Creating Database Alias Names

createAliasDB.sh Parameters

The createAliasDB.sh script allows the creation of a new database to be carried out, and an alias for that database to be created in the file /opt/firebird/aliases.conf.

Note

The createAliasDB.sh script must be run as the root user.

If your system is not set up properly, the database creation step may fail but the alias will still be added to the aliases file. This could leave you subsequently unable to add the alias properly, as the script checks to ensure that you do not overwrite an existing alias. You will have to manually edit the alias file to remove the broken alias.

To set up new databases, they must be owned by the firebird user, and also owned by the firebird group. The following shows a new directory being created by the root user to allow Firebird databases to be created.

# cd /u01
# mkdir databases
# chown firebird:firebird databases
#

At this point the directory /u01/databases is available for use as a repository for one or more Firebird databases. Obviously, in the above example, the /u01 directory already existed.

createAliasDB.sh Parameters

To run the createAliasDP.sh script, use a commandline similar to the following :

# createAliasDB.sh <new_alias> <database_name>

The script takes two parameters on the commandline, both of which are mandatory :

new_alias

The first parameter is the new alias you wish to create. This alias must not already exist in the alias file, or an error will be displayed and no further action taken.
database_filename

The second parameter specifies the full path to the database file. You must not specify a relative path as this could lead to incorrect database filenames being used at connection time. The script will reject any attempt to pass a relative pathname instead of a full pathname.

A brand new empty database will be created provided that the name passed to the script doesn't already exist. If the database already exists, only the alias will be created and added to the alias file.