I recently needed to get sqlplus (11.2) running on a mac (10.8.2). Oracle supports this via their instant client. For basic sqlpus, you need the lite oracle instant client and oracle sqlplus instant client packages. If you try to run sqlplus after unzipping the files, you probably will see an error message similar to:
$ ./sqlplus dyld: Library not loaded: /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/sqlplus/lib/libsqlplus.dylib Referenced from: /Users/clucas/apps/instantclient_11_2/./sqlplus Reason: image not found Trace/BPT trap: 5
This error can be fixed using one of the following methods:
- Move all the executables and supporting library files to locations which are searched by default (/usr/lib and /usr/bin.) See this stackoverflow answer.
- Set your DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable so that the sqlplus executable can find required oracle libraries and so that those libraries can also find their dependencies.
Both of these will work, but I didn’t really like them because (1) I’m not a fan of installing (and having to remember how to clean up) various files into /usr/* and (2) DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH can affect everything else you run.
You can use otool to see the library locations embedded in the executables and libraries. Ex:
$ otool -L sqlplus sqlplus: /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/sqlplus/lib/libsqlplus.dylib (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.0.0) /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.0.0) /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.0.0) /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 159.1.0)
I assume those /ade/… paths are from the machine oracle used for building the instant client software. We can replace these with @executable_path in order to have the dynamic loader find the libraries in the same directory where the executable is found. We want to end up with something like:
$ otool -L sqlplus sqlplus: @executable_path/libsqlplus.dylib (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.0.0) @executable_path/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.0.0) @executable_path/libnnz11.dylib (compatibility version 0.0.0, current version 0.0.0) /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 159.1.0)
Assuming you also adjust the libraries in the same directory, you’ll be able to run sqlplus just by having it in your PATH. You can run the following script in the directory where sqlplus is located. It will change all of the oracle dynamic library references to use @executable_path instead of the /ade/… full path:
#!/bin/sh
# script to change the dynamic lib paths and ids for oracle instant client
# exes and libs
# proces all the executable files in this directory
find . -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -perm -1 -o \( -perm -10 -o -perm -100 \) \) -print | while read exe
do
echo adjusting executable $exe
baseexe=`basename $exe`
otool -L $exe | awk '/oracle/ {print $1}' | while read lib
do
echo adjusting lib $lib
baselib=`basename $lib`
if [ "$baseexe" = "$baselib" ]
then
echo changing id to $baselib for $exe
install_name_tool -id $baselib $exe
else
echo changing path id for $lib in $exe
install_name_tool -change $lib @executable_path/$baselib $exe
fi
done
done
Once the script is run and it changes the libs and executables, you can just add the directory holding sqlplus to your path and run sqlplus. No need to set any other oracle environment variables like ORACLE_HOME. Here’s the whole thing:
$ mkdir example $ cd example /Users/clucas/apps/example $ unzip ~/dl/instantclient-basiclite-macos.x64-11.2.0.3.0.zip Archive: /Users/clucas/dl/instantclient-basiclite-macos.x64-11.2.0.3.0.zip inflating: instantclient_11_2/BASIC_LITE_README inflating: instantclient_11_2/adrci inflating: instantclient_11_2/genezi inflating: instantclient_11_2/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 inflating: instantclient_11_2/libnnz11.dylib inflating: instantclient_11_2/libocci.dylib.11.1 inflating: instantclient_11_2/libociicus.dylib inflating: instantclient_11_2/libocijdbc11.dylib inflating: instantclient_11_2/ojdbc5.jar inflating: instantclient_11_2/ojdbc6.jar inflating: instantclient_11_2/uidrvci inflating: instantclient_11_2/xstreams.jar $ unzip ~/dl/instantclient-sqlplus-macos.x64-11.2.0.3.0.zip Archive: /Users/clucas/dl/instantclient-sqlplus-macos.x64-11.2.0.3.0.zip inflating: instantclient_11_2/SQLPLUS_README inflating: instantclient_11_2/glogin.sql inflating: instantclient_11_2/libsqlplus.dylib inflating: instantclient_11_2/libsqlplusic.dylib inflating: instantclient_11_2/sqlplus $ export PATH=$PATH:~/apps/example/instantclient_11_2 $ sqlplus dyld: Library not loaded: /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/sqlplus/lib/libsqlplus.dylib Referenced from: /Users/clucas/apps/example/instantclient_11_2/sqlplus Reason: image not found Trace/BPT trap: 5 $ cd instantclient_11_2/ /Users/clucas/apps/example/instantclient_11_2 $ changeOracleLibs.sh adjusting executable ./adrci adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 in ./adrci adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib in ./adrci adjusting executable ./genezi adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 in ./genezi adjusting executable ./libclntsh.dylib.11.1 adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing id to libclntsh.dylib.11.1 for ./libclntsh.dylib.11.1 adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib in ./libclntsh.dylib.11.1 adjusting executable ./libnnz11.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib changing id to libnnz11.dylib for ./libnnz11.dylib adjusting executable ./libocci.dylib.11.1 adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libocci.dylib.11.1 changing id to libocci.dylib.11.1 for ./libocci.dylib.11.1 adjusting executable ./libociicus.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 in ./libociicus.dylib adjusting executable ./libocijdbc11.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 in ./libocijdbc11.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib in ./libocijdbc11.dylib adjusting executable ./libsqlplus.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/sqlplus/lib/libsqlplus.dylib changing id to libsqlplus.dylib for ./libsqlplus.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 in ./libsqlplus.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib in ./libsqlplus.dylib adjusting executable ./libsqlplusic.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 in ./libsqlplusic.dylib adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib in ./libsqlplusic.dylib adjusting executable ./sqlplus adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/sqlplus/lib/libsqlplus.dylib changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/sqlplus/lib/libsqlplus.dylib in ./sqlplus adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 in ./sqlplus adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib in ./sqlplus adjusting executable ./uidrvci adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/rdbms/lib/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 in ./uidrvci adjusting lib /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib changing path id for /ade/b/2649109290/oracle/ldap/lib/libnnz11.dylib in ./uidrvci $ sqlplus SQL*Plus: Release 11.2.0.3.0 Production on Sun Mar 3 22:38:28 2013 Copyright (c) 1982, 2012, Oracle. All rights reserved. Enter user-name: ^C $ cd .. $ sqlplus SQL*Plus: Release 11.2.0.3.0 Production on Sun Mar 3 22:38:40 2013 Copyright (c) 1982, 2012, Oracle. All rights reserved. Enter user-name: ^C
Casey Lucas's Blog 
Thank you so much for this! I’ve been wracking my brain trying to write a MacPorts port for the new instantclient sqlplus, and no matter what I did it complained about linking errors. Your script showed me what I was doing wrong in my Portfile, and I finally got it working!
However, others should be careful if they want to avoid defining DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH. If you’re trying to connect to an Oracle server through OCI, you’ll still run into linking problems if you don’t have DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH defined. The OCI dylib is (supposedly) dynamically loaded at runtime, so this linker fix may not work.
Glad the information helped. For OCI clients (ex: perl DBI) I did have to set DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH.
Thanks, this was a lifesaver! I can’t believe Oracle’s release process is so sloppy…well I guess I can.
Amen! You rock, thanks!
Thanks! 😀
Great tip B-)
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I’m trying to use SQLDeveloper in Mac OSX 10.8.4, using the latest Oracle Instant client 64 bits, to establish an OCI connection with an Oracle 11g R2 64 bits db. I was having the exact same symptoms in SQLDeveloper. After running your script to resolve the same symptoms, I’m still left with the following error:
An error was encountered performing the requested operation:
/Users/eucosta/Oracle/instantclient_11_2/libocijdbc11.dylib: Library not loaded: @executable_path/libclntsh.dylib.11.1 Referenced from: /Users/eucosta/Oracle/instantclient_11_2/libocijdbc11.dylib Reason: image not found
Vendor code 0
I have set DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH, PATH, Oracle_home, etc to my instant client directory, but no dice.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Eurico
I would double check your DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH.
I actually use DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH vs DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH so that the path is only searched as a last resort, but I do have perl (OCI) working as well as plain old sqlplus. My relevant environment:
DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH=/Users/clucas/apps/instantclient
$DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH/ contents… (some of these you won’t care about):
BASIC_LITE_README
SQLPLUS_README
adrci*
genezi*
glogin.sql
libclntsh.dylib@ -> /Users/clucas/apps/instantclient_11_2/libclntsh.dylib.11.1
libclntsh.dylib.11.1*
libnnz11.dylib*
libocci.dylib.11.1*
libociicus.dylib*
libocijdbc11.dylib*
libsqlplus.dylib*
libsqlplusic.dylib*
ojdbc5.jar
ojdbc6.jar
sdk/
sqlplus*
uidrvci*
xstreams.jar
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Perfect and speedy. Thanks so much
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changeOracleLibs.sh is very helpful! thank you!
Hi This was helpful,
Unfortunately, I ran this in the php version folder described here:
http://caseymorford.com/2014/04/17/installing-oci8-with-mamp-pro/
And now, Mysql will not start in MAMP or XAMPP.
Any Idea what I would need to do in order to roll back the changes your script made?
just remove your modified instantclient_11_2 directory and then unzip the one from oracle again.
Thanks for sharing. this blog saved alteast 3 hours of my time.
Maybe just use an alias? I blogged a simpler solution that is working for me: http://bit.ly/1KqR0N0
I ran into one issue with changeOracleLibs.sh – the permissions on the files did not allow write so it failed. I did a chmod +w * in the instantclient_11_2 dir and it worked like a charm for me
(Yosemite 10.10.14) thanks!
getting below error can you please guide me what is the mistake i am doing here
prasanths-mbp:instantclient_11_2 prasanthdoni$ sqlplus
dyld: Library not loaded: @executable_path/libclntsh.dylib.11.1
Referenced from: /Users/prasanthdoni/opt/oracle/instantclient_11_2/sqlplus
Reason: image not found
Trace/BPT trap: 5
prasanths-mbp:instantclient_11_2 prasanthdoni$
Oh man, this is awesome. The script worked perfect. Been banging my head against this for an hour. Thanks so much.
Wow! It works! Thank you for a great solution!
Thank You! It works!
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where is changeOracleLibs.sh? Is that the script shown above “#!/bin/sh # script to change the dynamic lib paths and ids for oracle instant client # exes and libs…”? If so, after running this script, my terminal only showed several “adjusting executable”. It does not the same as the example.