SQL*Plus Instant Client

Release Notes

Release 10.1

January 2005

1 SQL*Plus Instant Client

SQL*Plus Instant Client offers all the functionality of SQL*Plus command-line, without the need for a traditional ORACLE_HOME installation. SQL*Plus Instant Client is easy to install, and uses significantly less disk space.

SQL*Plus Instant Client is available on platforms that support the OCI Instant Client. See the Oracle Call Interface Programmer's Guide for more information on the OCI Instant Client.

SQL*Plus Instant Client does not include a database.

1.1 Installing SQL*Plus Instant Client

SQL*Plus Instant Client 10.1 can be downloaded from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) or installed from the Oracle Database 10g Client Release CD.

1.1.1 OTN Download

Download matching versions, i.e. 10.1.0.4, of the Basic Instant Client and SQL*Plus Instant Client packages from the OTN Instant Client page.

On Linux, use rpm -i for the initial install of the RPM packages, or rpm -u to upgrade to a newer version of the packages.

On other platforms the two packages should be unzipped into one directory, for example, /home/instantclient10_1 on UNIX or c:\instantclient10_1 on Windows. This table shows the Oracle client-side files required to deploy SQL*Plus Instant Client 10.1.

Platform		Description	Package
UNIX/Linux	Windows	Description	Package
sqlplus	sqlplus.exe	SQL*Plus executable	SQL*Plus
libsqlplus.so	not applicable	SQL*Plus library
glogin.sql	glogin.sql	SQL*Plus site profile
libclntsh.so.10.1	oci.dll	Client code library	Basic
libociei.so	oraociei10.dll	OCI Instant Client data shared library
libnnz10.so	orannzsbb10.dll	Security library

Files included in the Basic package which are not listed may be ignored or can be removed to save disk space.

The SQL*Plus Instant Client package should never be installed on an ORACLE_HOME.

1.1.2 Client Release CD Install

Run the installer on the Oracle Database 10g Client CD and choose the Administrator option. After the installation completes, create a new directory and copy the SQL*Plus and OCI Instant Client files to it. All libraries must be copied from the same ORACLE_HOME into one directory. For example /home/instantclient10_1 on UNIX and Linux, or c:\instantclient10_1 on Windows.

On UNIX and Linux copy these files:

$ORACLE_HOME/instantclient/libociei.so
$ORACLE_HOME/lib/libclntsh.so.10.1
$ORACLE_HOME/lib/libnnz10.so
$ORACLE_HOME/lib/libsqlplus.so
$ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus
$ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/admin/glogin.sql

On Windows copy these files:

%ORACLE_HOME%\instantclient\oraociei10.dll
%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\oci.dll
%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\orannzsbb10.dll
%ORACLE_HOME%\bin\sqlplus.exe
%ORACLE_HOME%\sqlplus\admin\glogin.sql

1.2 Configuring the SQL*Plus Instant Client

After the required files are installed, the environment needs to be configured.

The SQL*Plus Instant Client executable should only be used with the matching version of the Basic Instant Client.

Note that no ORACLE_HOME or ORACLE_SID environment variables need to be set.

1.2.1 Linux (Installed from the RPMs) Configuration

The RPMs install into Oracle specific sub-directories in the /usr file system. The sub-directory structure enables multiple versions of Instant Client to be available.

Add the name of the directory containing the Instant Client libraries to LD_LIBRARY_PATH. Remove any other Oracle directories.

For example on Solaris in the Bourne or Korn shells:
```
LD_LIBRARY_PATH= /usr/lib/oracle/10.1.0.4/client/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
```
Make sure the sqlplus executable installed from the RPM is found first in your PATH. To test, enter "which sqlplus", which should return /usr/bin/sqlplus. If not, remove any other Oracle directories from PATH, or put /usr/bin before other SQL*Plus executables in the PATH, or use an absolute or relative path to start SQL*Plus.

For example to set the path in the bash shell:
```
PATH=/usr/bin:${PATH}
export PATH
```
If you install multiple versions of SQL*Plus, you may need to change the symbolic link /usr/bin/sqlplus to the version of SQL*Plus matching the libraries in LD_LIBRARY_PATH. For 10.1.0.4, /usr/bin/sqlplus is a symbolic link to the SQL*Plus binary at /usr/lib/oracle/10.1.0.4/client/bin/sqlplus.

Set SQLPATH to the directory containing glogin.sql.

For example:

SQLPATH=/usr/lib/oracle/10.1.0.4/client/lib:${SQLPATH}
export SQLPATH

Set Oracle globalization variables required for your locale. A default locale will be assumed if no variables are set. See the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide for more information.

For example to set NLS_LANG for a Japanese environment:
```
NLS_LANG=JAPANESE_JAPAN.JA16EUC
export NLS_LANG
```

1.2.2 Linux (Installed from the Client Release CD) and UNIX Configuration

Add the name of the directory containing the Instant Client files to the appropriate shared library path LD_LIBRARY_PATH, LIBPATH or SHLIB_PATH. Remove any other Oracle directories.

For example on Solaris in the Bourne or Korn shells:
```
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/instantclient10_1:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
```
Add the directory containing the Instant Client files to the PATH environment variable. If it is not set, then an absolute or relative path must be used to start SQL*Plus. Remove any other Oracle directories from PATH.

For example:
```
PATH=/home/instantclient10_1:${PATH}
export PATH
```
Set SQLPATH to the directory containing the Instant Client files so glogin.sql can be found.

For example:
```
SQLPATH=/home/instantclient10_1:${SQLPATH}
export SQLPATH
```
Set Oracle globalization variables required for your locale. A default locale will be assumed if no variables are set. See the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide for more information.

For example to set NLS_LANG for a Japanese environment:
```
NLS_LANG=JAPANESE_JAPAN.JA16EUC
export NLS_LANG
```

1.2.3 Windows Configuration

The environment may be configured using SET commands in a Windows command prompt or made permanent by setting the Environment Variables in the System Properties.

For example, to set environment variables in Windows 2000 using System Properties, open System from the Control Panel, click the Advanced tab and then click Environment Variables.

Add the directory containing the Instant Client files to the PATH system environment variable. Remove any other Oracle directories from PATH.

For example add c:\instantclient10_1 to the beginning of the PATH.
Set the user environment variable SQLPATH to the directory containing the Instant Client files so glogin.sql is found.

For example create a user variable SQLPATH set to c:\instantclient10_1
Set Oracle globalization variables required for your locale. A default locale will be assumed if no variables are set. See the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide for more information.

For example, to set NLS_LANG for a Japanese environment, create a user environment variable NLS_LANG set to JAPANESE_JAPAN.JA16EUC.

1.3 Connecting to a Database with SQL*Plus Instant Client

SQL*Plus Instant Client is always 'remote' from any database server. To connect to a database you must specify the database using an Oracle Net connection identifier.

An example using an Easy Connection identifier to connect to the HR schema in the MYDB database running on mymachine is:

sqlplus hr@//mymachine.mydomain:port/MYDB

Alternatively you can use a Net Service Name:

sqlplus hr@MYDB

Net Service Names can be stored in a number of places, including LDAP. The use of LDAP is recommended to take advantage of the new features of Oracle Database 10g. See the Oracle Database Net Services Reference Guide for more information.

If you want to use Net Service Names configured in a local Oracle Net tnsnames.ora file, then set the environment variable TNS_ADMIN to the directory containing the tnsnames.ora file. For example, on UNIX, if your tnsnames.ora file is in /home/user1 and it defines the Net Service Name MYDB2:

TNS_ADMIN=/home/user1
export TNS_ADMIN
sqlplus hr@MYDB2

If TNS_ADMIN is not set, then an operating system dependent set of directories is examined to find tnsnames.ora. This search path includes looking in the directory specified by the ORACLE_HOME environment variable for network/admin/tnsnames.ora. This is the only reason to set the ORACLE_HOME environment variable for SQL*Plus Instant Client. If ORACLE_HOME is set when running Instant Client applications, it must be set to a directory that exists.

This example assumes the ORACLE_HOME environment variable is set, and the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora or %ORACLE_HOME%\network\admin\tnsnames.ora file defines the Net Service Name MYDB3:

sqlplus hr@MYDB3

The TWO_TASK (on UNIX or Linux) or LOCAL (on Windows) environment variable can be set to a connection identifier. This removes the need to explicitly enter the connection identifier whenever a connection is made in SQL*Plus or SQL*Plus Instant Client. This UNIX example connects to the database known as MYDB4:

TNS_ADMIN=/home/user1
export TNS_ADMIN
TWO_TASK=MYDB4
export TWO_TASK
sqlplus hr

On Windows, TNS_ADMIN and LOCAL may be set in the System Properties as described in section 1.2.3

1.4 Connecting using AS SYSDBA or AS SYSOPER with SQL*Plus Instant Client

To connect AS SYSDBA or AS SYSOPER to perform DBA tasks, you need to set up an Oracle password file on the database server using the database's orapwd utility. Once this is configured, your SQL*Plus Instant Client connection string might look something like:

sqlplus sys@MYDB AS SYSDBA

See the Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for information on Oracle password files.

1.5 Uninstalling Instant Client

1.5.1 Removing the complete Instant Client

If the Linux RPMs were installed, use rpm -qa to find the Instant Client SQL*Plus and Basic package names and run rpm -e to remove them. Otherwise for all platforms manually delete the directory containing the SQL*Plus executable, Oracle libraries and glogin.sql

Reset environment variables such as PATH, SQLPATH, LD_LIBRARY_PATH and TNS_ADMIN.

Remove tnsnames.ora if necessary.

1.5.2 Removing only SQL*Plus Instant Client

The SQL*Plus tool can be removed separately from the OCI Instant Client. The remaining libraries enable custom written OCI programs or third party database utilities to connect to a database.

If Linux RPMs were installed, use rpm -e only on the SQL*Plus Instant Client package. Otherwise for all platforms manually remove the following SQL*Plus specific files:

Platform		Description
UNIX/Linux	Windows	Description
sqlplus	sqlplus.exe	SQL*Plus executable
libsqlplus.so	not applicable	SQL*Plus library
glogin.sql	glogin.sql	SQL*Plus site profile

Reset environment variables and remove tnsnames.ora if necessary.

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