Problem statement: In an Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse environment, we do not have access to the underlying compute nodes. However, many organizations run custom shell-script jobs that must access OCI resources through the OCI CLI and make database calls. Even though cloud shell is pre-configured with instant client and OCI CLI tool but it is dedicated for oci user and we can not access from outside oci environment.To support these requirements, we need a Linux VM with Oracle Instant Client and the OCI CLI installed.
This article will guide you step by step how to install above mentioned tools.
Environment Setup: I have installed Oracle Linux
Server release 8.10 using image Oracle-Linux-8.10-2026.06.15-0 available
in OCI console. During installation I have chosen to use public IP so
that I can connect from my laptop. In real world we may choose to use private
IP only for security reasons. Please see the link below how to connect a Linux
instance
Connecting
to a Linux Instance
I just want to make you aware that old version of putty
might throw below error which says there is a mismatch between server and
client with respect to authentication
methods.To resolve this error use putty version 0.84 and higher.
1.
Check whether Oracle Instant Client
packages are available in the currently enabled RPM repositories
dnf search instantclient
Last metadata expiration check: 23:51:11 ago on Sat 27 Jun
2026 03:28:18 PM GMT.
================================================================================
Name Matched: instantclient
================================================================================
oracle-instantclient-release-23ai-el8.src : Oracle Software
yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-release-23ai-el8.x86_64 : Oracle
Software yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8.x86_64 : Oracle
Software yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-release-el8.src : Oracle Instant Client
yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-release-el8.x86_64 : Oracle Instant
Client yum repository configuration
2.
Choose your choice of instant client and
install
dnf info
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8.x86_64
Last metadata expiration check: 23:52:31 ago on Sat 27 Jun
2026 03:28:18 PM GMT.
Available Packages
Name :
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8
Version : 1.0
Release : 6.el8
Architecture : x86_64
Size : 14 k
Source :
oracle-common-release-1.0-6.el8.src.rpm
Repository :
ol8_baseos_latest
Summary : Oracle
Software yum repository configuration
License : GPLv2
Description : This
package contains the Oracle Software yum
repository configuration.
dnf install
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8
Last metadata expiration check: 23:53:16 ago on Sat 27 Jun
2026 03:28:18 PM GMT.
Dependencies resolved.
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Package
Architecture
Version
Repository Size
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Installing:
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8 x86_64 1.0-6.el8
ol8_baseos_latest 14 k
Transaction Summary
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Install 1 Package
Total download size: 14 k
Installed size: 18 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8-1.0-6.el8.x86_64.rpm
124 kB/s | 14 kB 00:00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
121 kB/s | 14 kB 00:00
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
Preparing :
1/1
Installing :
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8-1.0-6.el8.x86_64
1/1
Verifying :
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8-1.0-6.el8.x86_64
1/1
Installed:
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8-1.0-6.el8.x86_64
Complete!
3.
Find SQL*Plus package and install
dnf search instantclient
Oracle Instant Client 26 for Oracle Linux 8 - License
Included (x86_64)
384 kB/s | 24 kB 00:00
================================================================================
Name Matched: instantclient
================================================================================
oracle-instantclient-basic.x86_64 : Oracle Instant Client
Basic package
oracle-instantclient-basiclite.x86_64 : Oracle Instant
Client Light package
oracle-instantclient-devel.x86_64 : Development header files
for Oracle Instant Client.
oracle-instantclient-jdbc.x86_64 : Supplemental JDBC
features for the Oracle Instant Client
oracle-instantclient-odbc.x86_64 : Oracle Instant Client
ODBC
oracle-instantclient-release-23ai-el8.src : Oracle Software
yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-release-23ai-el8.x86_64 : Oracle
Software yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-release-26ai-el8.x86_64 : Oracle
Software yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-release-el8.src : Oracle Instant Client
yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-release-el8.x86_64 : Oracle Instant
Client yum repository configuration
oracle-instantclient-sqlplus.x86_64
: Oracle Instant Client SQL*Plus package
oracle-instantclient-tools.x86_64 : Tools for Oracle Instant
Client
dnf install -y
oracle-instantclient-sqlplus.x86_64
Last metadata expiration check: 0:01:49 ago on Sun 28 Jun
2026 03:23:46 PM GMT.
Dependencies resolved.
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Package
Architecture
Version
Repository Size
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Installing:
oracle-instantclient-sqlplus x86_64
23.26.2.0.0-2.el8
ol8_oracle_instantclient26 4.7 M
Installing dependencies:
oracle-instantclient-basic x86_64
23.26.2.0.0-2.el8
ol8_oracle_instantclient26 84 M
Transaction Summary
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Install 2 Packages
Total download size: 89 M
Installed size: 362 M
Downloading Packages:
(1/2):
oracle-instantclient-sqlplus-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64.rpm
17 MB/s | 4.7 MB 00:00
(2/2):
oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64.rpm
56 MB/s | 84 MB 00:01
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
59 MB/s | 89 MB 00:01
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
Preparing :
1/1
Installing :
oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64
1/2
Running scriptlet:
oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64
1/2
Installing :
oracle-instantclient-sqlplus-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64
2/2
Running scriptlet:
oracle-instantclient-sqlplus-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64
2/2
Verifying :
oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64
1/2
Verifying :
oracle-instantclient-sqlplus-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64
2/2
Installed:
oracle-instantclient-basic-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64
oracle-instantclient-sqlplus-23.26.2.0.0-2.el8.x86_64
Complete!
4.
Create oracle user and necessary groups(oinstall,dba)
groupadd oinstall
groupadd dba
useradd -m -g oinstall -G dba oracle
passwd oracle—to set password
5.
Check whether sqlplus is accessible from
oracle user
su – oracle
which sqlplus
/usr/bin/sqlplus
6.
Install packages required for OCI cli
dnf install
python36-oci-cli
Following packages were installed part of
this installation
INFO
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Package
Architecture
Version
Repository Size
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Installing:
python36-oci-cli noarch
3.83.0-1.0.1.el8
ol8_oci_included 6.2 M
Installing dependencies:
python3-arrow noarch 1.1.1-1.el8
ol8_oci_included 119 k
python3-importlib-metadata noarch 1.7.0-1.el8
ol8_addons 47 k
python3-jmespath noarch 0.10.0-1.el8
ol8_oci_included 48 k
python3-prompt-toolkit noarch
3.0.29-1.0.2.el8
ol8_oci_included 669 k
python3-terminaltables noarch
3.1.10-1.0.1.el8
ol8_oci_included 29 k
python3-typing-extensions noarch 3.7.4.2-1.el8
ol8_oci_included 47 k
python3-wcwidth noarch 0.2.5-3.el8
ol8_oci_included 48 k
python3-zipp noarch 0.5.1-3.el8
ol8_addons 15 k
Transaction Summary
=============================================================================================================================================================================================
Install
9 Packages
Check the version
oci -version
3.83.0
7.
Configure OCI CLI tool
Use below command and follow the instructions
oci
setup config
This command provides a walkthrough of
creating a valid CLI config file.
The following links explain where to find
the information required by this
script:
User API Signing Key, OCID and Tenancy
OCID:
https://docs.cloud.oracle.com/Content/API/Concepts/apisigningkey.htm#Other
Region:
https://docs.cloud.oracle.com/Content/General/Concepts/regions.htm
General config documentation:
https://docs.cloud.oracle.com/Content/API/Concepts/sdkconfig.htm
Enter a
location for your config [/root/.oci/config]:
Config
file: /root/.oci/config already exists. Do you want add a profile here? (If no,
you will be prompted to overwrite the file) [Y/n]: n
File:
/root/.oci/config already exists. Do you want to overwrite (Removes existing
profiles!!!)? [y/N]: y
Enter a user OCID:
ocid1.user.oc1.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Enter a tenancy OCID: ocid1.tenancy.oc1..XXXXXXXXXXXX
Enter a
region by index or name(e.g.
1:
af-casablanca-1, 2: af-johannesburg-1, 3: ap-batam-1, 4: ap-chiyoda-1, 5:
ap-chuncheon-1,
6:
ap-chuncheon-2, 7: ap-dcc-canberra-1, 8: ap-dcc-gazipur-1, 9: ap-delhi-1, 10:
ap-hyderabad-1,
11:
ap-ibaraki-1, 12: ap-kulai-2, 13: ap-melbourne-1, 14: ap-mumbai-1, 15:
ap-osaka-1,
16:
ap-seoul-1, 17: ap-seoul-2, 18: ap-singapore-1, 19: ap-singapore-2, 20:
ap-suwon-1,
21:
ap-sydney-1, 22: ap-tokyo-1, 23: ca-montreal-1, 24: ca-toronto-1, 25:
eu-amsterdam-1,
26:
eu-budapest-1, 27: eu-crissier-1, 28: eu-dcc-dublin-1, 29: eu-dcc-dublin-2, 30:
eu-dcc-milan-1,
31:
eu-dcc-milan-2, 32: eu-dcc-rating-1, 33: eu-dcc-rating-2, 34: eu-dcc-zurich-1,
35: eu-frankfurt-1,
36:
eu-frankfurt-2, 37: eu-jovanovac-1, 38: eu-madrid-1, 39: eu-madrid-2, 40:
eu-madrid-3,
41:
eu-marseille-1, 42: eu-milan-1, 43: eu-paris-1, 44: eu-stockholm-1, 45:
eu-turin-1,
46:
eu-zurich-1, 47: il-jerusalem-1, 48: me-abudhabi-1, 49: me-abudhabi-2, 50:
me-abudhabi-3,
51:
me-abudhabi-4, 52: me-alain-1, 53: me-dcc-doha-1, 54: me-dcc-muscat-1, 55:
me-dubai-1,
56:
me-ibri-1, 57: me-jeddah-1, 58: me-riyadh-1, 59: mx-monterrey-1, 60:
mx-queretaro-1,
61:
sa-bogota-1, 62: sa-riodejaneiro-1, 63: sa-santiago-1, 64: sa-saopaulo-1, 65:
sa-valparaiso-1,
66:
sa-vinhedo-1, 67: uk-cardiff-1, 68: uk-gov-cardiff-1, 69: uk-gov-london-1, 70:
uk-london-1,
71:
us-ashburn-1, 72: us-ashburn-2, 73: us-chicago-1, 74: us-gov-ashburn-1, 75:
us-gov-chicago-1,
76:
us-gov-phoenix-1, 77: us-langley-1, 78: us-luke-1, 79: us-newark-1, 80: us-phoenix-1,
81:
us-saltlake-2, 82: us-sanjose-1, 83: us-somerset-1, 84: us-thames-1): 80
Do you
want to generate a new API Signing RSA key pair? (If you decline you will be
asked to supply the path to an existing key.) [Y/n]: y
Enter a
directory for your keys to be created [/root/.oci]:
Enter a
name for your key [oci_api_key]:
File
/root/.oci/oci_api_key_public.pem already exists, do you want to overwrite?
[y/N]: y
Public
key written to: /root/.oci/oci_api_key_public.pem
Enter a
passphrase for your private key ("N/A" for no passphrase):
Repeat
for confirmation:
File
/root/.oci/oci_api_key.pem already exists, do you want to overwrite? [y/N]: y
Private
key written to: /root/.oci/oci_api_key.pem
Fingerprint:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Config
written to /root/.oci/config
If you haven't already uploaded your API
Signing public key through the
console, follow the instructions on the
page linked below in the section
'How to upload the public key':
https://docs.cloud.oracle.com/Content/API/Concepts/apisigningkey.htm#How2
Validate
all the enties of config file /root/.oci/config
8.
Upload API
signing key in the console
From OCI console click on profile icon visible
on top right corner and from there select Tokens and Keys tab
Click on the button Add API Key and paste contents of /root/.oci/oci_api_key_public.pem
In the next window it will generate configuration file preview.Make sure it matches with your config file stored in the server
9. Testing the OCI CLI configuration from root user
Use below command to test the configuration
oci
iam user list
{
"data": [
{
"capabilities": {
"can-use-api-keys": true,
"can-use-auth-tokens": true,
"can-use-console-password":
true,
"can-use-customer-secret-keys": true,
"can-use-db-credentials":
true,
"can-use-o-auth2-client-credentials": true,
"can-use-smtp-credentials":
true
},
"compartment-id":
"ocid1.tenancy.oc1..XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
"db-user-name": null,
"defined-tags": {},
"description": null,
"email":
"debdhritiman@*****.com",
"email-verified": true,
"external-identifier":
"7f322816bfc24b2094ac507bef60e069",
"freeform-tags": {},
"id":
"ocid1.user.oc1..XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
"identity-provider-id": null,
"inactive-status": null,
"is-mfa-activated": true,
"last-successful-login-time":
"2026-07-09T15:27:01.421000+00:00",
"lifecycle-state":
"ACTIVE",
"name":
"debdhritiman@yahoo.com",
"previous-successful-login-time": null,
"time-created":
"2026-06-09T16:15:23.478000+00:00"
}
]
}
10. Download credential using oci command
Set below variable after login into linux vm
ADB_OCID=ocid1.autonomousdatabase.oc1.phx.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
FILE_NAME=wallet.zip
WALLET_PW=XXXXXX
oci db autonomous-database generate-wallet --autonomous-database-id $ADB_OCID --file $FILE_NAME --password $WALLET_PW
unzip this wallet.zip file which will have wallet keys and tnsnames.ora file.
Update sqlnet.ora to point wallet location appropriate to your wallet location.
WALLET_LOCATION = (SOURCE = (METHOD = file) (METHOD_DATA = (DIRECTORY="/home/oracle")))
SSL_SERVER_DN_MATCH=yes
export TNS_ADMIN=/home/oracle
sqlplus admin/XXXX@cdborcl_high
