Question Re: SQL Anywhere Linux ODBC and TLS in Technology Q&A

SQL Anywhere Linux ODBC and TLS

warrenbell — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 01:20:18 GMT

I am setting up a Docker container to connect to a SQL Anywhere database running on the same network. I was able to get it to connect and run a query successfully when I ran the Docker container on the same machine as the database server. I am using the sql Anywhere Linux ODBC client software and unixodbc.

This is the odbc.ini that works when the container is ran on the same machine:

[ODBC Data Sources] Prototype = SQL Anywhere 17 [Prototype] Driver=/opt/sqlanywhere17/lib64/libdbodbc17.so Description=Some Database Host=192.168.1.11:2638 DatabaseName=databasename ServerName=servername UID=username Integrated=NO Encryption=SIMPLE Password=password

Here is how the database is sarted:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SQLANYs_testdb\Parameters] "Parameters"="-k -qi -qs -on 10m -o C:\\CPDB\\console.txt -ti240 -tl120 -gnh 500 -gl ALL -gd ALL -x tcpip(ServerPort=2636,2638) -xs HTTPS(PORT=2637;IDENTITY=c:\\somefolder\\odbc.id;IDENTITY_PASSWORD=test) -es -ec SIMPLE,TLS(IDENTITY=c:\\somefolder\\odbc.id;IDENTITY_PASSWORD=test) -n test C:\\CPDB\\test.db @c:\\somefolder\\.tekey"

I am assuming that this works because it is on the same machine and it uses Encryption=SIMPLE. When I run this Docker image on a different machine on the same network with this odbc.ini:

When I run:

ODBCTRACE=1 ODBCTRACEMODE=console isql -v Prototype

I get:

[08S01][unixODBC][SAP][ODBC Driver][SQL Anywhere]TLS handshake failure [ISQL]ERROR: Could not SQLConnect

Here is what the public key looks like minus sensitive details:

Certificate: Data: Version: 3 (0x2) Serial Number: <omitted> Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption Issuer: C=US, ST=UT, L=Somewhere, O=Org, OU=Database, CN=*.somecompany.com, emailAddress=DatabaseTeam@test.com Validity Not Before: Feb 28 17:52:02 2024 GMT Not After : Feb 15 17:52:02 2074 GMT Subject: C=US, ST=UT, L=Somewhere, O=Org, OU=Database, CN=*.somecompany.com, emailAddress=DatabaseTeam@test.com Subject Public Key Info: Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption Public-Key: (2048 bit) Modulus: <omitted> Exponent: 65537 (0x10001) X509v3 extensions: X509v3 Subject Key Identifier: <omitted> Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption Signature Value: <omitted>

Where can I find the different options that can be used for TLS(...) in the odbc.ini file ?

And does anyone have any suggestions on how I can troubleshoot this ? I think I am just not getting the TLS configured correctly in the odbc.ini.

Re: SQL Anywhere Linux ODBC and TLS

warrenbell — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 21:54:19 GMT

I was finally able to get it to work from a Docker container. I did not have the correct cert for the db. Once I got the right cert I was able to connect and run a query. I am going to show my solution below in case someone else comes across the same issues. The Docker container needs to be cleaned up a bit. I am probably installing extra software I do not need.

Here is the ODBC.ini I ended up with: (The Encryption entry may be different depending on your cert and db start up params)

[ODBC Data Sources] DataSourceName = SQL Anywhere 17 [DataSourceName] Driver=/opt/sqlanywhere17/lib64/libdbodbc17.so Description=Some Database Host=23c8b.somedomain.com:2638 DatabaseName=databasename ServerName=servername UID=username Integrated=NO Encryption=TLS(trusted_certificates=*;company=23c8b.somedomain.com) Password=password

Here is the odbcinst.ini file:

[SQL Anywhere 17] Description=SQL Anywhere ODBC Driver Driver=/opt/sqlanywhere17/lib64/libdbodbc17.so Setup=/opt/sqlanywhere17/lib64/libdbodbc17.so

Here is the Dockerfile:

FROM ubuntu:22.04 # Prevent interactive prompts during package installation ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive # First install unixODBC packages RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \ unixodbc \ unixodbc-dev \ odbcinst \ curl \ gnupg2 \ wget \ ca-certificates \ libncurses5 \ build-essential \ locales \ inetutils-ping \ openssl \ tdsodbc \ file \ libaio1 \ && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* # Set locale RUN locale-gen en_US.UTF-8 ENV LANG en_US.UTF-8 ENV LANGUAGE en_US:en ENV LC_ALL en_US.UTF-8 # Create directories for SQL Anywhere RUN mkdir -p /opt/sqlanywhere17/lib64 RUN mkdir -p /opt/setup_files # This copies over the SQL Anywhere client install sqla17_client_linux_x86x64.tar.gz file. Download from SAP. COPY ./sql_anywhere_client/ /opt/setup_files/ # Install SQL Anywhere client RUN cd /opt/setup_files && \ tar -xzf sqla17_client_linux_x86x64.tar.gz && \ cd client17011 && \ chmod +x setup && \ ./setup -silent -nogui -I_accept_the_license_agreement # Create wrapper script for odbcinst. This is a hack to get odbcinst to work with the system libraries. RUN echo '#!/bin/bash\n\ # Temporarily set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to use system libraries for odbcinst\n\ OLD_LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"\n\ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"\n\ /usr/bin/odbcinst "$@"\n\ RESULT=$?\n\ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$OLD_LD_LIBRARY_PATH"\n\ exit $RESULT' > /usr/local/bin/odbcinst_wrapper && \ chmod +x /usr/local/bin/odbcinst_wrapper # Set SQL Anywhere environment variables ENV SQLANY17=/opt/sqlanywhere17 ENV SQLANYSAMP17=/opt/sqlanywhere17/samples ENV PATH=$SQLANY17/bin64:$SQLANY17/bin32:$PATH ENV NODE_PATH=$SQLANY17/node:$NODE_PATH ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$SQLANY17/lib64:$SQLANY17/lib32:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH ENV ODBCINI=/etc/odbc.ini ENV ODBCSYSINI=/etc # Copy your ODBC data source configuration COPY odbc.ini /etc/odbc.ini COPY odbcinst.ini /etc/odbcinst.ini # Register the driver with unixODBC using the wrapper script RUN /usr/local/bin/odbcinst_wrapper -i -d -f /etc/odbcinst.ini # Run ldconfig to update the shared library cache RUN ldconfig # Clean up setup files to reduce image size RUN rm -rf /opt/setup_files # Test connection with below # ODBCTRACE=1 ODBCTRACEMODE=console isql -v DataSourceName username password # Default command to start bash for debugging CMD ["/bin/bash"]

There is a lot that can be cleaned up in the Dockerfile. Not sure if the wrapper script is even needed since the driver is hard coded into the odbc.ini file.

Re: SQL Anywhere Linux ODBC and TLS

dmo8 — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 08:16:12 GMT

Thanks for this. My problem: I miss the libdbodbc17.so in the https://d5d4ifzqzkhwt.cloudfront.net/sqla17client/sqla17_client_linux_x86x64.tar.gz. Any Idee what I do wrong?