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How to Install SQL*Plus Instant Client on Windows 7 32-bit

SQL*Plus Instant Client is a standalone product that allows you to run SQL and PL/SQL queries from a command-line interface. It does not require a full Oracle Database Client installation, and it can connect to any remote Oracle Database. In this article, we will show you how to install SQL*Plus Instant Client on Windows 7 32-bit using the packages downloaded from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

Prerequisites

To install SQL*Plus Instant Client, you need two packages:

• The SQL*Plus Instant Client package, which contains the SQL*Plus executable and libraries.
• The Basic or Basic Light OCI Instant Client package, which contains the Oracle Call Interface (OCI) libraries and network files.

The Basic OCI package supports all character sets and language settings available in the Oracle Database, while the Basic Light OCI package supports only specific character sets and displays error messages in English only. The Basic Light OCI package is smaller than the Basic OCI package.

You can download the packages from the OTN Instant Client page at https://www.oracle.com/in/database/technologies/instant-client/microsoft-windows-32-downloads.html. Make sure you download the packages that match your Oracle Database version, for example, 11.2.0.4.

Installation Steps

Follow these steps to install SQL*Plus Instant Client on Windows 7 32-bit:

1. Create a directory on your hard drive to store the Instant Client files, for example, C:\instantclient_11_2.
2. Unzip the SQL*Plus Instant Client package and the Basic or Basic Light OCI Instant Client package into the same directory.
3. Add the directory to your PATH environment variable. You can do this by right-clicking on My Computer, selecting Properties, clicking on Advanced system settings, clicking on Environment Variables, selecting PATH under System variables, clicking on Edit, and appending the directory name at the end of the existing value.
4. Set the NLS_LANG environment variable to specify your language, territory, and character set. You can do this by following the same steps as above, but selecting NLS_LANG under System variables and clicking on New. The value of NLS_LANG should be in the format language_territory.charset, for example, AMERICAN_AMERICA.UTF8. If you are using the Basic Light OCI package, make sure you use one of the supported character sets listed in https://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E11882_01/server.112/e16604/apd.htm.
5. Restart your computer to apply the changes.
6. To test your installation, open a command prompt and type sqlplus /nolog. You should see the SQL*Plus banner and prompt.
7. To connect to a remote Oracle Database, type connect username/password@connect_identifier, where username and password are your database credentials and connect_identifier is your net service name or easy connect string. For example, connect scott/tiger@orcl.
8. To run a SQL or PL/SQL query, type it at the SQL*Plus prompt and end it with a semicolon (;). For example, select * from emp;.
9. To exit SQL*Plus, type exit.

Conclusion

In this article, we have shown you how to install SQL*Plus Instant Client on Windows 7 32-bit using the packages downloaded from the OTN. SQL*Plus Instant Client is a convenient and lightweight tool for running SQL and PL/SQL queries from a command-line interface. It does not require a full Oracle Database Client installation, and it can connect to any remote Oracle Database.