Currently, the out-of-the-box Zabbix template for Microsoft SQL Server via ODBC only supports connections using DSNs (configured in /etc/odbc.ini). There is no option in the template to define a full ODBC connection string, which limits usability and flexibility—especially in environments where maintaining DSNs across proxies or agents is impractical.

Use Case:

Zabbix already supports two approaches when using custom db.odbc.get[] items:

1. Using DSN:
   db.odbc.get["MS SQL ODBC test", "MSSQLDSN", ""]
2. Using Connection String:
    
   db.odbc.get["MS SQL ODBC test", "", "Driver=MSSQL;Server=10.20.10.20,2222;TrustServerCertificate=yes;UID=zabbix_monitor;PWD=zabbix_monitor_pwd"]
   Or with credentials in separate macros:
   db.odbc.get["MS SQL ODBC test", "", "Driver=MSSQL;Server=10.20.10.20,2222;TrustServerCertificate=yes;"]

However, the official MSSQL template only supports macro-based DSN configuration like this:

 
There is no macro to define a connection string.

Comparison with Other Templates:

The PostgreSQL and Oracle templates already support full connection strings via macros such as {}{$PG.CONNSTRING.ODBC}{}.

Example:
{$PG.CONNSTRING.ODBC} = Servername=127.0.0.1;Port=5432;Driver=/usr/lib64/psqlodbcw.so;Database=postgres;Username=zbx_monitor;Password=zabbix_monitor_pwd
This makes these templates more portable and easier to configure in dynamic environments.

Suggestion:

Please add support for a new macro (e.g. {}{$MSSQL.CONNSTRING.ODBC}{}) in the official Microsoft SQL Server by ODBC template, which would allow full ODBC connection strings to be used directly in the UI without relying on /etc/odbc.ini.

Proposed behavior:

• If {$MSSQL.CONNSTRING.ODBC} is defined, use it as the third argument in db.odbc.get[]

• Fallback to using {$MSSQL.DSN} if no connection string is provided

• Update documentation and macros accordingly

Benefits:

• Simplifies MSSQL monitoring setup across multiple proxies/agents

• Avoids the need for root access to edit /etc/odbc.ini

• Aligns MSSQL support with PostgreSQL and Oracle templates

• Increases adoption of ODBC features in Zabbix

Test Case (Linux):

 
# Without DSN:
isql -v -k "Driver=/usr/lib64/libmsodbcsql-18.so;Server=10.20.10.20,2222;UID=zabbix_monitor;PWD=zabbix_monitor_pwd;TrustServerCertificate=yes"
 
# With partial DSN override:
isql -v -k  "DSN=MSSQLDSN;Server=10.20.10.20,2222;UID=zabbix_monitor;PWD=zabbix_monitor_pwd;"