Oracle Database Client Postinstallation Tasks

Complete configuration tasks after you install Oracle Database Client.

You are required to complete some configuration tasks after Oracle Database Client is installed. In addition, Oracle recommends that you complete additional tasks immediately after installation. You must also complete product-specific configuration tasks before you use those products.

Note:

This article describes basic configuration only. Refer to product-specific administration and tuning guides for more detailed configuration and tuning information.

Downloading Release Update Patches

After installation, download and install the appropriate quarterly Release Updates or Monthly Recommended Patches for Oracle software through My Oracle Support. Use Patch Search to locate patches by name, number, bug, product, release, platform, or language, then download, extract, and review each patch’s README for application instructions. Oracle recommends out-of-place patching with Gold images for quarterly updates in Oracle AI Database 26ai; OPatch and OPatchAuto remain available for in-place patching, while RU patching is unsupported for the Free release.

Setting Language and Locale Preferences for Client Connections

Configure client locale and character-set settings to match application preferences and the encoding of the client I/O device, because an incorrect character set can cause data loss. OCI applications use NLS_LANG and related NLS settings, supplied through environment variables or, on Windows, the Registry, with environment variables taking precedence. Windows Oracle Universal Installer sets a default NLS_LANG value, whereas Linux and UNIX installations do not. JDBC applications instead derive language and territory from the Java VM locale and always use Unicode for the client character set; application servers may define these settings in their configuration.

Creating a Backup of the root.sh Script

Back up the root.sh script after completing installation because installing additional products into the same Oracle home can modify the existing script. The backup preserves the original script contents for recovery if they are needed later.
Read More: Creating a Backup of the root.sh Script