How do you install Firebird SQL in Ubuntu?

[Don Bowen]

Good morning all...
I'm back from re-installing Ubuntu.

I found a site that explains how to install the Firebird SQL software in Ubutu even,
the only trouble is the directions don't work.
Here's the link: http://www.firebirdsql.org/manual/ubusetup.html

The directions say type the command

# apt-get install firebird2-super-server

and I'll see

The following extra packages will be installed:

what I get back is

don@B1501:~$
don@B1501:~$ apt-get install firebird2-super-server
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13 Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?
don@B1501:~$

It occurs to me that the # part of the command may be an actual part
of the command and not the prompt...hmm... lets go try that..

Nope. PUtting a # in front of the command causes the terminal to reply
with the same prompt. I conclude that the # denotes a comment in a
script and probably shouldn't have been included in the directions.
Any thoughts? I'm stuck again.

[Don Bowen]

Re-installing always works.... that's why I do it. It also ensures a clean slate so that a previous mistake doesn't influence a solution that might have worked...without that previous mistake.
I am confident that I can Install Firebird SQL on Ubuntu, all that remains is the learning how!
cheers,
DB

I edited my post to "never mind" because the answer there was already better than mine.

It is a pity that you are re-installing, people here really like it when they go crazy over someone's problem, and then... it works!!

it feels so good!

[Don Bowen]

putting "sudo" in front of a command seems to be a way to give yourself privileges
you don't normally have... I'm going to go and read up on that now...

but in the directions I tried putting "sudo" in front of the first direction and got the
following output.

don@B1501:~$ sudo apt-get install firebird2-super-server
[sudo] password for don:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package firebird2-super-server is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
firebird2.0-server-common
E: Package firebird2-super-server has no installation candidate
don@B1501:~$

Ubuntu starts to do something (install perhaps?) and then tells me that the package is
not available. I've downloaded the software and de-compressed it.... maybe the
problem is I need to refer to the directory where the files are....
Is it possible, in Terminal CLI, to change directories so the terminal program can find
things more easily?
Is there a default location Terminal looks in? Might make more sense to unpack the software there?

[hotstovejer]

putting "sudo" in front of a command seems to be a way to give yourself privileges
you don't normally have... I'm going to go and read up on that now...

but in the directions I tried putting "sudo" in front of the first direction and got the
following output.

don@B1501:~$ sudo apt-get install firebird2-super-server
[sudo] password for don:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package firebird2-super-server is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
firebird2.0-server-common
E: Package firebird2-super-server has no installation candidate
don@B1501:~$

Ubuntu starts to do something (install perhaps?) and then tells me that the package is
not available. I've downloaded the software and de-compressed it.... maybe the
problem is I need to refer to the directory where the files are....
Is it possible, in Terminal CLI, to change directories so the terminal program can find
things more easily?
Is there a default location Terminal looks in? Might make more sense to unpack the software there?

Don,

That message is telling you that firebird2.0-server-common replaces firebird2-super-server in the repositories. It's apt's way of helping you find what you need, as opposed to depending on you to know the name of every package.

Try this.

sudo aptitude install firebird2.0-server-common

What this will do is install the program you are looking for, as well as any other files (known as dependencies) that the program needs. Try that, and let us know what happens.

Thanks!

Jeremy

[Don Bowen]

I do not know the program, but have you tried Synaptic Package Manager, is this what you need ?

firebird2.1-super


Or if you prefer, with the terminal

sudo apt-get install firebird2.1-super

Progress of the unknown kind follows:
Wow! I was going back over the posts and came to this one and tried the command.
It put out a lot of text that looks like it might be installing the software!
I have no idea what I just did with the command

sudo apt-get install firebird2.1-super

but the show was impressive.
If it installed the software, (and that's a big if),
1. Where did it get the software from?
2. what folder did it install to (is there a c:\program files equivalent in linux?)
3. how do I find the software to run it, if the command installed it?

Here's the output I got back. (Linux is certainly wordy!)

don@B1501:~$ The following extra packages will be installed:
bash: The: command not found
don@B1501:~$
don@B1501:~$ apt-get install firebird2-super-server
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13 Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?
don@B1501:~$ sudo apt-get install firebird2.1-super
[sudo] password for don:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
linux-headers-2.6.28-11 linux-headers-2.6.28-11-generic
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following extra packages will be installed:
firebird2.1-common firebird2.1-server-common libfbclient2
Suggested packages:
firebird2.1-doc
The following NEW packages will be installed:
firebird2.1-common firebird2.1-server-common firebird2.1-super libfbclient2
0 upgraded, 4 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 5795kB of archives.
After this operation, 13.9MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/universe firebird2.1-common 2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1 [940kB]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/universe firebird2.1-server-common 2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1 [603kB]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/universe libfbclient2 2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1 [728kB]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/universe firebird2.1-super 2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1 [3525kB]
Fetched 5795kB in 19s (299kB/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously deselected package firebird2.1-common.
(Reading database ... 121956 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking firebird2.1-common (from .../firebird2.1-common_2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package firebird2.1-server-common.
Unpacking firebird2.1-server-common (from .../firebird2.1-server-common_2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libfbclient2.
Unpacking libfbclient2 (from .../libfbclient2_2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package firebird2.1-super.
Unpacking firebird2.1-super (from .../firebird2.1-super_2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up firebird2.1-common (2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1) ...
Setting up firebird2.1-server-common (2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1) ...
adduser: Warning: The home directory `/var/lib/firebird' does not belong to the user you are currently creating.

Setting up libfbclient2 (2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1) ...

Setting up firebird2.1-super (2.1.1.17910-release.ds1-1ubuntu1) ...
Created default security.fdb
* Firebird 2.1 server manager not running.
* Not starting Firebird 2.1 server manager
* Use `dpkg-reconfigure firebird2.1-super' to enable.

Processing triggers for libc6 ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
don@B1501:~$

[semitone36]

Welcome Don and allow me to attempt to answer some of your questions.

Firstly, putting "sudo" in front of a command grants you temporary administrator privileges for the duration of the command that follows it. Commands that alter important files in your file system (such as apt-get install) require you to use sudo before they will execute. Its just one of the ways Linux handles security differently than windows.

If it installed the software, (and that's a big if),
1. Where did it get the software from?
2. what folder did it install to (is there a c:\program files equivalent in linux?)
3. how do I find the software to run it, if the command installed it?

1. When you type "sudo apt-get install <package>, you are telling ubuntu to reference the sources.list file to look up packages that are on the servers listed there. If it finds the package you asked for, it will install it and also give an output of useful information pertaining to the package. (giving the output a read through is always a good idea!)

2. Yes and no. I have only been using linux for a little over a year and this is one area where my knowledge is still a little fuzzy. I will let somebody else who might know more try to answer this question.

3. First look through your applications menu and see if it has a button there. If not, try typing "firebird" into the terminal.

[Don Bowen]

Don,

That message is telling you that firebird2.0-server-common replaces firebird2-super-server in the repositories. It's apt's way of helping you find what you need, as opposed to depending on you to know the name of every package.

Try this.

sudo aptitude install firebird2.0-server-common

What this will do is install the program you are looking for, as well as any other files (known as dependencies) that the program needs. Try that, and let us know what happens.

Thanks!

Jeremy

actually , I think I'd like the super server version.... got a command for that?

[3rdalbum]

Progress of the unknown kind follows:
Wow! I was going back over the posts and came to this one and tried the command.
It put out a lot of text that looks like it might be installing the software!
I have no idea what I just did with the command

sudo apt-get install firebird2.1-super

but the show was impressive.
If it installed the software, (and that's a big if),
1. Where did it get the software from?
2. what folder did it install to (is there a c:\program files equivalent in linux?)
3. how do I find the software to run it, if the command installed it?

It gave one error message/warning which I'm not sure relates to, but that error/warning did not stop the installation. So yes, it's installed. It looks like you need to run the dpkg reconfigure command for this package, for some reason; in the terminal just paste this in:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure firebird2.1-super

Unusual, but hopefully this will get the software to run on bootup.

1. It got the software from the Ubuntu repositories - it's a big online catalog of software that can be easily installed within Ubuntu. If you go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager you can see the entire contents of the catalog.

2. You don't need to know where it all installed to. If you want to know, then it's available under Properties in Synaptic.

3. Video tutorial in my signature for this situation, but I believe this software probably just runs constantly; it's a server. How you interact with the server is probably discussed in the documentation on the program's website, or in the "man" page.

[semitone36]

actually , I think I'd like the super server version.... got a command for that?

This link may help you: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Firebird2.1.

You might also want to book mark that site http://help.ubuntu.com. Whenever I want to install a package that isnt immediately available from the standard repositories I search the program name at the homepage and it will usually give me a pretty good howto.

Also, be sure to read through the ubuntu handbook that was mentioned earlier. It will help you understand how/where programs are installed and also help you make sense of these commands that we are giving you

[Don Bowen]

It gave one error message/warning which I'm not sure relates to, but that error/warning did not stop the installation. So yes, it's installed. It looks like you need to run the dpkg reconfigure command for this package, for some reason; in the terminal just paste this in:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure firebird2.1-super

Unusual, but hopefully this will get the software to run on bootup.

1. It got the software from the Ubuntu repositories - it's a big online catalog of software that can be easily installed within Ubuntu. If you go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager you can see the entire contents of the catalog.

2. You don't need to know where it all installed to. If you want to know, then it's available under Properties in Synaptic.

3. Video tutorial in my signature for this situation, but I believe this software probably just runs constantly; it's a server. How you interact with the server is probably discussed in the documentation on the program's website, or in the "man" page.

That was interesting! typing in that one command you suggested cause FireBird to run a configuration program for setting up the SQL SysDBA. That part I'm familiar with...
This makes me think that the software really is installed... but if it were, then there should be icons and a CLI interface for SQL ...somewhere... Firebird as an SQL server has a number of standard utilities that help a sysdba make the thing work.
i'm going to reboot Ubuntu to see if that changes the available programs (now there's a MS Windows behavior for you! reboot to see if anything changes.!)
I'll announce it joyfully if the program is installed and usable.