macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install mdbtoolslocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install mdbtoolsMacPorts ports tree · databases/mdbtools/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install mdbtools with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper
Tools to facilitate the use of Microsoft Access databases. Version 1.0.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add mdbtoolsAlpine Linux edge package indexes · mdbtools · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install libmdb3t64Debian stable package indexes · libmdb3t64 · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install mdbtoolsFedora Rawhide package metadata · mdbtools · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#mdbtoolsnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/md/mdbtools/package.nix · source: api.github.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install libmdb3openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libmdb3 · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
Tools to facilitate the use of Microsoft Access databases
Project links
Commands and aliases
- mdb-array
- mdb-count
- mdb-export
- mdb-header
- mdb-hexdump
- mdb-json
- mdb-parsecsv
- mdb-prop
- mdb-queries
- mdb-schema
- mdb-sql
- mdb-tables
- mdb-ver
history
Project history and usage
MDB Tools is a suite for reading and extracting data from Microsoft Access MDB databases on Unix-like systems. The upstream README describes command-line utilities, core libraries, a SQL engine, and an ODBC driver.
Project history
The official GitHub repository was created on 2010-06-16, but the NEWS file preserves older project history through releases such as 0.3 and 0.7.1. The project centers on reverse-engineering the Jet3 and Jet4 MDB file formats, documented in the upstream HACKING file.
MDB Tools 0.9.0 marked a major restart. The NEWS file says the project was under new management, moved its canonical home to GitHub, collected years of unapplied patches, made GLib optional, added in-memory opening, improved thread safety, added `mdb-count` and `mdb-queries`, and moved the former GNOME GUI into the separate `gmdb2` project.
Later 0.9.x releases emphasized security, fuzzing, Access-version support, ODBC fixes, SQL improvements, and documentation updates. Version 1.0.0 stabilized the generated `mdbtools.h` approach and kept API and ABI compatibility with the 0.9 series for most users.
Adoption history
The supplied package-manager metadata shows MDB Tools shipped by Homebrew, Alpine, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, and openSUSE. Its adoption is tied to a persistent niche: extracting tables, schemas, and queries from Microsoft Access files on systems where Access itself is unavailable.
The README also documents installation through Debian, Homebrew, and MacPorts, confirming that upstream expects users to obtain the suite from package managers as well as from source.
How it is used
The utility suite includes commands such as `mdb-tables` to list tables, `mdb-schema` to print DDL, `mdb-export` to export tables to CSV or SQL, `mdb-json` to emit JSON, `mdb-count` for row counts, `mdb-sql` for simple SQL, and `mdb-queries` for saved Access queries.
Library and integration users can use `libmdb`, `libmdbsql`, and the ODBC driver. The README describes ODBC support for unixODBC or iODBC and notes that man pages provide usage instructions for each program.
Why package nerds care
MDB Tools is package-manager significant because it turns a proprietary desktop database format into Unix command-line data plumbing. It lets shell scripts, ETL jobs, distro packages, and server environments inspect Access databases without Microsoft Access.
It is also a long-lived reverse-engineering project: the HACKING documentation records byte-level Jet file-format knowledge, while the NEWS file shows continuing maintenance against malformed inputs, newer Access formats, build systems, and ODBC behavior.
Timeline
- 2010-06-16: Official GitHub repository created.
- 0.7.1: NEWS records modernization of autoconf/automake bootstrapping and experimental Unicode ODBC support.
- 0.9.0: Project moved to its new GitHub home under new management and absorbed years of patches.
- 0.9.2: Security and bug-fix release prompted by OSS-Fuzz memory-error findings.
- 1.0.0: Generated `mdbtools.h` and API/ABI compatibility notes for 0.9-series users.
Related projects
- The README says the GNOME MDB viewer/debugger moved to https://github.com/mdbtools/gmdb2.
- MDB Tools integrates with unixODBC or iODBC for ODBC access to MDB files.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: blue
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.
Risk classifier
blue risk · medium confidence · tool
Why
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
Signals
- text:database,sql
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 4 runtime dependencies.
- Build metadata lists 3 build dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
mdb-array | cli | global executable | |
mdb-count | cli | global executable | |
mdb-export | cli | global executable | |
mdb-header | cli | global executable | |
mdb-hexdump | cli | global executable | |
mdb-json | cli | global executable | |
mdb-parsecsv | cli | global executable | |
mdb-prop | cli | global executable | |
mdb-queries | cli | global executable | |
mdb-schema | cli | global executable | |
mdb-sql | cli | global executable | |
mdb-tables | cli | global executable | |
mdb-ver | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version1.0.1
manager updated2026-06-22
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
- infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtoolsnone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:mdbtools |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.0.1 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/mdbtools |
| Homepage | https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools/ |
| Repository | https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools |
| Upstream docs | https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools#readme |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools/releases/download/v1.0.1/mdbtools-1.0.1.tar.gz |
| Last updated | 2026-06-22T14:05:27-07:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | gettext, glib, readline, unixodbc |
| Build dependencies | bison, gawk, pkgconf |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | mdbtools |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 1 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
libmdb3t64 1.0.1-0.1
Core library for accessing JET / MS Access (MDB) files
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install libmdb3t64- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 2 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Debian apt95%
libmdbsql3t64 1.0.1-0.1
mdbtools SQL library
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install libmdbsql3t64- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Debian apt95%
mdbtools 1.0.1-0.1
JET / MS Access database (MDB) tools
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install mdbtools- Section: database
- Architecture: amd64
- 5 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Debian apt95%
mdbtools-dev 1.0.1-0.1
mdbtools development files
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install mdbtools-dev- Section: devel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Debian apt95%
mdbtools-doc 1.0.1-0.1
Dummy package
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install mdbtools-doc- Section: doc
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Debian apt95%
odbc-mdbtools 1.0.1-0.1
MDB tools ODBC driver
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install odbc-mdbtools- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 6 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Nix95%
mdbtools
nix profile install nixpkgs#mdbtools- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Ubuntu apt95%
libmdb3t64 1.0.0+dfsg-1.2ubuntu1
Core library for accessing JET / MS Access (MDB) files
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install libmdb3t64- Section: universe/libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 2 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Ubuntu apt95%
libmdbsql3t64 1.0.0+dfsg-1.2ubuntu1
mdbtools SQL library
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install libmdbsql3t64- Section: universe/libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Ubuntu apt95%
mdbtools 1.0.0+dfsg-1.2ubuntu1
JET / MS Access database (MDB) tools
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install mdbtools- Section: universe/utils
- Architecture: amd64
- 5 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Ubuntu apt95%
mdbtools-dev 1.0.0+dfsg-1.2ubuntu1
mdbtools development files
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install mdbtools-dev- Section: universe/devel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Ubuntu apt95%
mdbtools-doc 1.0.0+dfsg-1.2ubuntu1
Dummy package
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install mdbtools-doc- Section: universe/doc
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
Ubuntu apt95%
odbc-mdbtools 1.0.0+dfsg-1.2ubuntu1
MDB tools ODBC driver
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apt install odbc-mdbtools- Section: universe/libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 6 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
apk95%
mdbtools 1.0.1-r2
library for reading MS Access database files
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apk add mdbtools- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
apk95%
mdbtools-bash-completion 1.0.1-r2
Bash completions for mdbtools
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apk add mdbtools-bash-completion- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
apk95%
mdbtools-dev 1.0.1-r2
library for reading MS Access database files (development files)
https://github.com/mdbtools/mdbtools
sudo apk add mdbtools-dev- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mdbtools
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mdbtools
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment