Oracle Client 12c Installation Steps

[Mei Li Wu]

Itis important to understand why installing Oracle Client is essential. It gives you access to tools and features needed to connect and interact with Oracle databases. Both developers and IT professionals need this client to unlock the full potential of their Oracle database.

I once helped a colleague install Oracle Client, but we got an error. We looked into it and found an antivirus was blocking some files. After disabling the antivirus, the installation was a success. This shows the importance of disabling antivirus during sensitive installations.

Setting it up needs attention and meeting system requirements. You need the right version and architecture to avoid issues. And configuring network connectivity is vital for communication between the client and server.

We heard a story from John, a software dev who joined a company that used Oracle databases. But they had troubles connecting. So, John studied the installation process and got help from experts.

Yes, you can install multiple versions of Oracle Client on the same machine. Each version will have its own installation directory and environment variables. Make sure to set the appropriate variables when working with a specific version of Oracle Client.

To uninstall Oracle Client, follow these steps:

1. Open the Control Panel on Windows or use package management commands on Linux/macOS.

2. Locate the Oracle Client installation in the list of installed programs.

3. Choose the option to uninstall or remove the Oracle Client.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation process.

Note: Before uninstalling, ensure that you have backed up any necessary data or configurations related to Oracle Client.

Oracle Instant Client enables development and deployment of applications that connect to Oracle Database, either on-premise or in the Cloud. The Instant Client libraries provide the necessary network connectivity and advanced data features to make full use of Oracle Database. The libraries are used by the Oracle APIs of popular languages and environments including Python, Node.js, Go, PHP and Ruby, as well as providing access for Oracle Call Interface (OCI), Oracle C++ Call Interface (OCCI), JDBC OCI, ODBC and Pro*C applications. Tools included in Instant Client, such as SQL*Plus, SQL*Loader and Oracle Data Pump, provide quick and convenient data access.

Instant Client RPM packages for Oracle Linux can now be installed from yum.oracle.com for Oracle Linux 8 and Oracle Linux 7. Older releases are available for Oracle Linux 9, Oracle Linux 8, Oracle Linux 7 and Oracle Linux 6.

Whether your applications are in the cloud or on-premise, you can install Instant Client and connect to cloud databases. Follow the normal installation process for your operating system. Some cloud-specific references are shown below.

DigiCert retired the Organizational Unit (OU) field for all public TLS/SSLcertificates to comply with industry standards as of August 2022. This meansthat public TLS/SSL certificates issued by DigiCert will no longer have an OUfield. Refer to MOS note 2911553.1for details.

To avoid disruption to applications connecting to Oracle Autonomous Database onShared Exadata Infrastructure (ADB-S) during the server side certificatechange, you must use hostname based matching of the server certificate.

The following versions of Oracle Instant Client automatically support hostnamebased matching:

Versions: 18.19 (or later), 19.2 (or later), 21 (base release or later), 23.4 (or later)

Oracle Call Interface (OCI), Oracle C++ Call Interface (OCCI) or ODBCapplications must use one of the above client versions.Oracle Database drivers based on Oracle Instant Client or Oracle DatabaseClient (e.g ODPI-C, python-oracledb Thick mode, cx_Oracle, node-oracledb Thick mode,godror, PHP OCI8, PHP PDO_OCI, ruby-oci8, ROracle, and rust-oracle) must usethe driver with a compatible client version from the list above.An additional step is required if you have changed the ADB-S connection string.

ADB-S connection strings contain a hostname "...(HOST=xyz)..." which depends onthe region. For example, in the Chicago region the hostname would be"adb.us-chicago-1.oraclecloud.com". If you have replaced the default hostnamewith an IP address or a custom hostname, then hostname based DN matching willfail. The solution is to add a new entry to your /etc/hosts file using theoriginal ADB-S domain suffix. Your connection string should then use this newname. For example an entry "localtunnel.adb.us-chicago-1.oraclecloud.com"could be created and used.

To administer your Oracle Database remotely, you will need to connect to the database instance, especially from an SQL*Plus terminal. To be able to do that, you may install the Oracle Database Client and configure it correctly.

The Oracle Client is a software suite allowing you to administer your database remotely, perform basic network configurations, write PL/SQL applications, connect your database to Java, Python type applications, etc.

You can easily install the Oracle Client on a 64-bit Windows PC with a modern processor (AMD or Intel), 2GB of RAM and 2GB of free disk space. Oracle Database Client for Windows x64 is supported on the major x64 distributions (Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016). We recommend you update Windows before starting the client installation.

You also need to connect the client machine to a network and ensure it is able to communicate with the database server. In some cases, you may add exceptions to your firewall on the server side to allow network traffic between the server and the client.

Moreover, we will make sure that the database server is running correctly and is able to serve remote connections. Apart from network connectivity, a listener must be configured on the database server.

In this step, enter the Oracle Home user credentials (username and password) you create earlier. You can also create a new account or use a built-in Windows account (for example, the one you use to launch setup.exe).

In this step, provide the Oracle Database hostname or IP address and a port number to access the database instance. The port number must be the same as the one configured in the listener at the server side.5. Specify database instance name

Enter the global database name of the remote database (eg. db.ept.sn) and optionally the connection mode. The database name might be ORCL if the database server is installed with default configurations.

Before finishing the service name configuration, you can run a test to check if you can access the remote database with the parameters you provided. The wizard will try to connect to the server with a default user account, namely Scott.

You can now access your Oracle Database server from the Client using tools like SQL*Plus or Oracle SQL Developer. For example, you can open a command prompt and connect to the Oracle Database instance with the following command:

Oracle's Instant Client ODBC software is a standalone package that offers the full functionality of the Oracle ODBC driver (except the Oracle service for Microsoft Transaction Server) with a simple install.

Instant Client ODBC requires the Oracle Instant Client Basic or Basic Light package (depending on your locale requirements) also be installed. Download the desired package from OTN for your operating system and follow the installation instructions on the download page. For example, unzip the package to C:\instantclient_19_3 on Windows, unzip to /opt/oracle/instantclient_19_3 on Linux or other platforms, or use yum to install the RPM packages on Linux.

5. Set any Oracle Globalization variables required for your locale. See the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide for more information. For example on Linux you could set export NLS_LANG=JAPANESE_JAPAN.JA16EUC to work in the JA16EUC character in Japanese.

An ODBC application has to load the Oracle Instant Client ODBC driver's shared library file (see next section) to connect to Oracle Database. On Linux/Unix the directory path of the shared library should be set in the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH, or platform equivalent. It can also be configured in /etc/ld.so.conf. On Windows it should be set in the PATH environment variable.

Refer to the topics Environment Variables for OCI Instant Client and Database Connection Strings in the Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide for setting up the Database Connection string and related environment variables like TNS_ADMIN, TWO_TASK, LOCAL etc.

On Linux and UNIX Patching the Instant Client ODBC driver on Linux/UNIX can be done by generating the Instant Client ODBC package and Basic or Basic Light package in a patched ORACLE_HOME. The procedure for patching and generating Instant Client ODBC, Basic and Basic Light packages is given in the Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide. These new packages should then be unzipped into the Instant Client directory that needs to be patched. This method of patching is recommended.

On Windows Patching the Instant Client ODBC driver on Windows can be done only by manually copying the ODBC driver shared library files and supporting library files from a patched ORACLE_HOME or from an unpacked Oracle Database Bundle patch. These should be copied into the Instant Client directory. Generating an Instant Client ODBC package is not available on Windows.

The cx_Oracle module loads Oracle Client libraries which communicateover Oracle Net to an existing database. Oracle Net is not a separateproduct: it is how the Oracle Client and Oracle Database communicate.

Add Oracle 21, 19, 18, 12 or 11.2 client libraries to your operating systemlibrary search path such as PATH on Windows or LD_LIBRARY_PATH onLinux. On macOS use init_oracle_client() in yourapplication to pass the Oracle Client directory name, seeUsing cx_Oracle.init_oracle_client() to set the Oracle Client directory. This is also usable on Windows.

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