How to start and stop Firebird Classic on Mac OSX?

To start, use:

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.firebird.gds.plist

To stop, use:

sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.firebird.gds.plist

To check whether it is running, you can telnet to port 3050:

telnet localhost 3050

When Firebird is running, the output would contain:

Connected to localhost.

And you will be prompted to enter a command. Just enter anything and since that is not proper Firebird protocol command, the server will close the connection.

To ensure that Firebird is running on port 3050 (and not some other server), you can run the following command (in another Terminal) while the Telnet is waiting for your input:

ps ax | grep fb_inet_server

It should contain:

/Library/Frameworks/Firebird.framework/Resources/bin/fb_inet_server

These commands were tested on MacOS 10.9 Mavericks and 10.10 Yosemite with Firebird 2.5 Classic server, but should work on all versions.


On Mac OS Ventura 13.4.1 using M1 and Firebird-5.0.0.973-Beta1-macos-x64.pkg installed.

To start, use:

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.firebird.gds.plist


To stop, use:

sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.firebird.gds.plist


To check whether it is running, you can netcat to port 3050 as telnet is not available by default:

nc -vz localhost 3050


To ensure that Firebird is running on port 3050 (and not some other server):

ps ax | grep fb_inet_server