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Client / Server Interoperability Support Matrix for Different Oracle Versions (Doc ID 207303.1)

APPLIES TO:

Autonomous Database Serverless - Version N/A and later

Oracle Database - Enterprise Edition - Version 7.3.0.0 and later
Exadata Cloud Service
Oracle Database Cloud Service - Version N/A and later
Autonomous Transaction Processing - Version NA and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.

PURPOSE

Use this note to understand which Oracle client versions are supported to work with which versions of the Oracle Database.

DETAILS

Oracle Client / Server Interoperability Support

Use this note to understand which Oracle client versions are supported to work with which versions of the Oracle Database.

INTRODUCTION

This note gives a summary of the support for interoperability between Oracle client and server versions. This
includes support for connections over database links between Oracle versions.

Note that this is a general guide for interoperability only - certain products or utilities may impose additional
restrictions on supported combinations specific to the product / utility. eg: Precompilers, Export / Import
utilities etc. For example, if you are seeking WLS / JDBC driver information, please see Document 1970437.1
instead of using the tables below.

For a summary of the support status of each Oracle release see Note 161818.1

GENERAL POLICY

Oracle's general policy is to test and support each new Oracle release for compatibility with older releases
thus:

Test the NEW client to each OLDER server release where the OLDER release is still covered by
Premier Support (formerly Primary Error Correction support) at the time that the NEW version is
released.
Test OLDER clients to the NEW server release where the OLDER release is still covered by Premier
Support (formerly Primary Error Correction support) OR is in the first two years of Extended Support
(formerly Extended Maintenance support).
Tests between the NEW version and other OLDER releases may be added where Oracle deems it
sensible to support interoperability between those releases.

CURRENT INTEROPERABILITY SUPPORT SITUATION

The matrix below summarizes client and server combinations that are supported for the most commonly used
product versions. A full matrix appears at the end of this document.

New interoperability problems will only be investigated if BOTH releases involved are covered by a valid
support contract at the time that the issue is reported.

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Client Server Version

Version 23ai 21c 19c 18c 12.2.0 12.1.0 11.2.0
23ai#11 Yes Yes Yes No No No No
21c Yes Yes Yes Was Was Yes#12 No
19c Yes Yes Yes Was Was Yes#12 Yes#9
18c No Was Was Was Was Was Was#9
12.2.0 No Was Was Was Was Was Was#9
12.1.0 No Yes#12 Yes#12 Was Was Yes#12 Yes#12
11.2.0 No No Yes#9 Was#9 Was#9 Yes#12 Yes#9

Key:

Yes Supported
Supported but fixes only possible for customers
ES
with Extended Support.
Supported, but fixes only possible for customer
MDS
with a valid Market-Driven Support contract.
Was a supported combination but one of the
releases is no longer covered by any of Premier
Was Support, Primary Error Correct support, Extended
Support, nor Extended Maintenance Support.
Fixes are no longer possible.
No Has never been Supported

Specific Notes:

#1 - See Note 207319.1

#2 - An ORA-3134 error is incorrectly reported if a 10g client tries to connect to an 8.1.7.3 or

lower server. See Note 3437884.8 .

#3 - An ORA-3134 error is correctly reported when attempting to connect to this version.

#4 - There are problems connecting from a 10g client to 8i/9i where one is EBCDIC based. See
Note 3564573.8

#5 - For connections between 10.2 (or higher) and 9.2 the 9.2 end MUST be at 9.2.0.4 or
higher. Connections between 10.2 (or higher) and 9.2.0.1, 9.2.0.2 or 9.2.0.3 have never been
supported.

#6 - For connections between 11.1 (or higher) database server and 10.1 / 10.2 database
server across a database link the 10g end MUST be at 10.1.0.5 / 10.2.0.2 (or higher)
respectively in order to use PLSQL between those versions. (This does not apply to normal 11g
clients to 10g database server only server to server and a few very specific client products,
such as Oracle Forms). See Note 4511371.8 for more details.

#7 - For database link connections between 11.1 (or higher) and 10.2 the 10g end MUST be at
10.2.0.2 (or higher) in order to use PLSQL between those versions. See Note 4511371.8 for
more details.

#8 - Attempting to connect from 9.2 to 12.1 will fail with an "ORA-28040: No matching
authentication protocol" error.

#9 - 11.2.0.3 or 11.2.0.4 only.

#10 - For the IBM z/OS platform only, Oracle will continue to test past 2014, at its discretion,
new versions of the database running on non-z/OS platforms with the older 10.2 client running
on z/OS. For more information, please refer to Note 461234.1 - Oracle Database on z/OS
Support Status.

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#11 - 32-bit DB23ai client is not available on any platform. However, you can use older 32-bit
clients (e.g. 19c) with DB23ai server based on this matrix unless the platform desupport notice
indicates otherwise.

#12 - 12.1.0.2 only. For 11.2 interoperability, 11.2.0.4 is required.

General Notes:

1. For database links between different Oracle versions connections must be supported in BOTH
directions in the matrix above.
eg: As 11.2 -> 10.1 is not supported then database links between these version are not supported in
either direction.
2. Unsupported combinations may appear to work but can encounter errors for particular operations. The
fact that they appear to work should not be relied upon - issues on unsupported combinations will
not be investigated.
3. Since new database servers are compatible with a limited set of older OCI clients, it may not be
necessary to upgrade the client software when upgrading the database. However, some new features
may not work without upgrading the client software. For example, an Oracle 10.2 client is able to
connect to an 11.2 database, but is not able to take advantage of newer features such as Client Result
Cache (introduced in 11.1).
4. Oracle Applications , or other Oracle products, may have supported configurations not listed in the
matrix above.
5. The matrix above also applies between different platforms and between 32/64 bit releases of Oracle
client / server except where any Oracle platform desupport notice indicates otherwise.
6. Unix BEQUEATH (BEQ) connections are NOT supported between different releases. eg: Client 10.2 is
not supported to make an Oracle Net connection to a 11.2 server using the BEQ protocol adapter
regardless of the interoperability support listed above. See Note 364252.1 for more details.
7. "Oracle Client" product interoperabilities expressed in this document do not extend to other client
products, such as the "Oracle Data Pump" product.
8. In Oracle Database Cloud Service environments, interoperability of a specific version of client is
dependent on the Database version being run as a part of the Database Cloud Service.
9. There may be feature limitations based on the cloud service being used and you are requested to
refer to the Cloud Service documentation for any such feature limitations.
10. Regarding interop requirement for Autonomous Database Serverless, please refer to Note 2911553.1
ALERT: Action Required for Autonomous Databases

TERMINOLOGY

See the "Terminology" section of Note:161818.1 for a description of Premier Support, Extended Support,
Primary Error Correction Support and Extended Maintenance Support

RELATED ARTICLES

Support Status of each Oracle Server (RDBMS) Release Note 161818.1

JDBC, JDK, and Oracle Database Certification Note 401934.1
For JDBC clients information in Note 401934.1 takes priority over information in the above matrix.
JDBC Driver Support for Oracle Application Server (Fusion Middleware) Note 365120.1
For Precompiler interoperability support also see "Pro*C/C++ Programmer's Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2)" [Part
Number E10825-01]:
"1 Introduction"
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Use Any Release of Pro*C/C++ with Any Version of the Oracle Server?
Export / Import Compatibility Note 132904.1
ALERT: Action Required for Autonomous Databases Note 2911553.1

FULL INTEROPERABILITY SUPPORT MATRIX

This matrix includes interoperability information for older versions and is included here for completeness.
Server Version
Client
23ai 21c 19c 18c 12.2.0 12.1.0 11.2.0 11.1.0 10.2.0 10.1.0 9.2.0 9.0.1 8.1.7 8.1
Version
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23ai#11 Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No

21c Yes Yes Yes Was Was Yes#12 No No No No No No No No
19c Yes Yes Yes Was Was Yes#12 Yes#9 No No No#3 No#3 No#3 No#3 No#
18c No Was Was Was Was Was Was#9 No No No#3 No#3 No#3 No#3 No#
12.2.0 No Was Was Was Was Was Was#9 No No No#3 No#3 No#3 No#3 No#
12.1.0 No Yes#12 Yes#12 Was Was Yes#12 Yes#12 Was Was#7 No#3 No#3 No#3 No#3 No#
11.2.0 No No Yes#9 Was#9 Was#9 Yes#12 Yes#9 Was Was#7 No Was#5 No#3 No#3 No#
11.1.0 No No No No No Was Was Was Was#7 Was#6 Was#5 No#3 No#3 No#
10.2.0 No#10 No#10 No#10 No#10 No#10 Was#7 Was#7 Was#7 Was Was Was#5 No Was No#
10.1.0#4 No No No No No No Was#6 Was#6 Was Was Was Was Was#2 No#
9.2.0 No No No No No No#8 Was#5 Was#5 Was#5 Was Was Was Was No
9.0.1 No No No No No No No No No Was Was Was Was Wa
8.1.7 No No No No No No No No Was Was Was Was Was Wa
8.1.6 No No No No No No No No No No No Was Was Wa
8.1.5 No No No No No No No No No No No No Was Wa
8.0.6 No No No No No No No No No No Was Was Was Wa
8.0.5 No No No No No No No No No No No No Was Wa
7.3.4 No No No No No No No No No No Was Was Was Wa

REFERENCES
NOTE:2494623.1 - ORA-24964 - Alter Session To 12.2 PDB From 12.1 Client

NOTE:2361478.1 - ANNOUNCEMENT: Recommended patches and actions for Oracle databases versions 12.1.0.1, 11.2.0.3
and earlier – before June 2019
NOTE:461234.1 - Oracle Database on z/OS Support Status
NOTE:3437884.8 - Bug 3437884 - 10g client cannot connect to 8.1.7.0 - 8.1.7.3 server
NOTE:207319.1 - ALERT: Connections from Oracle 9.2 to Oracle7 are Not Supported
NOTE:4511371.8 - Bug 4511371 - ORA-6544 / ORA-4052 using PLSQL between 10g and 11g
NOTE:364252.1 - Unable To BEQUEATH Connect Between Different Oracle Installations
NOTE:1970437.1 - How To Update the JDBC and UCP Drivers Bundled with WebLogic Server
NOTE:401934.1 - Starting With Oracle JDBC Drivers - Installation, Certification, and More!
NOTE:161818.1 - Oracle Database (RDBMS) Releases Support Status Summary
NOTE:3564573.8 - Bug 3564573 - ORA-1017 when 10g client connects to 8i/9i server with EBCDIC <-> ASCII connection

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