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

   Select File | Data Sources.

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

   Select File | Data Sources.

2. In the Data Sources and Drivers dialog, click the Add icon () and select Oracle.

3. From the Connection type list, select TNS.

   

4. From the Driver list, select OCI.

   

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

   

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

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

8. Specify credentials for the Oracle user.

9. To ensure that the connection to the data source is successful, click the Test Connection link.

10. (Optional) If you are connecting to a data source that contains a lot of databases and schemas, in the Schemas tab, select the schemas that you need to work with.

11. Click OK to create the data source.