Connect to an Oracle database with Power BI Desktop

Article
08/15/2024

You can easily connect to Oracle to access and analyze data in Power BI Desktop. This article describes the initial setup requirements for creating the connection.

To connect to an Oracle database or Oracle Autonomous Database with Power BI Desktop, install Oracle Client for Microsoft Tools (OCMT) on the computer running Power BI Desktop. The OCMT software you use depends on which version of Power BI Desktop you've installed: 32-bit or 64-bit. It also depends on your version of Oracle server.

Supported Oracle Database versions:

Oracle Database 12c (12.1.0.2) and later
Oracle Autonomous Database - all versions

Determine which version of Power BI Desktop is installed

To determine which version of Power BI Desktop is installed, on the Help ribbon, select About, then check the Version line. In the following image, a 64-bit version of Power BI Desktop is installed:

Power BI Desktop version

Install the Oracle Client for Microsoft Tools

OCMT installs and configures Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) to support 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft tool connections with Oracle on-premises and cloud databases, including Oracle Autonomous Database. It is a graphical installer that automates the Oracle Database Client setup process. It supports connecting with Power BI Desktop, Power BI service, Excel, SQL Server Analysis Services, SQL Server Data Tools, SQL Server Integration Services, SQL Server Reporting Services, and BizTalk Server.

OCMT is free software. It can be downloaded from the Oracle Client for Microsoft Tools page and is available for 32-bit or 64-bit Power BI Desktop.

Power BI Desktop uses unmanaged ODP.NET to connect to Oracle database or Oracle Autonomous Database.

You can find step-by-step instructions on how to use OCMT and set up Oracle database connectivity in Power BI Desktop here.

Connect to an Oracle database with the on-premises data gateway

Some Power BI Desktop app deployments use the on-premises data gateway to connect to Oracle database. To connect to an Oracle database with the on-premises data gateway, use 64-bit OCMT on the computer running the gateway since the gateway is a 64-bit app. For more information, go to Manage your data source - Oracle.