Free, light-weight, and easily installed Oracle Database tools, libraries and SDKs
Oracle Instant Client enables development and deployment of applications that connect to Oracle Database, either on-premise or in the Cloud. The Instant Client libraries provide the necessary network connectivity and advanced data features to make full use of Oracle Database. The libraries are used by the Oracle APIs of popular languages and environments including Python, Node.js, Go, PHP and Ruby, as well as providing access for Oracle Call Interface (OCI), Oracle C++ Call Interface (OCCI), JDBC OCI, ODBC and Pro*C applications. Tools included in Instant Client, such as SQL*Plus, SQL*Loader and Oracle Data Pump, provide quick and convenient data access.
Oracle Instant Client
What's New
Oracle Linux has Instant Client RPMs
Instant Client RPM packages for Oracle Linux can now be installed from yum.oracle.com for Oracle Linux 8 and Oracle Linux 7. Older releases are available for Oracle Linux 8, Oracle Linux 7 and Oracle Linux 6.
See Instant Client for Oracle Linux for installation instructions.
Instant Client is available for Docker
Dockerfiles are available on GitHub. Pre-built images are available from the GitHub Container Registry.
Instant Client Features
- Free to download, deploy and distribute
- Small footprint
- ZIPs available for quick, one-step install
- RPM Packages also available for Linux, and DMG Packages for macOS Intel x86
- Same libraries as full Oracle Database or Oracle Client
- Includes tools such as SQL*Plus, SQL*Loader and Data Pump
- Widely used and tested
Instant Client applications are cloud ready
Deploy applications using Instant Client in the cloud, or connect to a cloud database.
Whether your applications are in the cloud or on-premise, you can install Instant Client and connect to cloud databases. Follow the normal installation process for your operating system. Some cloud-specific references are shown below.
Instant Client Packages
| Instant Client Package | Description | References |
| Basic | All files required to run OCI, OCCI, and JDBC OCI applications for Oracle Database | OCI OCCI JDBC OCI |
| Basic Light | Smaller version of the Basic package, with only English error messages and Unicode, ASCII, and Western European character set support | OCI OCCI JDBC OCI |
| SDK | Additional header files and an example makefile for developing OCI and OCCI applications | |
| SQL*Plus | Additional package providing the SQL*Plus command-line tool for executing SQL and PL/SQL statements and scripts | SQL*Plus |
| Tools | Additional tools including Data Pump, SQL*Loader and Workload Replay Client | Data Pump and SQL*Loader WRC |
| ODBC | Additional libraries providing ODBC | ODBC |
| Precompilers | Additional tools and libraries providing the Pro*C and Pro*COBOL precompilers | Pro*C Pro*COBOL |
| JDBC OCI Supplement | Additional libraries to support Internationalization | JDBC OCI |
Technical Resources
- Oracle Call Interface Developer Center
- Oracle C++ Call Interface Developer Center
- JDBC Developer Center
- ODBC Developer Center
- VirtualBox - Desktop virtualization
- Oracle Database "XE" Express Edition - Free database for Linux and Windows
- Oracle Database Application Development - More great technologies
- Oracle Cloud Database Services - Go Cloud