What causes ORA-12560?

Oracle client is not installed on the self-hosted integration runtime server. ORACLE_HOME environment variable is not set or points to the wrong directory. Oracle client version is incompatible with the server version. Connecting to Oracle on the same machine without starting the Oracle service. PATH does not include the Oracle client bin directory

How do I fix ORA-12560?

Step 1: Verify Oracle client is installed: `which sqlplus` or check `$ORACLE_HOME/bin`.. Step 2: Set ORACLE_HOME and PATH environment variables to point to the installed Oracle client.. Step 3: On Windows, check that the Oracle service is running: Services → OracleService*.. Step 4: Install the correct version of Oracle Instant Client on the self-hosted IR server.. Step 5: Test with sqlplus directly: `sqlplus user/password@host:1521/service` — this isolates the client configuration.

Critical severityconnectivity

Oracle Database Error:
ORA-12560

What does this error mean?

The Oracle client could not load the required network protocol adapter, typically because Oracle client software is not installed or configured correctly on the pipeline server.

Common causes

1Oracle client is not installed on the self-hosted integration runtime server
2ORACLE_HOME environment variable is not set or points to the wrong directory
3Oracle client version is incompatible with the server version
4Connecting to Oracle on the same machine without starting the Oracle service
5PATH does not include the Oracle client bin directory

How to fix it

1Step 1: Verify Oracle client is installed: `which sqlplus` or check `$ORACLE_HOME/bin`.
2Step 2: Set ORACLE_HOME and PATH environment variables to point to the installed Oracle client.
3Step 3: On Windows, check that the Oracle service is running: Services → OracleService*.
4Step 4: Install the correct version of Oracle Instant Client on the self-hosted IR server.
5Step 5: Test with sqlplus directly: `sqlplus user/password@host:1521/service` — this isolates the client configuration.

Example log output

ORA-12560: TNS:protocol adapter error
ADF: UserErrorOdbcConnectorError - Could not load Oracle client library from path

Frequently asked questions

Which Oracle client should I use with ADF?

Install Oracle Instant Client (Basic or Basic Lite package) on the ADF self-hosted IR. Set TNS_ADMIN to the directory containing tnsnames.ora. Oracle full client is not required — Instant Client is sufficient for JDBC connections.

Source · docs.oracle.com/error-help/db/ora-12560