First, ensure your Oracle environment is correctly set. As the Oracle software owner (e.g., oracle user), run:
echo $ORACLE_HOME
echo $PATH
echo $LD_LIBRARY_PATH
Expected Output:
If LD_LIBRARY_PATH is empty or missing the lib directory, set it:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
For AIX, use LIBPATH:
export LIBPATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib:$LIBPATH
For HP-UX, use SHLIB_PATH:
export SHLIB_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib:$SHLIB_PATH
For Solaris (64-bit), use LD_LIBRARY_PATH_64:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH_64=$ORACLE_HOME/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH_64
After setting, re-run sqlplus /nolog. If the error disappears, add the export to your .bash_profile, .profile, or .cshrc. First, ensure your Oracle environment is correctly set
On RHEL/CentOS/Oracle Linux:
sudo yum install oracle-instantclient-basic oracle-instantclient-sqlplus
Verify files exist:
rpm -ql oracle-instantclient-sqlplus | grep libsqlplus
SQL*Plus cannot load its message shared library (e.g., libsqlplus.so or libclntsh.so) during initialization. The “57” indicates a system-level loader error – usually ELF file not found or cannot open shared object file. Expected Output:
While less common than on Linux, this error can occur on Windows, usually due to the system PATH variable.
If you are an Oracle DBA, developer, or data analyst working with Oracle Database on UNIX/Linux systems (such as AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, or Linux), you might have encountered a frustrating error when trying to launch SQL*Plus:
sqlplus: error while loading shared libraries: libsqlplus.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Error 57 initializing SQL*Plus: error loading message shared library
Or sometimes simply:
Error 57 initializing SQL*Plus: error loading message shared library
This error halts your ability to connect to the database using the command-line interface. While it appears cryptic at first glance, the root cause is almost always related to environment misconfiguration. This article provides a deep dive into the causes of SQL*Plus Error 57 and offers step-by-step solutions to resolve it permanently.
The error often occurs when SQL*Plus cannot find message files for the specified language/territory:
# Test with minimal NLS_LANG
unset NLS_LANG # Linux
# or set to American
export NLS_LANG=AMERICAN_AMERICA.US7ASCII