Go to Instant Client Downloads for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) download page:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/tech/oci/instantclient/htdocs/winsoft.html

Download basic-win32 and sqlplus-win32 files to your PC:

instantclient-basic-win32-11.1.0.7.0.zip
instantclient-sqlplus-win32-11.1.0.7.0.zip

Create a C:\oracle directory on your C drive (if you don’t already have one)

move both files into C:\oracle

Unzip both files

1) first unzip instantclient-basic-win32-11.1.0.7.0.zip
2) then unzip instantclient-sqlplus-win32-11.1.0.7.0.zip

to unzip right click on file
point to WinZip
Click Extract to here …

End result should be a new folder called instantclient_11_1 in your C:\oracle:

Setup your system %PATH% and %TNS_ADMIN% variables

In Windows explorer LEFT pane, right click on “My Computer” icon and click “Properties”
Click “Advanced” tab
Click Environment variables button:

In the “System Variables” panel select “Path” variable and click “Edit” button:

In the “Variable Value” field paste the following:
C:\oracle\instantclient_11_1
BEFORE all other path values that point to your OLD Oracle clients, then click “Ok”

Now find a variable called TNS_ADMIN — it could be in either panel (System / User),
if you have no such variable, create it in the User panel by clicking “New”:
Variable Name: TNS_ADMIN
Variable Value: C:\oracle\instantclient_11_1
Click Ok

Now click “Ok” on the Environment Variables screen
and click “Ok” on the System Properties window to close it

Setup tnsnames.ora file

If you have an existing Oracle client copy tnsnames.ora file from there and place it to:

C:\oracle\instantclient_11_1

If you don’t have an existing Oracle client create a new tnsnames.ora file, for example:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
XRACQ_MYSERVICE_TAF =
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = vip-qarac1)(PORT = 1521))
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = vip-qarac2)(PORT = 1521))
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = vip-qarac4)(PORT = 1521))
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = vip-qarac3)(PORT = 1521))
    (LOAD_BALANCE = yes)
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = XRACQ_MYSERVICE_TAF.domain.com)
      (FAILOVER_MODE =
        (TYPE = SELECT)
        (METHOD = BASIC)
        (RETRIES = 180)
        (DELAY = 5)
      )
    )
  )

Test 11g client by running sqlplus

Open a new CMD window by going to Start->Run
In the Run Window type in: cmd and press “Ok”:

in the CMD window prompt type in:

sqlplus user/pass@TNS_ALIAS

where:

user: is the database username given to you by the DBA
pass: is the database password given to you by the DBA
TNS_ALIAS: The alias you setup in the tnsnames.ora file

example:

   C:\>sqlplus xxx/xxxxxxxx@XRACQ_MYSERVICE_TAF
 
   SQL*Plus: Release 11.1.0.7.0 - Production on Wed Aug 26 16:24:23 2009
 
   Copyright (c) 1982, 2008, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
 
 
   Connected to:
   Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
   With the Partitioning, Real Application Clusters, OLAP, Data Mining
   and Real Application Testing options
 
   SQL>

If you get the ORA-12705 error while running sqlplus test:

C:\>sqlplus xxxxxx/xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx
 
SQL*Plus: Release 11.1.0.7.0 - Production on Wed Aug 26 16:58:33 2009
 
Copyright (c) 1982, 2008, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
 
ERROR:
ORA-12705: Cannot access NLS data files or invalid environment specified
 
Enter user-name:

Here’s the solution:

To fix the “ORA-12705: Cannot access NLS data files or invalid environment specified” error, go to your registry editor (run regedit from Start->Run) and then:

- Navigate to Windows Registry in \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ORACLE
- Remove the NLS_LANG from there (select it and delete)

Re-run the sqlplus test to make sure it works (you will need to open a new CMD window for the registry changes to take place).

End.

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