Upgrading the Client Drivers

The Vertica client drivers are usually updated for each new release of the Vertica server. The client driver installation packages include the version number of the corresponding Vertica server release. Usually, the drivers are forward-compatible with the next release, so your client applications are still be able to connect using the older drivers after you upgrade to the next version of Vertica Analytics Platform server. See Client Driver and Server Version Compatibility for details on which client driver versions work with each version of Vertica server.

Note: Vertica Release 8.1.x and later adds backwards compatibility for the ODBC client driver. The 8.1.x ODBC client driver is backwards compatible to Vertica server version 7.1. For full compatibility with the previous server version, specify the Protocol property in your connection string. For more information about the Protocol property, see Data Source Name (DSN) Connection Properties.

You should upgrade your clients as soon as possible after upgrading your server, to take advantage of new features and to maintain maximum compatibility with the server.

To upgrade your drivers, follow the same procedure you used to install them in the first place. The new installation will overwrite the old. See the specific instructions for installing the drivers on your client platform for any special instructions regarding upgrades.

Note: Installing new ODBC drivers does not alter existing DSN settings. You may need to change the driver settings in either the DSN or in the odbcinst.ini file, if your client system uses one. See Creating an ODBC Data Source Name for details.