Is it possible to open an Access 2010 database file without using Wine or VirtualBox?

Yes, we can use the UCanAccess JDBC driver to connect to Access databases (.mdb and .accdb) in LibreOffice Base. Here's how I did it on a clean install of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

Important Note:  These instructions apply to UCanAccess version 3.0.5 and later (including version 4.x). Before proceeding, verify that you are using the latest version of UCanAccess, available here.

One-Time Setup

First, I installed LibreOffice Base

sudo apt-get install libreoffice-base

Then I downloaded UCanAccess (bin.zip file) and unzipped it into the folder

~/Downloads/JDBC/UCanAccess

HomeFolder.png

Note: When unzipping the distribution file be sure to specify "Keep directory structure" (or similar, depending on your unzip tool) so the folder structure appears as in the screenshot above.

I launched LibreOffice (not Base, just LibreOffice itself)

LibreOffice.png

and chose Tools > Options

ToolsOptions.png

On the Advanced tab I clicked the "Class Path..." button

ClassPathButton.png

and then added the following JAR file using the "Add Archive..." button:

/home/gord/Downloads/JDBC/UCanAccess/loader/ucanload.jar

ClassPathDialog.png

Note that this is ucanload.jar in the loader/ subfolder, not "ucanaccess-x.y.z.jar” in the UCanAccess home folder.

Important: You must close and re-open all LibreOffice (or OpenOffice.org) components for the new "Class Path...” value to take effect. That includes any "quick start” features or other related processes. (If you want to play it safe, simply restart your machine.)

Per-Database Setup

I launched LibreOffice Base, and in Step 1 of the wizard I chose "Connect to an existing database (JDBC)"

ExistingDatabase.png

The Access file I wanted to manipulate was named "uca301demo.accdb" in my Documents folder, so in Step 2 the "Datasource URL" was

jdbc:ucanaccess:///home/gord/Documents/uca301demo.accdb

and the "JDBC driver class" was

net.ucanaccess.jdbc.UcanloadDriver

BaseJdbcPage.png

In Step 3, I left the "User name" field empty and just clicked "Next >>".

In Step 4, I saved the LibreOffice Base database as "accdbTest.odb" in my Documents folder.

When the wizard completed it opened my LibreOffice database and I could see the tables and saved queries in the .accdb file

BaseMainWindow.png


As mentioned here it says it supports Access files but if we look deeper they have only tested in LibreOffice up to Office 2007.

Since you have an Office 2010 I would suggest trying out this link since other users by the look of this have already tried.

Additionally the compatibility shown here says how good LibreOffice Base is when relating to Microsoft Access 2010. At least up to version 3.6.

There is also a question on the Ask Libreoffice site about this that mentions this link where it is said that the 2007 format is different from the 2010 so it will not work correctly in LibreOffice 3.6 or below.

My only recommendation that does not include Wine or VirtualBox would be to use MS Office 2010 to save the Access file as a 2007 version (If possible) or a MDB format. At least while LibreOffice works on improving compatibility with 2010 in general.