-tools/) - Matched database, SQL, migration, or data-store metadata. - [openssl@3](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openssl-3/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [unixodbc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/unixodbc/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pgloader](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pgloader/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [php](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/php/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [php@8.1](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/php-8-1/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [php@8.2](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/php-8-2/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [php@8.3](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/php-8-3/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [php@8.4](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/php-8-4/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [libiodbc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libiodbc/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database-connectivity, odbc. - [mdbtools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mdbtools/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, odbc. - [odbc2parquet](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/odbc2parquet/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, odbc. - [adios2](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/adios2/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data. - [alluxio](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/alluxio/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data. - [anyquery](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/anyquery/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data. - [apache-arrow](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/apache-arrow/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data. - [apache-drill](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/apache-drill/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data. - [keydb](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/keydb/) - Local metadata places this package in an adjacent workflow. Shared terms: cli, data, database, databases, openssl. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/freetds.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/freetds.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph