Connect to Oracle with OCI

Step 1. Unpack the downloaded packages

1. Create a directory (for example, ~/Oracle/instantclient_19_8/).

2. Extract all packages to the created directory.

Step 2. (Optional) Add environment variables

This step is optional. After the environment variables are being set, you can connect to your Oracle instance with the sqlplus tool. Note that these settings work only for the current session of the command prompt.

• Add the following environment variables:

  export ORACLE_HOME=~/Oracle/instantclient_19_8

  export TNS_ADMIN=$ORACLE_HOME/network/admin

  export NLS_LANG=English_America.UTF8

  export PATH=$PATH:$ORACLE_HOME

  set ORACLE_HOME=C:\Oracle\instantclient_19_8

  set TNS_ADMIN=%ORACLE_HOME%\network\admin

  set NLS_LANG=English_America.UTF8

  set PATH=%PATH%:%ORACLE_HOME%

Step 3. Configuring ORA files

You can request the tnsnames.ora file from your Oracle server administrator or compose the file by using the following approach:

1. In the directory that you created on Step 1, create the network directory. Inside the network directory, create the admin directory. The overall path should look as follows: ~/Oracle/instantclient_19_8/network/admin.

2. In the admin directory, create the tnsnames.ora file with the following structure:

   MyTNSAlias = (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = db.my.domain.com)(PORT = 1521)) (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVER = DEDICATED) (SERVICE_NAME = my_service.my.domain.com) ) )

   Your tnsnames.ora file might have the following look:

   

   After you have configured the tnsnames.ora file and environment variables, you can try to connect to the instance by running the following commands:

   cd ~/Oracle/instantclient_19_8
   export TNS_ADMIN=~/Oracle/instantclient_19_8/network/admin
   sqlplus login@MyTNSAlias

   

Step 1. Prepare a driver for the OCI connection

1. Open data source properties. You can open data source properties by using one of the following options:

   • In the Database tool window ( View | Tool Windows | Database) , click the Data Source Properties icon .

   • Press Control+Alt+Shift+S.

2. In the Data Sources and Drivers dialog, click the Drivers tab.

3. In the list of drivers, right-click the Oracle driver and select Duplicate.

4. Change the name of the duplicated Oracle driver (for example, Oracle [OCI]).

5. In the Driver Files pane, click the Add icon () and select Native Library Path….

6. In the file browser, navigate to the directory of the Instant Client created previously (for example, ~/Oracle/instantclient_19_8) and click Open.

   

Step 2. Create the OCI connection

1. To connect to the database, create a data source that will store your connection details. You can do this using one of the following ways:

   • From the main menu, navigate to File | New | Data Source and select Oracle.

   • In the Database tool window ( View | Tool Windows | Database) , click the New icon () in the toolbar. Navigate to Data Source and select Oracle.

   

2. From the Connection type list, select TNS.

   

3. From the Driver list, select OCI.

   

4. Click the Driver link and select the driver entry that you created on Step 1.

   

5. In the TNSADMIN field, click the browse button and navigate to the directory with the Instant Client (in our case, ~/Oracle/instantclient_19_8/).

6. In the TNS name field, specify what service name to use (see a value of an alias in tnsnames.ora).

7. Specify credentials for the Oracle user.

8. Ensure that the connection to the database can be established using the provided details. To do that, click the Test Connection link at the bottom of the connection details area.

   

   In case of any connection issues, refer to the Cannot connect to a database page.

9. (Optional) By default, only the default schema is introspected and available to work with. If you also want to work with other schemas, in the Schemas tab, select them for the introspection.

   

10. Click OK to create the data source.

11. Find your new data source in the Database tool window (Alt+1) .

    • To learn more about the Database tool window, see the corresponding reference topic.

    • To learn how to work with database objects in RubyMine, see Database objects.

    • To write and run queries, open the default query console by clicking the data source and pressing F4.

    • To view data of a database object, open Data Editor and Viewer by double-clicking the object.