MySQL Connector/ODBC

MySQL Connector/ODBC (formerly MyODBC) 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 (using full connection strings) 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.
Unicode and ANSI driver variants for Windows, only Unicode for Unix-like systems.
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.
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.x
3.51: ANSI-only, ODBC 3.51 compliance
5.1–5.3: Unicode/ANSI, ODBC 3.8, 64-bit, DSN file support
8.0+: MySQL 8.0+ support, modern authentication, renewed 32-bit support (from 8.0.35)
9.x: Latest releases (as of July 2025: 9.3.0), MySQL 8.x and 9.x

Practical integration and use cases

MySQL Connector/ODBC is commonly used for:

Office integration (Excel, Access)
Business Intelligence (Tableau, Crystal Reports, Power BI)