Oracle Instant Client ODBC Installation Notes

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.

The ODBC driver has Oracle's standard client-server version interoperability, see Support Doc ID 207303.1. For example Instant Client ODBC 19c can connect to Oracle Database 11.2 or later.

Installing Oracle Instant Client Basic and Basic Lite

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.

More details on Oracle Instant Client is in the Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide.

Installing Oracle Instant Client ODBC

On Linux and UNIX

1. Download Install the Instant Client Basic or Basic Light package as described above.

2. Download the Instant Client ODBC package. Unzip it in the same directory as your Basic or Basic Light package. Or, if using the RPM package on Linux, install it with yum.

3. Install the unixODBC driver manager if it is not already available. Refer to the "Recommended unixODBC Driver Manager version" section in this document for more information.

4. Execute odbc_update_ini.sh from the Instant Client directory.

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.

Usage: odbc_update_ini.sh <ODBCDM_Home> [<Install_Location> <Driver_Name> <DSN> <ODBCINI>]

On Windows

1. Install the Instant Client Basic or Basic Light package, as described above.
2. Download the Instant Client ODBC package. Unzip it in the same directory as your Basic or Basic Light package.
3. Execute odbc_install.exe from the Instant Client directory. If Instant Client is 11g or lower, start the command prompt with the Administrator privilege. To install with Japanese language support, execute the command odbc_install.exe JA.

Environment setup for ODBC applications

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.

Contents of the Oracle Instant Client ODBC Package

Patching Oracle Instant Client ODBC

Note: Backup the Oracle ODBC driver shared library and other files before patching them.

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.

Alternatively the Oracle Instant Client ODBC driver can be patched by copying the files that are listed below from a patched ORACLE_HOME:

• ODBC driver shared library file:
  For 19c: libsqora.so.19.1
  For 18c: libsqora.so.18.1
  For 12c: libsqora.so.12.1
  For 11g: libsqora.so.11.1
• Required additional files when using Oracle Instant Client Basic:
  For 19c: libociei.so, libclntshcore.so.19.1, libclntsh.so.19.1, libnnz19.so, libons.so
  For 18c: libociei.so, libclntshcore.so.18.1, libclntsh.so.18.1, libnnz18.so, libons.so
  For 12c: libociei.so, libclntshcore.so.12.1, libclntsh.so.12.1, libnnz12.so, libons.so
  For 11g: libclntsh.so.11.1, libociei.so, libnnz11.so
• Required additional files when using Oracle Instant Client Basic Light:
  For 19c: libclntsh.so.19.1, libclntshcore.so.19.1, libociicus.so, libnnz19.so, libons.so
  For 18c: libclntsh.so.18.1, libclntshcore.so.18.1, libociicus.so, libnnz18.so, libons.so
  For 12c: libclntsh.so.12.1, libclntshcore.so.12.1, libociicus.so, libnnz12.so, libons.so
  For 11g: libclntsh.so.11.1, libociicus.so, libnnz11.so

 

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 files that must be copied to the Instant Client directory:

• ODBC driver shared library files: sqora32.dll, sqoras32.dll, sqresus.dll, sqresja.dll
• Required additional files when using Oracle Basic Instant Client:
  For 19c: oraociei19.dll, orannzsbb19.dll, oci.dll, oraons.dll, ociw32.dll, oraociei19.sym, orannzsbb19.sym, oci.sym, ociw32.sym
  For 18c: oraociei18.dll, orannzsbb18.dll, oci.dll, oraons.dll, ociw32.dll, oraociei18.sym, orannzsbb18.sym, oci.sym, ociw32.sym
  For 12c: oraociei12.dll, orannzsbb12.dll, oci.dll, oraons.dll, ociw32.dll, oraociei12.sym, orannzsbb12.sym, oci.sym, ociw32.sym
  For 11g: oraociei11.dll, orannzsbb11.dll, oci.dll, ociw32.dll, oraociei11.sym, orannzsbb11.sym, oci.sym, ociw32.sym
• Required additional files when using Oracle Basic Light Instant Client:
  For 19c: oraociicus19.dll, orannzsbb19.dll, oci.dll, oraons.dll, ociw32.dll, oraociicus19.sym, orannzsbb19.sym, oci.sym, ociw32.sym
  For 18c: oraociicus18.dll, orannzsbb18.dll, oci.dll, oraons.dll, ociw32.dll, oraociicus18.sym, orannzsbb18.sym, oci.sym, ociw32.sym
  For 12c: oraociicus12.dll, orannzsbb12.dll, oci.dll, oraons.dll, ociw32.dll, oraociicus12.sym, orannzsbb12.sym, oci.sym, ociw32.sym
  For 11g: oraociicus11.dll, orannzsbb11.dll, oci.dll, ociw32.dll, oraociicus11.sym, orannzsbb11.sym, oci.sym, ociw32.sym

Note: While copying from the Oracle Database Bundle patch, some of the files above may be missing. This implies that those files are unchanged and do not need to be patched.

Uninstalling Oracle ODBC Instant Client

On Linux and UNIX

The procedure to uninstall Instant Client ODBC on Linux/UNIX is:

1. Remove the Oracle ODBC driver entry from the odbcinst.ini file of the unixODBC driver manager. The default name of this entry is like [Oracle 19c ODBC driver].
2. Remove the DSN entry of the Oracle ODBC driver from odbc.ini. The default name of the DSN entry is like [OracleODBC-19c].
3. Delete all files and directories in the Instant Client ODBC directory.

 

On Windows

The procedure to uninstall Instant Client ODBC on Windows is:

1. Remove the DSN associated with the Oracle ODBC driver in the ODBC Data Source Administrator (odbcad32) console.
2. Execute odbc_uninstall.exe from the Instant Client ODBC directory.
3. Delete all files and directories in the Instant Client ODBC directory.

Recommended unixODBC Driver Manager versions for Linux/UNIX

For Instant Client 18 and 19:

For Instant Client 12.1 and 12.2:

For Instant Client 11g:

Oracle ODBC Driver Resources

• Oracle Instant Client - Download ODBC
• Oracle C and C++ Interfaces - Home page
• Using the Oracle ODBC Driver - Database Development Guide
• Oracle ODBC - Discussion forum
• ODBC Driver Release Notes - Release information

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