Can Oracle client versions 9 and 11 both be installed on the same machine?

Question

I have a program using odac(11.2) and oracle client 11.2. Now I want to deploy it to a box which is already installed a oracle 9i client.

Some existing programs is depend on it so I fear the new client will harm the existing program. Is this true? And how can I keep them all working properly?

Answer 1

Normally you install oracle products in a dedicates ORACLE_HOME in different directories (like /ora/app/oracle/product/9.2 and /ora/app/oracle/product/11.2). Then you set the $ORACLE_HOME and $PATH variables to that directory which will be working fine.

We use many different client versions from 8.1.6 to 11.2 on one machine. Every application has an own shell script setting up the correct environment prior to starting.