Oracle on Alpine linux

Question

I am trying to install OCI8 extension on my Alpine Linux Docker environment. Although there are several places saying it won\'t work, there are some which say it actually do

Answer 1

I'd recommend using an operating system supported by Oracle, thus avoiding the headache of hacking Alpine and the uncertainty that it won't fall over at a critical time. And thus giving you some confidence your business won't be negatively impacted. Try https://github.com/oracle/docker-images/tree/master/OracleInstantClient

Other comments

• Don't set ORACLE_HOME when using Instant Client. That variable is for full software installs.
• Use ldconfig to set the system library path, see the Instant Client installation instructions e.g. here.
• Use Instant Client 19, which can connect to the same DB versions that 12.2 can. (19 is really the renamed terminal 12.2 release in the new versioning system)
• Using Oracle Linux Docker images has the advantage that it will download and install the 19 Instant Client without you having to manually do the download.

See this blog for info about the 'slim' Oracle Linux container it uses.