New Configuration Files

Table of Contents

The Firebird Root Directory
Server Configuration File--firebird.conf
Database File Aliasing

In Firebird 1.5 there are two configuration files: firebird.conf and aliases.conf. The firebird.conf file replaces ibconfig (Windows) and isc_config (POSIX) that were in the Firebird 1.0.x distributions. Aliases.conf is new: it ties in with some database access parameters in firebird.conf to enable connection to databases without passing filesystem paths across the wire.

The Firebird Root Directory

Precedence Trail for Locating the Firebird Root

The root directory of your Firebird installation is used in many ways, both during installation and as an attribute that server routines, configuration parameters and clients depend on. Because several ways exist to tell the server where to find a value for this attribute, developers and system administrators should be aware of the precedence trail that the server follows at startup, to determine it correctly.

Precedence Trail for Locating the Firebird Root

Win32 Superserver and Classic builds (both server and client):

FIREBIRD environment variable
RootDirectory parameter in firebird.conf
Registry:

HKLM\ SOFTWARE\Firebird Project\Firebird Server\Instances\DefaultInstance and looks for the field DefaultInstance.
The directory one level above the one where the server binary is located

Win32 Embedded:

FIREBIRD environment variable
RootDirectory parameter in firebird.conf
The directory where fbembed.dll (renamed fbclient.dll) is located

Linux Classic:

FIREBIRD environment variable
RootDirectory parameter in firebird.conf
Default installation path (/opt/firebird)

Linux Superserver:

FIREBIRD environment variable
RootDirectory parameter in firebird.conf
The directory one level above the one where the server binary is located (retrieved via symlink "/proc/self/exe", if supported)
Default installation path (/opt/firebird)