2.7 Configuring Thick Driver Support for SQLcl

By default, SQLcl uses the thin Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver for connections to Oracle databases. This section describes how to configure your environment to use the thick JDBC driver.

The configuration and validation varies by platform.

• Requirements for Using the Thick Driver
• Linux and macOS Configuration
• Windows Configuration

2.7.1 Requirements for Using the Thick Driver

To enable the thick driver, you must specify the location to a client installation that includes the necessary native libraries.

You can use either a full Oracle client or database installation, or an instant client installation. The client installation must be version 23 or later.

2.7.2 Linux and macOS Configuration

To use SQLcl with the thick driver on Linux or macOS, you must set the ORACLE_HOME environment variable to point to either the root directory of the installation (for client or database installations) or the instant client directory.

The SQLcl launch script uses this environment variable to configure the session for thick driver access. The script verifies if your client installation meets the minimum version requirement. If a valid installation is detected, SQLcl enables and defaults to the thick driver for connections. If the installed client version doesn’t meet the requirement, the script displays an error message, and SQLcl falls back to using the thin driver.

The launch script automatically makes the native libraries from a valid client installation available to SQLcl. You don't have to configure the PATH, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, or DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH variables.

2.7.3 Windows Configuration

To use SQLcl with the thick driver on Windows, you must set the ORACLE_HOME environment variable to point to either the root directory of the installation (for client or database installations) or the instant client directory.

SQLcl does not support setting the ORACLE_HOME variable in the Windows registry.

Note:

The Windows configuration process does not verify the client installation version. If you use a client version below the minimum requirement, you may encounter runtime errors.

You must also ensure that the Windows PATH environment variable contains the correct location of the native Windows libraries. For specific guidance on setting the PATH variable, consult the installation guide or readme file for your client installation.