eGenix mxODBC Connect 2.1.1 GA
Introduction
The mxODBC Connect™ Database Interface for Python allows users to easily connect Python applications to all major databases on the market today in a highly portable, convenient and secure way.
Python Database Connectivity the Easy Way
Unlike our mxODBC Python extension, mxODBC Connect is designed as client-server application, so you no longer need to find production quality ODBC drivers for all the platforms you target with your Python application.
Instead you use an easy to install royalty-free Python client library which connects directly to the mxODBC Connect database server over the network.
This makes mxODBC Connect a great basis for writing cross-platform multi-tier database applications and utilities in Python, especially if you run applications that need to communicate with databases such as MS SQL Server and MS Access, Oracle Database, IBM DB2 and Informix, Sybase ASE and Sybase Anywhere, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SAP MaxDB and many more, that run on Windows or Linux machines.
Ideal for Database Driven Client Applications
By removing the need to install and configure ODBC drivers on the client side and dealing with complicated network setups for each set of drivers, mxODBC Connect greatly simplifies deployment of database driven client applications, while at the same time making the network communication between client and database server more efficient and more secure.
For more information, please have a look at the mxODBC Connect product page, in particular, the full list of available features:
>>> eGenix mxODBC Connect Product Page
News
mxODBC Connect 2.1.0 is a patch level release of our successful mxODBC Connect product. We have put great emphasis on enhancing the TLS/SSL setup of the mxODBC Connect product, addressing recent attacks on SSLv3 and improving the security defaults.
Security Enhancements
- Updated included eGenix pyOpenSSL to 0.13.6, which includes OpenSSL 1.0.1j and enables the TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV protection against protocol downgrade attacks.
- OpenSSL cipher string list updated to use the best available ciphers in OpenSSL 1.0.1j per default and support perfect forward security.
- OpenSSL context options setup to disallow weak protocol features.
- Disabled SSLv3 for the mxODBC Connect Client in response to the recent POODLE attack on SSLv3.
mxODBC Connect Client 2.1.1 will not be able to communicate with mxODBC Connect Server 2.1.0 and earlier when using SSL mode. The error message looks like this:[Error] [('SSL routines', 'SSL23_GET_SERVER_HELLO', 'unsupported protocol')](using pyOpenSSL) or[SSLError] [Errno 1] _ssl.c:493: error:1408F10B:SSL routines:SSL3_GET_RECORD:wrong version number(using the ssl module). - Enabled TLS v1, v1.1 and v1.2 for the mxODBC Connect Server in SSL
mode and have it use the best possible protocol when talking to a
client.
The server will still support SSLv3 for backwards compatibility reasons, since older mxODBC Connect Clients only support SSLv3. This will be changed in the next major/minor mxODBC Connect Server release. - Fixed a linker setting on Linux to have the mxODBC Connect Server use the embedded OpenSSL libraries instead of the system ones.
- Improved the protocol handlers for SSL connection setups using mixed plain text/TLS connections to renew the session id after having established the TLS session.
mxODBC Connect Enhancements
- Fixed a problem where connection/cursor.messages could not be accessed from the client side.
- mxODBC Connect Client is now also available as web installer, greatly simplifying the installation of the client. It is now possible to install the client using a single pip command:
pip install egenix-mx-base egenix-mxodbc-connect-client egenix-pyopenssl
- Upgraded eGenix PyRun used for mxODBC Connect Server on Linux to 2.0.1.
- Upgraded the Python version used for mxODBC Connect Server on Windows to 2.7.8.
Asynchronous Processing
- Fixed a problem which prevented the mxODBC Connect Client to connect to the server when using both gevent integration and the Python ssl module for communication.
mxODBC API Enhancements
- Upgraded the mxODBC Connect Server to mxODBC 3.3.1.
SQL Server
- Documented a solution for a problem with the SQL Server 2012 parser complaining about not being able to deduce types of some operations using more than one bound variable, e.g. "col1 >= ? + ?".
Teradata
- Improved the Teradata ODBC driver setup instructions to address some common gotchas when setting up mxODBC to work with these drivers.
- Fixed a problem with Teradata and the test suite which resulted in an error "[Teradata][ODBC Teradata Driver] Beyond SQL_ACTIVE_STATEMENTS limit". The driver needs an explicit call to cursor.flush() to close any open result sets before running commits or rollbacks.
Misc
- Fixed a problem in cursor.getcolattributes() that caused errors to be ignored.
- Added better protection against ODBC driver bugs in getenvattr().
- Fixed an attribute error when using the NamespaceRowFactory function.
- Fixed a deprecation warning when using the NamespaceRowFactory function.
For the full set of changes, including those of the 2.1 series of mxODBC Connect, please check the mxODBC Connect change log.
Upgrading
You are encouraged to upgrade to this latest mxODBC Connect release. When upgrading, please always upgrade both the server and the client installations to the same version - even for patch level releases.
We will give out 20% discount coupons for upgrade purchases going from mxODBC Connect Server 1.x to 2.1 and 50% coupons for upgrades from mxODBC 2.x to 2.1. Please contact the eGenix.com Sales Team with your existing license serials for details.
Users of our stand-alone mxODBC product will have to purchase new licenses from our online shop in order to use mxODBC Connect.
You can request free 30-day evaluation licenses via our web-site or writing to sales@egenix.com, stating your name (or the name of the company) and the number of eval licenses that you need.
Downloads
Please visit the eGenix mxODBC Connect product page for downloads, instructions on installation and documentation of the client and the server package.
If you want to try the package, please jump straight to the download instructions.
Fully functional evaluation licenses for the mxODBC Connect Server are available free of charge.
mxODBC Connect Client is always free of charge.
Support
Commercial support for this product is available directly from eGenix.com.
Please see the support section of our website for details.
More Information
For more information on the eGenix mxODBC Connect, licensing and download instructions, please write to sales@egenix.com.
Enjoy !
Marc-Andre Lemburg, eGenix.com