Time and time again I walk into a client which uses Oracle and I need to connect BizTalk to it.  And … time and time again I run into issues getting the correct Oracle client installed, then getting Visual Studio to pick that up and so forth.  Finally, I think I have arrived at a formula for getting things working.

Step 1: Install the WCF LOB Adapter pack

Ensure that you have installed at least the 32-bit version on a development workstation as well as the 64-bit version for any 64-bit environments.  The BizTalk 2010 installation program does a nice job of walking you through installing the SDK and then the LOB packs so I won’t go into any more details.

Step 2: Obtain and install the ODAC 11.1.0.7.20 client

Technically, the adapter pack is compatible with an older 11g client but this will be taken care of via a slew of Publisher Policy’s that will “redirect” your client to the installed version.  To get the client you can search for ODAC1110720 or go to Oracle’s Windows download page and locate the ODAC client links and then the specific version listed above.  I honestly have not tested with the newer 11g clients but perhaps the same/similar process will work with them.

Step 3: Update the adapter pack’s assmbly binding

Locate the Microsoft.Adapters.OracleDB.Config file in the Adapter Pack’s install directory (c:\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack\bin) and add the following XML snippet in the <assemblyBinding…> element:

<dependentAssembly><assemblyIdentity name="Oracle.DataAccess" publicKeyToken="89b483f429c47342" culture="neutral" /><bindingRedirect oldVersion="2.111.7.00" newVersion="2.111.7.20"/></dependentAssembly>

Now this will redirect all 11g calls to th 11.7.0 client version to the installed version.

At this point, the Add Generated Items->Consume Adapter Service wizard should work to connect to your Oracle server.  Depending on your standards, you may need to get a tnsnames.ora file in the correct location OR skip TNS resolution and use the server’s direct settings in the binding configuration.