Since ElementaryOS, I needed an alternative to SQL Server Manager

I've had ElementaryOS running on my office PC since November last year and I've enjoyed it immensely. There's nothing like trolling Mac users thinking their desktop environment is unique.

But since I'm on, by all accounts, a linux box how do I access the database and let's face it, most days in an office we devs don't write a lick of code but instead doing queries, mining data for reports. Special kind of reports. Sounds familiar? And this is where I needed an alternative to SQL Server Manager since my company is using SQL SERVER. Enter DBeaver.

DBeaver is billed as a free universal database manager. Although, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of SQL Server Manager it's got enough that I get my job done and it's free. Let me repeat that: Free.

To install this, we're gonna go the apt-get route:

$ wget -c http://dbeaver.jkiss.org/files/dbeaver_2.3.5_amd64.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i dbeaver_2.3.5_amd64.deb
$ sudo apt-get install -f

I'm install the 64-bit version.

For the purist, you could always download the tarball and install it from the source.

$ wget -c http://dbeaver.jkiss.org/files/dbeaver-2.3.5-linux.gtk.x86_64.zip
$ tar xvf dbeaver-2.3.5-linux.gtk.x86_64.zip
$ make install

After the install what's left is to download the drivers which you can do in dbeaver.