Re: Does DBI/DBD break when upgrading Oracle server or client?

[cavac]

That is not so simple to answer.

First of all, check Oracle's documentation on which client library can interact with which server version.

You should also check the documentation of your installed DBD::Oracle module (run perldoc DBD::Oracle). If you upgrade the client libraries, you may have to upgrade DBD::Oracle as well; check DBD::Oracle, under the heading "WHICH VERSION OF DBD::ORACLE IS FOR ME?". If you install a new version via the cpan shell (or ppm), it should pull a newer DBI automatically if required.

A note of warning: If you upgrade, relocate, or in any other way change the installed closed-source Oracle client libraries, you should always recompile/reinstall DBD::Oracle. Otherwise, your program might fail, crash, have memory leaks, etc.