Using Instant Client with Oracle Database Exadata Express Cloud Service

Connecting C and C++ applications with Instant Client

Instant Client 18c allows C and C++ applications to connect to Oracle Database Exadata Express Cloud Service. Network security is enforced by using an Oracle Wallet, which can be downloaded from the database service.

1. Download and Install Instant Client 18

Download the Instant Client 18c 'basic' package for the desired architecture:

For other platforms, download using links from the Oracle Instant Client page. Review Support Note 2183770.1 for any required updates.

The smaller 'basiclite' package may be used instead of 'basic'. The smaller package contains only English error messages and has support for Unicode, ASCII, and Western European character sets.

For ODBC applications also download the 'odbc' package. Refer to Oracle Instant Client ODBC Release Notes for generic ODBC configuration instructions.

  • Unzip the 'basic' or 'basiclite' package, for example to C:\instantclient_18_5 or /home/myuser/instantclient_18_5.
  • On Windows, add C:\instantclient_18_5 to the PATH variable in the "System variables" section of the Environment Variables pane. On Windows 8 this can be accessed by navigating to Control Panel>System>Advanced System Settings>Environment Variables. If you have multiple versions of Oracle libraries installed, make sure the new directory occurs first in the path.
  • On Windows, install a Visual Studio Redistributable from Microsoft. For Instant Client 18c and 12.2, install the VS 2013 Redistributable. For Instant Client 12.1, install the VS 2010 Redistributable. Use a 64-bit or 32-bit Redistributable to match your Instant Client architecture.
  • On non-Windows platforms, create a symbolic link for libclntsh.so if one does not already exist, for example:
    • 

cd /home/myuser/instantclient_18_5
ln -s libclntsh.so.18.1 libclntsh.so

    Applications and tools that use the OCCI C++ API also need the symbolic link:

    ln -s libocci.so.18.1 libocci.so

    Set the library path:

    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/myuser/instantclient_18_5:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

    Instead of setting LD_LIBRARY_PATH, you could create an ldconfig configuration file if there is no other Oracle software that will be impacted:

    

sudo sh -c "echo /home/myuser/instantclient_18_5 > /etc/ld.so.conf.d/oic.conf"
sudo ldconfig

    Linux Instant Client RPM package can be used instead of zip file. With these, it is not necessary to create a symbolic link.

2. Enable Oracle Network Connectivity and Download the Client Wallet

  • In your web browser, navigate to the Exadata Express service console.
  • If Client Access is not currently enabled, click Enable Client Access on the console.
  • Click Download Client Credentials on the console to download client_credentials.zip containing your security credentials and network configuration files that will allow client access to your cloud database. Save this zip file to a secure location.
  • Make network and network/admin subdirectories in the Instant Client directory, if they do not exist, and unzip the client credentials there. For example unzip the wallet so the files are in the C:\instantclient_18_5\network\admin, /home/myuser/instantclient_18_5/network/admin or /usr/lib/oracle/18.5/client64/lib/network/admin directory. Secure the files so that only users who are authorized to connect to the Exadata Express service have access to them. By default, Oracle recommends granting permissions only to the file owner.
  • Alternatively, put the unzipped wallet files in a secure directory and set the TNS_ADMIN environment variable to that directory name.

3. Run Your Application

  • Update your application connection code. Use the Oracle network service name given in the unzipped tnsnames.ora file. For example, use dbaccess as the connect string. Alternatively, change the connect string in tnsnames.ora to match the string used by your application.

    Use your Oracle Database Exadata Express database username and password. See Creating Database Schemas if you need to create a user.

  • Review Known Issues for Oracle Database Exadata Express Cloud Service.
  • Run your application.

Exadata Express Resources

Developer Resources