Rails, SQL Server, ODBC, and Snow Leopard setup

These are VERY basic instructions for getting MS SQL Server working via ODBC on Mac OSX Snow Leopard, with rails.  It assumes you know how to make / install libraries from source.  It took a LOT of trial and error so your results may vary.

1. Install unixODBC

Get from http://www.unixodbc.org

./configure --prefix=/usr/local --enable-gui=no
make
sudo make install

2. Install FreeTDS

Get from http://www.freetds.org/

Notice that you are configuring it to point to the location you specified above, where you installed unixODBC, and using the tds version 8.0 so that it works with the latest MS SQL Server.

./configure --prefix=/usr/local --with-tdsver=8.0 --with-unixodbc=/usr/local
make
sudo make install

3. Test TSQL

Make sure that tsql is installed correctly.

tsql -C

You should see it compiled with unixODBC, if not or if it shows you compiled with iODBC, sudo make uninstall both packages and try again.

4. Set up config files in /usr/local/etc

freetds.conf

[NAME_HERE]
  host = [SERVER NAME / IP]
  port = 1433
  tds version = 8.0

odbcinst.ini

[FreeTDS]
Driver = /usr/local/lib/libtdsodbc.so

*note: verify that the .so is in the location above.  If you configured as I showed, then you should be fine.

odbc.ini

[DSN_NAME]
Driver = FreeTDS
Server = [SERVER]
Database = [DATABASE] // optional, you might want to specify your database in your yml.
Port = 1433
TDS_Version = 8.0

5. Test with iSQL

isql is installed with unixODBC. You can use it to make sure the DSN is setup properly.  After you launch isql, you should be able to send sql commands to the server and see results.

isql [DSN_NAME] [username] [password]

If this doesn't work, but tsql -C was correct, then check your config files and make sure you can really get to your server via TCP/IP.

6. Set up Ruby ODBC to work with unixODBC

Get Ruby ODBC here: http://www.ch-werner.de/rubyodbc/

Configure with ruby config pointing to the usr/local directory.

ruby ext/extconf.rb --with-odbc-lib=/usr/local
make
sudo make install

In my experience, don't use the gem ruby-odbc. This isn't compiled to use unixODBC.

7. Install activerecord-sqlserver-adapter

gem install activerecord-sqlserver-adapter 

I'm using version 2.3.8 which doesn't require the dbi or dbd-odbc gems.

After this you should test your rails app with a rake db:migrate or other methods to see if your server gets set up properly.

email vulgrin@gmail.com if you have any questions.