Installing PHP PDO_OCI on Ubuntu Jaunty

If you are looking to install the PHP PDO_OCI extension on your Ubuntu Jaunty system, you have come to the right place. This article will provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to install the extension, as well as some useful tips on troubleshooting and optimizing your setup.

Before you begin, it is important to note that PHP PDO_OCI is an extension for the PHP programming language. It allows for the creation of a persistent connection to an Oracle database. It is an essential component for writing applications with Oracle databases.

The first step to installing PHP PDO_OCI is to install the Oracle Instant Client. This is a free package from Oracle that contains the necessary files and libraries for connecting to an Oracle database. To install the Oracle Instant Client, you will need to download the appropriate version for your system from the Oracle website. Once you have downloaded the package, you can install it using the following command in a terminal window:

sudo dpkg -i oracle-instantclient-basic-*.deb

The next step is to install the PHP PDO_OCI extension. To do this, you will need to download the appropriate version for your system from the PHP website. Once you have downloaded the package, you can install it using the following command in a terminal window:

sudo pecl install PDO_OCI

After the installation is complete, you will need to configure your system to use the extension. This can be done by editing your php.ini file, which is located in the /etc/ directory. In the file, you will need to add the following line:

extension=pdo_oci.so

Once this is done, you will need to restart your Apache web server for the changes to take effect. You can do this by running the following command in a terminal window:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

At this point, the installation of PHP PDO_OCI is complete. To ensure that the extension is working properly, you can create a test script that connects to the Oracle database. If the connection is successful, then the installation was successful.

In addition to installing the extension, there are several steps that can be taken to optimize and troubleshoot your setup. First, you may want to install the Oracle Client libraries, which can improve performance. You can do this by running the following command in a terminal window:

sudo apt-get install libaio1

You may also want to ensure that the Oracle user has the correct permissions on the database server. This can be done by running the following command in a terminal window:

sudo chown -R oracle:oracle /usr/lib/oracle

Finally, you may want to configure your system to use the Oracle Instant Client libraries by editing the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable. This can be done by running the following command in a terminal window:

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/oracle

By following the steps outlined in this article, you should have a working installation of PHP PDO_OCI on your Ubuntu Jaunty system. With the proper configuration and optimization, you should be able to create applications with Oracle databases.