Monday 5 September 2016

The Disappearing Act - Oracle 12c Client 32 bit Issue

Installing 32 & 64bit Clients Together

I've worked with Oracle data warehouses for many year now. One area which is particularly tedious when connecting development applications (for ETL, data modelling and reports etc), is setting up the oracle client. Especially if you have a mix of 32 bit and 64 bit applications.

If you require both 32 bit and 64 bit clients on your PC, installation order is important. I found this out when working with the previous 11g client. Best practice is to install the 64 bit client first.

But lets focus on the 12c client and what I've recently learnt about the newest client installation.

I install the 64 bit client first. If it ain't broke why fix it right? When going through the client install process, I like to clearly define the bit folders by names 'client_32' and 'client_64'. This makes it a lot easier to understand for later reference.



The 64 bit installation was a success, yay! 

The Disappearing Installation Issue

I begin the 32 bit install and get the 'Install Product' step, I click the 'Install' button and then the Oracle Database Client 12c Installer disappears... where did it go? 

Frustrated, I open the installer again and go through the installation steps. On the 'Install' click it happens again... the installer is gone! No better luck on the 3rd attempt, poof! gone... There's something not right here. After some troubleshooting and investigation, I come across the post Oracle 12c 64bit and client32 on the same machine. Thank you Yud M, this was a great help. 

The Resolution

There are two thing you must do before running the 32 bit installer (setup.exe).

1. Adjust the installer files configuration. After unzipping the 32bit installation files. Find the oraparam,ini file in the 'install' directory with in the installation files you have unzipped. Open the file in an editor.

Edit the line:
MSVCREDIST_LOC=vcredist_x64.ex
to
MSVCREDIST_LOC=vcredist_x86.exe

This is configured incorrectly in the download from the oracle. It should be referring to the vcredist_x86.exe which can be seen by following the path stage\ext\bin.

2. Add a key/value to the registry. Type 'regedit' in the run or search box and press enter. If prompted by User Account Control, click yes. Caution: Anyone new to the Registry should understand the Registry basics and backup the Registry first before attempting changes.

In the Registry, follow the key path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ORACLE

(If no ORACLE folder under Wow6432Node, right click the folder icon, add the key 'ORACLE')


Right click on the ORACLE folder icon, add a new string value with:

Name: inst_loc
Data: C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Oracle\\Inventory


Once complete both steps are complete.

Then, run the 32 bit installer (setup.exe).

The installer will complete, no more disappearing act from the installer! :) And the 32 bit client is installed with the 64 bit client.

There has always been a few gotcha's for me when installing oracle clients together. But this most recent 32 bit installation was particular frustrating.

I hope this helps anyone installing the 32 bit client. If you have had to install the client differently, please comment. I'd love to hear how you went about installing the clients.

28 comments:

  1. I could tell when I started reading that this was the definitive answer to my install problem. Excellent. Well documented and worked flawlessly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brilliant! Thanks for the clue!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for this, works brilliantly. One question thou; How the hell did you discover this? The installer for me was failing with no logs or anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad I could help Colin :) But the discovery credit must go to Yud_M @ the link above. This forum set me on this solution path. I just applied my insight and shared the story.

      Delete
  4. Thank you for this tip. I would not resolve this mysterious issue without your help ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks alot! You are my hero right now on this friday afternoon!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good findings! Thanks for posting this article, saved my time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fantastic!!! you are simply awesome... Thanks a lot buddy for your help. It was a big mystery for me. Finally resolved!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've been looking for a week, but keywords "Central Inventory is not locked disappearing window" returns problems with Oracle Patches, not installs. Adding this to my in house documentation (with credits to you and Yud_M, of course). A one-million thank yous to you sir.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank God I came across this page. It's wonderful post that solved my issue.

    ReplyDelete
  10. YOU ARE AMAZING...IT WORKED PERFECTLY..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks a lot. It worked well. I'm still not sure why Oracle has not corrected this in their library.

    ReplyDelete
  12. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow! I am in awe. Someone doesn't pay you enough. Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  14. terima kasih banyak saving may time from indonesia

    ReplyDelete
  15. Bundle of thanks and brilliant work.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great really helped me.. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great , thanks for the details and exact steps !!

    ReplyDelete
  18. This solved our issue as well, great article well written and documented. Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  19. You just saved me from a big headache! Thanks you <3

    ReplyDelete