Movable Type Advanced and SQL Server
While Movable Type Pro supports only MySQL databases, Movable Type Advanced also supports Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. If you intend to use a Windows environment and SQL Server, there are a couple of issues of which you should be aware before attempting an installation.
Also, be aware we have general instructions for installing Movable Type on Windows Server and also documentation for running FastCGI and Microsoft IIS.
ODBC driver
The Movable Type Advanced SQL Server database drivers expect to connect to an SQL Server database server using a Windows ODBC “SQL Native Client” driver.
To verify whether an “SQL Server Native Client” ODBC driver is installed, open the ODBC Data Source Administrator:
- On the Start menu, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Data Sources (ODBC).
- Click on the “Drivers” tab and scroll through the list of ODBC driver names displayed.
Movable Type Advanced will display the following error message if it has been configured to use an SQL Server database and the correct Windows ODBC “SQL Native Client” driver is not installed:
[Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified
The SQL Native Client ODBC database driver may be downloaded and installed from Microsoft. The specific URL depends on the version of SQL Server, as the SQL Native Client ODBC database driver is included in a “Feature Pack” for that version of SQL Server. The SQL Native Client ODBC driver should be downloaded and installed on the same server on which Movable Type is installed.
Movable Type wizard note and configuration
As of Movable Type 6, the mt-wizard.cgi script shows incorrect values in the hint text (The word ‘Server’ is missing in the values suggested.) for the “ODBC Driver” field for SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2008:
The SQL Native Client drivers have slightly different names, depending on the SQL Server version. These are the actual names of the SQL Native Client ODBC drivers:
- SQL Server 2005: SQL Native Client
- SQL Server 2008: SQL Server Native Client 10.0
- SQL Server 2012: SQL Server Native Client 11.0
