What Is the Minimum Client Footprint Required to Connect C# to an Oracle Database

What is the minimum client footprint required to connect C# to an Oracle database?

You need an Oracle Client to connect to an Oracle database. The easiest way is to install the Oracle Data Access Components.

To minimize the footprint, I suggest the following :

• Use the Microsoft provider for Oracle (System.Data.OracleClient), which ships with the framework.
• Download the Oracle Instant Client Package - Basic Lite : this is a zip file with (almost) the bare minimum. I recommend version 10.2.0.4, which is much smaller than version 11.1.0.6.0.
• Unzip the following files in a specific folder :
  
  
  • v10 :
    
    
    • oci.dll
    • orannzsbb10.dll
    • oraociicus10.dll
  • v11 :
    
    
    • oci.dll
    • orannzsbb11.dll
    • oraociei11.dll
• On a x86 platform, add the CRT DLL for Visual Studio 2003 (msvcr71.dll) to this folder, as Oracle guys forgot to read this...
• Add this folder to the PATH environment variable.
• Use the Easy Connect Naming method in your application to get rid of the infamous TNSNAMES.ORA configuration file. It looks like this : sales-server:1521/sales.us.acme.com.

This amounts to about 19Mb (v10).

If you do not care about sharing this folder between several applications, an alternative would be to ship the above mentioned DLLs along with your application binaries, and skip the PATH setting step.

If you absolutely need to use the Oracle provider (Oracle.DataAccess), you will need :

• ODP .NET 11.1.0.6.20 (the first version which allegedly works with Instant Client).
• Instant Client 11.1.0.6.0, obviously.

Note that I haven't tested this latest configuration...

What is the minimal setup required to deploy a .NET application with Oracle client 11?

Josh-

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer. Your instructions helped a whole lot, and are very close to what I have found on my own.

Interestingly enough, I found it can be slimmed a little more.

For those in my situation who

1. Do not want their users to have to install ODAC or the full-size Oracle Client
2. Do not care about the re-usability of the particular client installtion
3. Need a "clickOnce" compatible solution

I found a way to do that.

a. Download the "Oracle Instant Client 11.1.0.6 - Basic Lite".
b. unzip to any folder and copy the following files to your Visual Studio project root:

• oci.dll
• ociw32.dll
• orannzsbb11.dll
• oraocci11.dll
• oraociicus11.dll

• msvcr71.dll (not necessary, should be supplied with most Windows versions)

  (the first five are the minimum needed for the Oracle Instant Client, the last is the microsoft common runtime they use.)

c. Download the ODAC 11 XCopy (the current version is 11.1.0.6) and unzip.

• OraOps11w.dll - in the odp.net20 folder, goes in your project root.

  (this file is what the Oracle.DataAccess.dll talks to and uses to work with the Instant Client files).

d. For compatibility with ClickOnce deployment, select these files in your project and make sure they are "Content" and "Copy Local" in your project. The manifest will then deploy them properly.

Result... the payload added to your project is 30mb, which kinda sucks, but much better than 100+ or 400+, supports western characters, but kicks butt in that

1. it requires no path,
2. requires no registry entries,
3. is isolated in deployment and does not hose other Oracle Client installations,
4. works will all DBs back through 9.2.

Access to Oracle DB 9.2 without Oracle Client using C #

I don't thinks that's possible.

According to Client / Server Interoperability Support Matrix for Different Oracle Versions (Doc ID 207303.1) you can connect to an Oracle 9.2 server with a client 11.2 or older.

The only driver which does not require an Oracle Client is the "Oracle Data Provider Managed Driver" (ODP.NET Managed Driver). However, it was introduced in Oracle 12.1, so the database must be 11.2 or newer.

Looks like you have to install an old Oracle Client. Perhaps one of the third party drivers will also work: Progress or DevArt. However, they come with additional costs.

How can I deploy a .NET application that uses ODAC without installing the whole component to the user?

I'm not sure whether your concern is about having to install the Oracle client in addition to the ~50 MB ODAC install or just the standalone ODAC.

If the concern is about having to install the Oracle client and the ODAC, you can use the Oracle Instant Client? That's the smallest footprint method for installing the Oracle client. You'll also need the ODAC xcopy supplement.

If your concern is just the ODAC install, I don't think there is a smaller footprint available.

What is the minimum that a client needs to install to use a program that uses Entity Framework 4 to connect to Oracle 11.2.0.3.20?

The managed Oracle.DataAccess.dll assembly that you reference in your .net project is a very small part of the oracle client which is a pile of unmanaged binaries. Thru a variety of methods (registry, oracle_home environment variable, dllpath config parameter), the managed dll searches for the client install to use. The smallest client footprint that I'm aware of is the xcopy installation which includes the "instant client":
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/windows/downloads/utilsoft-087491.html

You can find a guide on installing it here:
http://www.brothersincode.com/post/Oracle-ODPnet-xcopy-deployment-for-aspnet.aspx
(installing it for .net client app will not differ much from installing it for an asp.net server.

In the future, consider a physical middle teir in the form of wcf services. While you'd loose some direct quering capability, you'd eliminate the headache of installing the oracle client on every machine. RIA services might be an option on top of that: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee707344(VS.91).aspx

Connect to Oracle with odp.net and the OCI from C#

To be able to use ODP.NET without installing the full blown client, you need to use the Oracle Instant Client packages (you cannot just copy the libraries from a complete client):

• Check here for a description of the requirements.

• Starting with Oracle v10, I would strongly recommend using EZCONNECT to simplify your connection string. How about this:

  private const string CONNECTION_STRING="User Id=hr;Password=hr;"+
     +"Data Source=127.0.0.1:1521/XE;Connect Timeout=15;";
  

Is ODP.NET required for Oracle 11g Client?

When it comes to Oracle, I like to use Oracle Instant Client :

• You don't have to install anything on the target machines (including dev boxes !).
• You can make sure that your application will run with the specific client you picked.
• You could even easily have multiple applications work with different client versions on the same computer.
• As a downside, it adds a significant weight to your application (~19Mb minimum).

Check What is the minimum client footprint required to connect C# to an Oracle database? for more information. To know how to set up a Visual Studio project that will work on x86 as well as x64 machines, check my blog post Oracle Instant Client in Visual Studio.

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