MySQL Connector/ODBC
MySQL Connector/ODBC is an ODBC driver developed by Oracle Corporation for connecting ODBC-enabled applications to MySQL databases. It was originally created by MySQL AB and has been maintained by Oracle since the acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2010.
Overview
MySQL Connector/ODBC enables any application supporting ODBC—including business intelligence tools, office suites, custom applications, and legacy systems—to access, query, and manage MySQL databases using the ODBC interface.Platform support and installation
MySQL Connector/ODBC is available for Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, and other Unix-like systems. Both 32-bit and 64-bit builds are provided, depending on the system and application requirements.The official downloads and detailed installation instructions are provided by Oracle.
Step-by-step installation guides, including for Windows, are available from Informatica and Hevo Data.
Configuration and usage
Connector/ODBC supports multiple configuration approaches:- System DSNs, user DSNs, and file DSNs are supported on all platforms.
- DSN-less connections are widely used.
- Configuration for DSNs on Windows and macOS is described in official documentation.
- Connection pooling, authentication options, and example usages are extensively documented.
Technical features
- Compliance with ODBC 3.51 and 3.8 specifications, partial ODBC 4.x support.
- Unicode and ANSI driver variants for Windows, only Unicode for Unix-like systems.
- Full support for transactions, savepoints, and rollbacks.
- Client-side and server-side prepared statements.
- Native access to MySQL data types, including JSON, BLOB, geometry, BIT.
- Authentication plugins and SSL/TLS encryption for secure connections.
- Bulk operations, streaming, connection pooling.
- Diagnostics, logging, error codes for troubleshooting.
- An API reference is maintained online.
Version history
A detailed official changelog and history is maintained by Oracle.MyODBC 2.50/2.51: ANSI, MySQL 3.x3.51: ANSI-only, ODBC 3.51 compliance5.1–5.3: Unicode/ANSI, ODBC 3.8, 64-bit, DSN file support8.0+: MySQL 8.0+ support, modern authentication, renewed 32-bit support 9.x: Latest releases, MySQL 8.x and 9.xPractical integration and use cases
MySQL Connector/ODBC is commonly used for:- Office integration
- Business Intelligence
- ETL and migration between databases
- Application development in C, C++, Python, Java, .NET, PHP, and more
- Legacy system and cross-platform deployments