If you want to use MySQL as a data source for your RES software you might encounter some difficulties connecting to the database (Data source name not found and no default driver specified).

RES software supports ”MySQL 5.0 or higher x86/x64” as a database platform, in order to connect to the database environment you need to meet the following database requirements:

• MySQL DBA credentials
• MYSQL ODBC Driver on the database server and on all Agents

The database requirements clearly state you need to install the MySQL ODBC Driver, but which version or architecture you need is not mentioned. Here’s a quick overview of the required drivers.

Error message

If you don’t install the proper ODBC driver you will encounter an error message similar to the following:

Failed to connect to database: ERROR [IM002] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified

Troubleshooting

With Sysinternals Process Monitor it is fairly easy to determine why the product is unable to find the proper ODBC driver:

The software is looking for two versions of the ODBC driver in the “ODBCINST.INI” registry key:

• 5.1 – HKLM\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBCINST.INI\MySQL ODBC 5.1 Driver
• 3.51 – HKLM\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBCINST.INI\MySQL ODBC 3.51 Driver

In this example I’ve tested with the 64-bit version of the relay server of RES Workspace Manager. If you run an 32-bit application the driver is located in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBCINST.INI registry key.

Tested drivers

Depending on the software component you’re running you need the x86 or the x64 ODBC driver. Some products work with the latest available version (5.2.4 at the moment of writing  while other only work with the 5.1 version. Below you will find a table with the tested versions.

Update 25-4-2013: Ben Dalmeijer informed me that only the ANSI version of the 5.2.4 ODBC driver is supported.

As you can see the 5.1.12 version works for all products.