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.