This page documents the files using the ODBC configuration, odbc.ini and odbcinst.ini. These are either placed in the home directory as dotfiles (.odbc.ini and .odbcinst.ini, respectively) or in a system directory. For platform-specific details, see the pages for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

odbc.ini and .odbc.ini

The odbc.ini file contains the DSNs for the drivers, which can have specific knobs. An example of odbc.ini with DuckDB:

[DuckDB]
Driver = DuckDB Driver
Database = :memory:
access_mode = read_only
allow_unsigned_extensions = true

The lines correspond to the following parameters:

• [DuckDB]: between the brackets is a DSN for the DuckDB.
• Driver: Describes the driver’s name, as well as where to find the configurations in the odbcinst.ini.
• Database: Describes the database name used by DuckDB, can also be a file path to a .db in the system.
• access_mode: The mode in which to connect to the database.
• allow_unsigned_extensions: Allow the use of unsigned extensions.

odbcinst.ini and .odbcinst.ini

The odbcinst.ini file contains general configurations for the ODBC installed drivers in the system. A driver section starts with the driver name between brackets, and then it follows specific configuration knobs belonging to that driver.

Example of odbcinst.ini with the DuckDB:

[ODBC]
Trace = yes
TraceFile = /tmp/odbctrace

[DuckDB Driver]
Driver = /path/to/libduckdb_odbc.dylib

The lines correspond to the following parameters:

• [ODBC]: The DM configuration section.
• Trace: Enables the ODBC trace file using the option yes.
• TraceFile: The absolute system file path for the ODBC trace file.
• [DuckDB Driver]: The section of the DuckDB installed driver.
• Driver: The absolute system file path of the DuckDB driver. Change to match your configuration.