command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1 while installing cx_Oracle on windows 64 bit

Question

I'm trying to install cx_Oracle on my Windows 7 - 64 bit version. I previously had a question here about installing cx_Oracle on Windows and I solved the issue by myself; but it was a 32 bit version of Windows 7; here I faced a new problem installing it.

I should mention that I deployed 64 bit version of MinGW and also Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. For both I got command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1. I tried easy_install cx_Oracle in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 console and I got this output (it is what I exactly got when I ran the command from windows default command line):

Setting environment for using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 x86 tools.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC>easy_install cx_Oracle
Searching for cx-Oracle
Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/cx_Oracle/
Reading http://cx-oracle.sourceforge.net
Reading http://starship.python.net/crew/atuining
Best match: cx-Oracle 5.1.2
Downloading http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cx-oracle/cx_Oracle-5.1.2.tar.gz?
download
Processing cx_Oracle-5.1.2.tar.gz
Writing c:\users\user\appdata\local\temp\easy_install-txvil3\cx_Oracle-5.1.2\set
up.cfg
Running cx_Oracle-5.1.2\setup.py -q bdist_egg --dist-dir c:\users\user\appdata\l
ocal\temp\easy_install-txvil3\cx_Oracle-5.1.2\egg-dist-tmp-pjitbi
In file included from C:\oracle\instantclient_11_2\sdk\include/oci.h:541:0,
                 from cx_Oracle.c:10:
C:\oracle\instantclient_11_2\sdk\include/oratypes.h:236:25: error: expected '=',
 ',', ';', 'asm' or '__attribute__' before 'ubig_ora'
C:\oracle\instantclient_11_2\sdk\include/oratypes.h:237:25: error: expected '=',
 ',', ';', 'asm' or '__attribute__' before 'sbig_ora'
In file included from C:\oracle\instantclient_11_2\sdk\include/oci.h:3045:0,
                 from cx_Oracle.c:10:
C:\oracle\instantclient_11_2\sdk\include/ociap.h:7459:40: error: unknown type na
me 'ubig_ora'
C:\oracle\instantclient_11_2\sdk\include/ociap.h:7471:36: error: unknown type na
me 'ubig_ora'
C:\oracle\instantclient_11_2\sdk\include/ociap.h:8278:23: error: unknown type na
me 'sbig_ora'
C:\oracle\instantclient_11_2\sdk\include/ociap.h:8278:46: error: unknown type na
me 'sbig_ora'
In file included from Connection.c:776:0,
                 from SessionPool.c:139,
                 from cx_Oracle.c:198:
Callback.c: In function 'Callback_BindByNameArgs':
Callback.c:73:15: warning: variable 'errorHandle' set but not used [-Wunused-but
-set-variable]
Callback.c:72:15: warning: variable 'bindHandlePtr' set but not used [-Wunused-b
ut-set-variable]
Callback.c: In function 'Callback_DefineByPosArgs':
Callback.c:120:15: warning: variable 'errorHandle' set but not used [-Wunused-bu
t-set-variable]
Callback.c:118:17: warning: variable 'defineHandle' set but not used [-Wunused-b
ut-set-variable]
Callback.c: In function 'Callback_ExecuteArgs':
Callback.c:158:15: warning: variable 'errorHandle' set but not used [-Wunused-bu
t-set-variable]
Callback.c:157:16: warning: variable 'serviceContextHandle' set but not used [-W
unused-but-set-variable]
Callback.c: In function 'Callback_FetchArgs':
Callback.c:181:15: warning: variable 'errorHandle' set but not used [-Wunused-bu
t-set-variable]
Callback.c: In function 'Callback_PrepareArgs':
Callback.c:206:15: warning: variable 'errorHandle' set but not used [-Wunused-bu
t-set-variable]
error: Setup script exited with error: command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1

I also tried to install it from source with python setup.py build --compiler=mingw32 install and I got the same error.

I also tried easy_install http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cx-oracle/cx_Oracle-5.1.2-11g.win-amd64-py2.7.msi?download; the URL is sourceForge's link for cx_Oracle Windows amd64 Installer (Oracle 11g, Python 2.7). I got this:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC>easy_install http://prdown
loads.sourceforge.net/cx-oracle/cx_Oracle-5.1.2-11g.win-amd64-py2.7.msi?download

Downloading http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cx-oracle/cx_Oracle-5.1.2-11g.win
-amd64-py2.7.msi?download
Processing cx_Oracle-5.1.2-11g.win-amd64-py2.7.msi
error: Not a recognized archive type: c:\users\user\appdata\local\temp\easy_inst
all-ys4fjr\cx_Oracle-5.1.2-11g.win-amd64-py2.7.msi

For completeness, I should say that I'm using oracle instant client 11. I have set PATH and ORACLE_HOME environment variables. Other database apps like Navicat in my machine work well with this client. Any idea what's wrong with this installation?

Answer 1

Actually you're trying to download the binary of cx_Oracle, in the url you're refering to

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cx-oracle/cx_Oracle-5.1.2-11g.win-amd64-py2.7.msi

the pointed file is a *.msi one which stands for Microsoft Installer and contains the pre-compiled stuff. So instead of using pip/easy_install to perform the setup of cx_Oracle, just double click on the msi file; that will install all the needed files (the .pyd and the .so one).