Installing Oracle Instant Client Packages

Learn the different methods to install Oracle Instant Client on Linux x86-64 and Linux for Arm (aarch64) platforms.

Note:

Starting with Oracle Database Client 26ai, the Setup Wizard in the full client installation no longer provides the option to install Oracle Instant Client.

Installing Oracle Instant Client Using Zip Files

Learn how to download and use zip files to install Oracle Instant Client on Linux x86-64 and Linux for Arm (aarch64) platforms.

Go to the Oracle Instant Client Downloads page:
https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/instant-client/downloads.html
Download the desired Oracle Instant Client zip files. Select the correct platform, architecture, and packages of your choice. For example, if your application is 64-bit, then ensure that you select 64-bit Instant Client and download the Basic Package zip file.
All installations require a Basic or Basic Light package. All other packages are optional.
Unzip each zip file into a single directory such as /opt/oracle/instantclient_23_26 that is accessible to your application.

For example, for Linux x86-64:
```
$ cd /opt/oracle      
$ unzip instantclient-basic-linux.x64-23.26.0.0.0.zip
```
For example, for Linux for Arm (aarch64):
```
$ cd /opt/oracle      
$ unzip instantclient-basic-linux.arm64-23.26.0.0.0.zip
```
All the packages unzip into /opt/oracle/instantclient_23_26.
Note:
- To prevent a second package unzip operation from failing because of an existing duplicate metadata file, you may need to use the -o option with the unzip command to overwrite files automatically without prompting.
- The operating system may restrict runtime access to libraries unless they are located in a standard directory hierarchy such as /opt or /usr/local.
Install the operating system libaio package. This is available as libaio1 on some Linux distributions. For example, on Oracle Linux 8, run:
```
$ sudo dnf install libaio
```
If Oracle Instant Client is the only Oracle software installed on your system, then update the runtime link path, for example:
```
$ sudo sh -c "echo /opt/oracle/instantclient_23_26 > \
      /etc/ld.so.conf.d/oracle-instantclient.conf"
  $ sudo ldconfig
```
Alternatively, set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable prior to running applications. For example:
```
$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/oracle/instantclient_23_26:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
```
Optionally, add the variable to configuration files such as ~/.bash_profile and to application configuration files such as /etc/sysconfig/httpd.
If you intend to colocate optional Oracle configuration files such as tnsnames.ora, sqlnet.ora, ldap.ora, or oraaccess.xml with Oracle Instant Client, then move these files to the network/admin subdirectory.
This is the default Oracle configuration directory for applications linked with this Oracle Instant Client.

Alternatively, you can move the Oracle configuration files to another, accessible directory. Then set the environment variable TNS_ADMIN to that directory name.
To use binaries such as sqlplus from the SQL*Plus package, unzip the package to the same directory as the Basic package and then update your PATH environment variable. For example:
```
$ export PATH=/opt/oracle/instantclient_23_26:$PATH
```
Start your application.

Installing Oracle Instant Client Using RPMs

Learn how to install Oracle Instant Client on Linux x86-64 and Linux for Arm (aarch64) platforms by downloading the RPMs using the dnf install command.

Note:

Starting with 19c, by default, you can install only one version of the Oracle Instant Client RPM packages at a time. If you need multiple versions, use the Oracle Instant Client zip files.

Removing Earlier Oracle Instant Client Installations

Remove any earlier installations of Oracle Instant Client using either dnf or yum before you start a fresh installation.

List the currently installed Oracle Instant Client packages. For example:

For Oracle Linux 8 and later:

$ sudo dnf list installed | grep instantclient

The output will be like:

oracle-instantclient19.5-basic.x86_64 19.5.0.0.0-1 @/oracle-instantclient19.5-basic-19.5.0.0.0-1.x86_64

Remove the Oracle Instant Client packages. For example:

For Oracle Linux 8 and later on Linux x86-64:
```
$ sudo dnf remove oracle-instantclient19.5-basic.x86_64
```
Remove the legacy Oracle Instant Client yum repository setup package. For example:

For Oracle Linux 8:
```
$ sudo dnf remove oracle-release-el8
```
For Oracle Linux 9:
```
$ sudo dnf remove oracle-release-el9
```
A reboot is not required.

Installing Oracle Instant Client From the yum Server

If you are using Oracle Linux and have configured your Oracle Linux yum server, then you can install Oracle Instant Client using the dnf install command.

Install the Oracle Linux release package to configure repository definitions for Oracle Instant Client:

For Oracle Linux 8:
```
$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8
```
For Oracle Linux 9:
```
$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el9
```
Go to the Oracle Instant Client repositories to view the available Oracle Instant Client packages:
For Oracle Linux 8 on Linux x86-64:

https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL8/oracle/instantclient23/x86_64/index.html

For Oracle Linux 9 on Linux x86-64:

https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL9/oracle/instantclient23/x86_64/index.html

For Oracle Linux 10 on Linux x86-64:

https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL10/oracle/instantclient23/x86_64/index.html

For Oracle Linux 8 on Linux for Arm (aarch64):

https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL8/oracle/instantclient23/aarch64/index.html

For Oracle Linux 9 on Linux for Arm (aarch64):

https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL9/oracle/instantclient23/aarch64/index.html

All installations require a Basic or Basic Light package. All other packages are optional.
Install Oracle Instant Client packages using dnf.

For Oracle Linux 8 and later:
```
$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-basic
```
To install other Oracle Instant Client packages like SQL*Plus, run:

For Oracle Linux 8 and later:
```
$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-sqlplus
```

Using versionlock to Avoid Upgrades

To ensure that you do not inadvertently upgrade Oracle Instant Client when a new major release is published, use dnf versionlock after you have installed Oracle Instant Client 26ai.

$ sudo dnf install yum-plugin-versionlock

For Oracle Linux 8:

$ sudo dnf versionlock oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8

For Oracle Linux 9:

$ sudo dnf versionlock oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el9

Note:

Configuring dnf versionlock still allows automatic Oracle Instant Client release updates.

Manually Downloading and Installing Oracle Instant Client RPM Packages

An alternative method for installing Oracle Instant Client is to manually download and install the Oracle Instant Client packages.

Go to the Oracle Instant Client Downloads page:
https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/instant-client/downloads.html
Download the desired Oracle Instant Client RPM packages. Select the correct platform, architecture, and packages of your choice. For example, if your application is 64-bit, then ensure that you select 64-bit Instant Client and download the Basic Package RPM file.
All installations require a Basic or Basic Light package. All other packages are optional.

Install the packages using dnf. For example:

For Oracle Linux 8 on Linux x86-64:

$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.0.0.0-1.el8.x86_64.rpm

For Oracle Linux 9 on Linux x86-64:

$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.0.0.0-1.el9.x86_64.rpm

For Oracle Linux 10 on Linux x86-64:

$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.0.0.0-1.el10.x86_64.rpm

For Oracle Linux 8 on Linux for Arm (aarch64):

$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.0.0.0-1.el8.aarch64.rpm

For Oracle Linux 9 on Linux for Arm (aarch64):

$ sudo dnf install oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.0.0.0-1.el9.aarch64.rpm

Additionally, you may have to perform the following tasks before you start your application:

If you intend to colocate optional Oracle configuration files such as tnsnames.ora, sqlnet.ora, ldap.ora, or oraaccess.xml with Oracle Instant Client, then move these files to the /usr/lib/oracle/23/client64/lib/network/admin subdirectory.
This is the default Oracle configuration directory for applications linked with this Oracle Instant Client.

Alternatively, you can move the Oracle configuration files to another, accessible directory. Then set the environment variable TNS_ADMIN to that directory name.
To use binaries from the tools package, use yum or dnf to install the package and then update your PATH environment variable. For example:
```
$ export PATH=/usr/lib/oracle/23/client64/bin:$PATH
```