How to Oracle integration with dbt in PostgreSQL

Why integrate Oracle with dbt?

dbt brings version control, lineage tracking, and automated testing to Oracle warehouses. Teams gain repeatable builds, clear documentation, and CI/CD for SQL—speeding delivery while reducing risk.

What prerequisites are required?

Install the dbt-oracle adapter (pip install dbt-oracle), ensure Oracle Client libraries sit on your PATH, and confirm network access to the target database. Grant CREATE SESSION, CREATE TABLE, and CREATE VIEW to the service user.

How do I configure profiles.yml for Oracle?

Place a profile under ~/.dbt/profiles.yml. Set host, port, service name, schema, and credentials. Use environment variables for secrets to avoid hard-coding.

analytics_oracle:
target: dev
outputs:
dev:
type: oracle
host: prod-oracle.acme.com
port: 1521
user: analytics_app
password: "{{ env_var('ORACLE_PWD') }}"
service: ORCLPDB1
schema: ANALYTICS

How do I create a dbt model against Oracle?

Store each transformation as a SQL file in models/. dbt compiles Jinja + SQL to pure Oracle SQL, builds views or tables, and manages them under the target schema.

-- models/stg_customers.sql
select
id as customer_id,
name as customer_name,
email,
created_at
from {{ source('raw', 'customers') }};

Which commands run the workflow?

Use dbt debug to validate the profile, dbt run to build models, dbt test for tests, and dbt docs generate for documentation. Wrap them in CI pipelines for automated deployments.

How can I reference other models?

With Jinja’s {{ ref('model_name') }}. dbt resolves dependencies and builds in order.

-- models/fct_orders.sql
select
o.id as order_id,
c.customer_name,
o.order_date,
o.total_amount
from {{ ref('stg_orders') }} o
join {{ ref('stg_customers') }} c using (customer_id);

What testing patterns are recommended?

Leverage unique, not_null, and relationships tests in YAML. Keep tests atomic and align them with business rules.

How do I deploy to production?

Create separate dev and prod outputs in the profile. Parameterize credentials via environment variables. Run dbt run --target prod in your deployment stage.