One of my projects requires an ODBC connection from a Windows environment to Oracle 10x. As most of you know, it's difficult to find step-by-step instructions on how to install it. So this is what I've done so far to at least get the driver installed:
- Download Oracle InstantClient (Basic) and the InstantClient ODBC suppliment (http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/oci/instantclient/index.html). It’s a much smaller footprint than installing the whole Oracle Client.
- Unzip both files to folder. Copy root folders to a folder like C:\Oracle\instantclient (basic and supplement will be in same folder).
- Run odbc_install.exe from command prompt – you can see results better than double-clicking the executable.
- Add Oracle’s System Variables (Windows control panel\System\Advanced tab, click Environment Variables, click Add for System Variables):
LD_LIBRARY_PATH
PATH (append)
SQLPATH
TNS_ADMIN - Add (create) TNSNAMES.ORA file to folder described above in TNS_ADMIN.
- Create ODBC data source connection the typical way in Windows.
- And there you have it! To uninstall, first delete ODBC connection that you created in step 6, then remove envronment variables from step 4, then run odbc_uninstall.exe.
