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We have a Windows machine running SQL Server 2005, and we need to be able to run some database queries on it from a Linux box. What are some of the recommended ways of doing this? Ideally, we would want a command-line utility similar to sqlcmd on Windows.

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15 Answers 15

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35

FreeTDS + unixODBC or iODBC

Install first FreeTDS, then configure one of the two ODBC engines to use FreeTDS as its ODBC driver. Then use the commandline interface of the ODBC engine.

unixODBC has isql, iODBC has iodbctest

You can also use your favorite programming language (I've successfully used Perl, C, Python and Ruby to connect to MSSQL)

I'm personally using FreeTDS + iODBC:

$more /etc/freetds/freetds.conf
[10.0.1.251]
    host = 10.0.1.251
    port = 1433
    tds version = 8.0

$ more /etc/odbc.ini
[ACCT]
Driver = /usr/local/freetds/lib/libtdsodbc.so
Description = ODBC to SQLServer via FreeTDS
Trace = No
Servername = 10.0.1.251
Database = accounts_ver8
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8 Comments

In Ubuntu I use driver path /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/odbc/libtdsodbc.so. I get [ISQL]ERROR: Could not SQLConnect.
ODBC is the driver that allows Linux to speak with MSSQL, and FreeTDS interprets the protocol, right?
Microsoft published yesterday a public SQL Server for Linux with support for Docker, Ubuntu, etc. microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-vnext-including-Linux
Any chance you could update this answer to reflect newer versions of code and packages, please?
What would you recommend instead?
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23

sql-cli is a nodejs based cross platform command line interface for sql server. You can install it via npm https://www.npmjs.org/package/sql-cli

It can connect to both on-premise and sql azure instance.

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Thank you! This should be the accepted answer! This is by far the best solution for people used to the mysql CLI client.
10

sqsh + freetds.

sqsh was primarily an isql replacement for Sybase SQL Server (now ASE) but it works just fine for connecting to SQL Server (provided you use freetds).

To compile, simply point $SYBASE to freetds install and it should work from there. I use it on my Mac all day.

The best part of sqsh are the advanced features, such as dead simple server linking (no need to set up linked servers in SQL Server), flow control and looping (no more concatenating strings and executing dynamic SQL), and invisible bulk copy/load.

Anyone who uses any other command line tool is simply crazy! :)

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3 Comments

Having a problem installing sqsh: stackoverflow.com/questions/18784242/…
sqsh.org is no longer a good link (currently Japanese real estate?). It can be found on SourceForge, though there have been no updates since 2014.
I whole heartedly agree - this is one of the most underrated pieces of software out there. But with no updates since 2014 things look a bit ominous.
6

pymssql is a DB-API Python module, based on FreeTDS. It worked for me. Create some helper functions, if you need, and use it from Python shell.

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pymssql does not appear to be as well-maintained as pyodbc. Indeed, it looks like the pymssql devs gave up because of pyodbc.
6

Since November 2011 Microsoft provides their own SQL Server ODBC Driver for Linux for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES).

It also includes sqlcmd for Linux.

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5

Mono contains an ADO.NET provider that should do this for you. I don't know if there is a command line utility for it, but you could definitely wrap up some C# to do the queries if there isn't.

Have a look at http://www.mono-project.com/TDS_Providers and http://www.mono-project.com/SQLClient

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3

If you are using Java, have a look at JDBC.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms378672(SQL.90).aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jdbc

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3

Surprised no one has mentioned that, contrary to what other answers seem to suggest, FreeTDS is all you need. No need for unixODBC, iODBC or anything else on top of it.

run some database queries [...] command-line utility similar to sqlcmd on Windows

tsql does this and is part of the FreeTDS package (as are freebcp and other utilities). tsql does not have fancy UI, but if you want a command-line utility that is light, functional and performant, it'll do just fine.

See e.g. How to run a SQL script in tsql

And by light, I mean under 500kb in size (maybe under 60k depending on how it's compiled) and, as far as I have seen, extremely efficient with memory and CPU.

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2

You don't say what you want to do with the resulting data, but if it's general queries for development/maintenance then I'd have thought Remote Desktop to the windows server and then using the actual SQL Server tools on their would always have been a more productive option over any hacked together solution on Linux itself.

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2

There is an abstraction lib available for PHP. Not sure what your client's box will support but if its Linux then certainly should support building a PHP query interface with this: http://adodb.sourceforge.net/ Hope that helps you.

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2

I'd like to recommend Sqlectron. Besides being open source under MIT license it's multiplatform boosted by Electron. Its own definition is:

A simple and lightweight SQL client desktop with cross database and platform support

It currently supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, MS SQL Server, Cassandra and SQLite.

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Kind of buggy but it simple and it works. Also has support for many linux distributions. Thanks
0

I was not confortable with the freetds solution, it's why i coded a class (command history, autocompletion on tables and fields, etc.)

http://www.phpclasses.org/package/8168-PHP-Use-ncurses-to-get-key-inputs-and-write-shell-text.html

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0

valentina-db it has free version for sql server
.rpm and .deb
serial id will be sent by email after registration

https://www.valentina-db.com/en/

https://valentina-db.com/en/store/category/14-free-products

valentina-db

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0

If you use eclipse you can install Data Tools Platform plugin on it and use it for every DB engines including MS SQLServer. It just needs to get JDBC driver for that DB engine.

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0

There is a nice CLI based tool for accessing MSSQL databases now.

It's called mssql-cli and it's a bit similar to postgres' psql.

Gihub repository page

Install for example via pip (global installation, for a local one omit the sudo part):

sudo pip install mssql-cli
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