Monday, 26 May 2025

Firebird and FreeBSD Quick Guide

 This guide will be continually updated as both FreeBSD and Firebird RDBMS change over time.


Newest changes (as of May 2025) are:


  •  - Using a custom ZFS pool under Firebird databases for snapshotting and DB size visibility.
  •  - Change to Firebird's new authentication system (gsec no longer used)
  •  - Creation of an automated backup system


Ok, as always, update the machine to the latest security updates:

Switch to root:

"su -l"

Fetch and Install updates. I found I was on 14.1, and 14.2 was now the latest production release - time to upgrade!

"freebsd-update -r 14.2-RELEASE upgrade"

 

# Install firebird

"pkg install firebird40-server"

 # As root, configure the sysdba user (gsec is deprecated - ignore the instructions at the end of the install)

"isql-fb -u sysdba employee"

 SQL> create user SYSDBA password 'something criptic';

SQL> commit;

SQL> exit;

 

# Enable firebird on startup

sysrc firebird_enable="YES"

 

 # Setup the config file

"cp /usr/local/etc/firebird/firebird.conf.sample /usr/local/etc/firebird/firebird.conf"

 

# Adjust the config - I like to prevent long statements  (Change from Unlimited to 20s)

StatementTimeout = 20

 

# See if Firebird will start

"service firebird start"

 

"service firebird status" should return the PID of the running server

 

Done.

 

 

 

 





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Firebird and FreeBSD Quick Guide

 This guide will be continually updated as both FreeBSD and Firebird RDBMS change over time. Newest changes (as of May 2025) are:  - Using a...