This file focuses on topics specific to openSUSE / SLE packages. For generic Firebird introduction, read Firebird 3 Quickstart and Release Notes documents (both provided in firebird-doc package). 1. Upgrade from version 2.5 --------------------------- Firebird 3 brings some incompatible changes which make fully automated upgrade of existing 2.5 setups impossible. First, new database file format (On-disk structure, ODS) is used. To migrate existing databases, backup them with gbak before the upgrade and restore after the upgrade. Second, new authentication scheme is used by default so that old security databases (with users and passwords) cannot be migrated. You can either create a new security database from scratch as described in http://www.firebirdsql.org/file/documentation/release_notes/html/en/3_0/rnfb30-compat-initsec.html or migrate the old one (without passwords) as described in http://www.firebirdsql.org/file/documentation/release_notes/html/en/3_0/rnfb30-compat-upgrade-secdb.html Both sections are also available in firebird-doc package in file /usr/share/doc/packages/firebird/ReleaseNotes.pdf Chapter 12 "Compatibility Issues" of release notes also lists other possible incompatibilities and is worth reading for anyone upgrading from Firebird 2.5 to 3.0 for the first time. 2. Packaging ------------ Package firebird contains only common files needed both for client and server installations. The rest is divided into subpackages: firebird-server - server functionality libfbclient2 - client library (both remote and embedded) libib_util - utility functions for UDF firebird-utils - management utilities firebird-doc - documentation libfbclient-devel - devel files for libfbclient2 libib_util-devel - devel files for libib_util firebird-examples - example database and API examples Two of Firebird utilities - isql and gstat - have names colliding with tools from other packages. They have been renamed to isql-fb and gstat-fb respectively. Unlike in pre-3.0 versions, Firebird 3 provides one executable which can handle all three threading modes (Classic, SuperClassic and SuperServer) depending on ServerMode directive in firebird.conf. The client library libfbclient2 can now be used both to connect to remote servers and to access local database files in embedded mode. By default, the server listens on TCP port 3050 to both IPv4 and IPv6 connections. This can be configured using RemoteBindAddress, RemoteServicePort and IPv6V6Only directives. 3. Configuration ---------------- Unlike in Firebird 2.5, no default sysdba password is set by default. Before using Firebird 3.0, one needs to initialize the security database as described in http://www.firebirdsql.org/file/documentation/release_notes/html/en/3_0/rnfb30-compat-initsec.html (or section "Initializing the Security Database" of release notes provided in /usr/share/doc/packages/firebird/ReleaseNotes.pdf (package firebird-doc). Config files are in /etc/firebird. Default config files are mostly the same as upstream defaults, the only difference is default value of DatabaseAccess directive. As upstream default "Full" can be considered a security flaw, SUSE packages use "Restrict /srv/firebird". To use a database in different location, either modify the DatabaseAccess directive or define an alias for it in aliases.conf. 4. Starting the server ---------------------- Set the ServerMode directive in firebird.conf to your preferred operating mode. Then start the server: - SuperServer or SuperClassic: * once: /etc/init.d/firebird start * always: insserv firebird - Classic: * in /etc/xinetd.d/firebird, change value of "disable" to "yes" * check if xinetd is running and reload its configuration or start it