Introduction
The purpose of this article is to provide some guidance on FME compatibility with Oracle Clients and Oracle Databases.
FAQ
What version of FME supports a particular Oracle Client or Oracle Database?
Historically, FME's compatibility with the Oracle Client (both full and instant client flavors) and the Oracle Database has been very good and continues to be.
Is there any published documentation on which Oracle Clients are supported by which FME Workbench or FME Flow version?
No, we do not have any published documentation that shares this information.
Can you provide guidance on which Oracle Client to use with FME Software?
In our experience, FME can be used with both older and newer Oracle Clients. For example, we have used Oracle 19c Instant Client with FME 2018 with no issues. The best thing you can do is to run some tests to ensure your chosen version of FME is functioning fine with the chosen Oracle Client. We are not able to test all combinations. SteveatSafe has personally used Oracle Instant Client 12.2 to connect with 12c, 18c, 19c, & 21c databases.
Do you have any recommendations for the best compatibility match between FME and an Oracle Client?
Yes, the key consideration is to use Oracle Instant Client and ensure it matches the FME bit version (32-bit | 64-bit). It is required to update the PATH environment variable and, if using TNS Aliases, add a new Environment Variable called TNS_NAMES. See the related articles at the end of this article for more information.
Is there a difference between what Oracle Clients FME Form supports vs FME Flow?
No, the FME Flow engine will be the same as the FME Form engine for the same version and build.
What if I'm using the JDBC Reader/Writer format to connect to the Oracle Database?
If you are using the JDBC Generic Reader/Writer format with Oracle (ojdbc driver), please consider the following.
FME does not ship with any Oracle JDBC drivers. The driver needs to be added to the /plugins/java directory of the FME Software.
As of FME 2023, the product ships with JRE 17. This improves the compatibility for the available Oracle JDBC Drivers. For example, ojdbc10, ojdbc11, & ojdbc17 are expected to be compatible with FME.
The now unsupported FME 2022 and earlier versions ship with JRE 8. Thus, there is a limitation with the ojdbc10.jar/ojdbc11.jar drivers due to the JRE version used in older FME (JRE 8). Our guidance is to use the ojdbc8.jar driver file (12c, 18c, 19c, or 21c) for the most compatible driver across the older versions of FME software. The ojdbc8 driver supports JRE8, which is supported by FME.
We want to host the FME Flow System Database on Oracle. What do we need to know?
Since FME Flow uses JDBC to connect to the System Database (whether hosted on PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or Oracle), you must install the ojdbc driver before attempting this. Please review the article FME Flow System Database hosted on Oracle and the FME Flow Documentation for more information.
If you're still using unsupported FME Server 2022 and older, you'll need to make use of the ojdbc8.jar driver.
What happens if testing proves an incompatibility with FME and a particular Oracle Client?
Often, the problem is with the client system configuration or complications with multiple Oracle Client software on the client system. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Safe Support and open a case for us to review. There could be outliers.
More Resources
For more information on how to use FME with Oracle Clients, see the following related articles.
- How to set up an Oracle Instant Client for use with FME
- Oracle Clients for FME running 64bit OS
- FME and Oracle Client on macOS
- FME and Oracle Troubleshooting Guide
- Tutorial: Getting Started with Oracle
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