Oracle Hybrid Runner | Collate Enterprise Database Guide

Connect Oracle Collate to Collate using the Hybrid Runner deployment. Deploy the ingestion agent in your environment for secure, private network metadata extraction.

This section provides guides and references to use the Oracle connector. Configure and schedule Oracle metadata and profiler workflows from the Collate UI:

• Requirements
• Metadata Ingestion
• Data Profiler
• Data Quality
• Lineage
• dbt Integration
• Troubleshooting
• Reverse Metadata

Requirements

Note: To retrieve metadata from an Oracle database, Collate uses the python-oracledb library, which provides support for versions 12c, 18c, 19c, and 21c. To ingest metadata from Oracle, the user must have CREATE SESSION privilege.

-- CREATE USER
CREATE USER user_name IDENTIFIED BY admin_password;
-- CREATE ROLE
CREATE ROLE new_role;
-- GRANT ROLE TO USER
GRANT new_role TO user_name;
-- Grant CREATE SESSION Privilege.
--   This allows the role to connect.
GRANT CREATE SESSION TO new_role;
-- Grant SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE Privilege.
--   This allows the role ReadOnly Access to Data Dictionaries
GRANT SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE TO new_role;

If you don’t want to create a role, and directly give permissions to the user, you can take a look at an example given below.

-- Create a New User
CREATE USER my_user IDENTIFIED by my_password;
-- Grant CREATE SESSION Privilege.
--   This allows the user to connect.
GRANT CREATE SESSION TO my_user;
-- Grant SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE Privilege.
--   This allows the user ReadOnly Access to Data Dictionaries
GRANT SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE to my_user;

Note: With just these permissions, your user should be able to ingest the metadata, but not the Profiler & Data Quality, you should grant SELECT permissions to the tables you are interested in for the Profiler & Data Quality features to work.

-- If you are using a role and do not want to specify a specific table, but any
GRANT SELECT ANY TABLE TO new_role;
-- If you are not using a role, but directly giving permission to the user and do not want to specify a specific table, but any
GRANT SELECT ANY TABLE TO my_user;
-- if you are using role
GRANT SELECT ON ADMIN.EXAMPLE_TABLE TO new_role;
-- if you are not using role, but directly giving permission to the user
GRANT SELECT ON ADMIN.EXAMPLE_TABLE TO my_user;
-- if you are using role
GRANT SELECT ON {schema}.{table} TO new_role;
-- if you are not using role, but directly giving permission to the user
GRANT SELECT ON {schema}.{table} TO my_user;

For more information, see GRANT Statement. Note that there is no routine out of the box in Oracle to grant SELECT to a full schema.

Metadata Ingestion

To ingest metadata from Oracle, you need to create a service connection. The service connects Oracle with Collate. Once you create a service, Collate automatically starts ingesting metadata.

Step 1: Add New Service

Open the Services page and start a new service.

1. Navigate to Settings > Services and select Database Services.

   

2. Click Add New Service.

   

Step 2: Select a Service and Connector

From the service type dropdown, select Database Services, then click the Oracle connector tile.

Step 3: Add Service Name and Description

• Enter a unique, descriptive Service Name. Collate identifies services by their service name. Enter a name that distinguishes this deployment from other Oracle services you are ingesting metadata from.
• Optional: Enter a Description for the service.

Note: The service name can’t be changed after you set it.

Step 4: Configure Connection Options

Specify where ingestion runs, provide your source credentials, and verify the connection.

Select Ingestion Runner

Select an Ingestion Runner: the runner where the ingestion pipeline will execute.

Enter Connection Details

Enter the connection details for Oracle. The right-hand panel in the UI displays inline help for each field.

• Username: Specify the user to connect to Oracle. It should have enough privileges to read all the metadata.
• Password: Password to connect to Oracle.
• Host and Port: Enter the fully qualified hostname and port number for your Oracle deployment in the Host and Port field.
• Database Name: Optional name to give to the database in Collate. If left blank, Collate uses the default database name. Use the same database name as the SID. This ensures accurate results and proper identification of tables during profiling, data quality checks, and dbt workflows.
• Oracle Connection Type: Select the Oracle Connection Type. The type can either be Oracle Service Name or Database Schema.
  • Oracle Service Name: The Oracle Service name is the TNS alias that you give when you remotely connect to your database and this Service name is recorded in tnsnames.
  • Database Schema: The name of the database schema available in Oracle that you want to connect with.
• Oracle instant client directory: The directory pointing to where the instantclient binaries for Oracle are located. In the ingestion Docker image, Collate provides them by default at /instantclient. If this parameter is set (the default), Collate runs the thick Oracle client. Collate ships the binaries for ARM and AMD architectures from Instant Client for Linux x86-64 and Instant Client for Linux ARM for the instant client version 19.
• Use DBA Tables: Enabled by default. When enabled, the connector uses DBA_TABLES to retrieve metadata for all database objects, which requires DBA-level privileges. Disable it to use ALL_TABLES, which only returns metadata for objects accessible to the current user.

Advanced Configuration

Database Services include an Advanced Configuration section for passing extra arguments to the connector and, if needed, changing the connection scheme. You need this only for advanced connectivity scenarios or customizations.

• Connection Options (Optional): Enter the details for any additional connection options that can be sent to the database during the connection. These details must be added as key-value pairs.
• Connection Arguments (Optional): Enter the details for any additional connection arguments such as security or protocol configs that can be sent during the connection. These details must be added as key-value pairs.

Tip: When using a Hybrid Ingestion Runner, any sensitive credential fields, such as passwords, API keys, and private keys, must reference secrets using the following format:

password: secret:/my/database/password

This applies only to fields marked as secrets in the connection form (these typically mask input and show a visibility toggle icon). For more information about managing secrets in hybrid setups, see the Hybrid Ingestion Runner Secret Management Guide.

Test Connection

1. Click Test Connection to verify the credentials.
2. After the test succeeds, click Save.

Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options

In the What to Ingest step, use filter patterns to control which assets Collate ingests from your database service. Filter rules match asset names using the following match types.

How Filter Patterns Work

• Include: Add one or more comma-separated values. Each value uses one of the following match types. Collate ingests only assets whose names match at least one rule. Leave blank to include all assets.
• Exclude: Add one or more comma-separated values. Each value uses one of the following match types. Collate skips any asset whose name matches a rule. Leave blank to exclude nothing.

Rules match asset names using one of five match types:

• contains: matches any name containing the value. For example, sales matches my_sales_data and sales_2024.
• starts with: matches names beginning with the value. For example, prod_ matches prod_db and prod_schema.
• ends with: matches names ending with the value. For example, _raw matches events_raw and logs_raw.
• is exactly: matches the exact name only. For example, analytics matches only analytics.
• matches regex: matches names using a regular expression. For example, ^prod_.*_v\d+$ matches prod_events_v1.

When both Include and Exclude are set, Exclude takes priority.

Tip: Leave all filter patterns empty to ingest all databases, schemas, and tables available in the source.

Filter Options

The Database, Schema, Table, and Stored Procedure sections each include the following filter options:

• Database: Controls which databases Collate ingests from the source.
• Schema: Controls which schemas within the ingested databases are included.
• Table: Controls which tables and views within the ingested schemas are included.
• Stored Procedure: Controls which stored procedures are included in metadata ingestion.

Each section provides the following controls:

• Scan Mode: Choose between the following scan modes:
  • Scan all: Ingests every asset of that type the connector can access. This is the default.
  • Only specific: Enables include rules so only assets matching at least one rule are ingested.
• Exclude system toggle: Use this toggle to filter out system-reserved names defined by the connector for that asset type.
• Always exclude: Add permanent exclusion rules (shown in red). Assets matching these rules are never ingested, regardless of include rules.
• Preview: Shows a real-time summary of what will be in scope based on your current rules.
• Include rules: In Only specific mode, click + Add to define a rule. Added rules appear as chips. An asset is included if it matches any rule.

Tip: If AutoPilot is enabled, usage tracking, data lineage, and other downstream workflows start automatically after the first metadata ingestion completes.

Step 6: Create & Deploy

Click Create & Deploy to deploy the agent and start the first metadata ingestion run. Collate saves the service configuration and immediately begins pulling metadata from the source.

To monitor ingestion progress or view the service you just added, go to Settings > Services and select your service.

Configure Metadata Agent and Schedule Ingestion

The Metadata Agent extracts schemas, tables, columns, and other structural metadata from your source and keeps your Collate catalog in sync. It powers discovery, lineage, and governance across your data assets.

When you click Create & Deploy, Collate automatically deploys a Metadata Agent for this service and triggers the first ingestion run. View its status and run history from the Agents tab on the service detail page.

To configure the additional Metadata Agent and schedule ingestion, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Services and select the Databases service.

2. Select your service and click the Agents tab.

3. Click Add Agent and select Metadata from the dropdown.

   

   For some services, the dropdown is not available and clicking Add Agent takes you directly to the agent configuration page.

4. On the Configure Ingestion page, do the following and click Next.

   • Name this Ingestion: Enter a unique, recognizable name for this ingestion pipeline.

     

   • Agent Setup: Configure core parameters for metadata extraction. The following fields are available:

     Field	Default	Description
     Default Owner	—	Owner applied to any entity that has no owner from a more specific field below. Accepts a user or a team, by name or email.
     Service Owner	—	Not applied during ingestion. This field doesn’t affect the owners of databases, schemas, or tables.
     Database Owner	—	Owner assigned to every database this agent ingests. Accepts either one owner for all of them, or a mapping of specific owners per database.
     Database Schema Owner	—	Owner assigned to every schema this agent ingests. Accepts either one owner for all of them, or a mapping of specific owners per schema.
     Table Owner	—	Owner assigned to every table this agent ingests. Accepts either one owner for all of them, or a mapping of specific owners per table.
     Enable Inheritance	On	When on, a schema or table with no match of its own inherits the owner resolved for its parent. Default Owner still applies when nothing else resolves an owner.
     Query Log Duration	1	How many days of query logs to look back through when processing stored procedure results.
     Query Parsing Timeout Limit	300	How many seconds to spend parsing a single query before giving up on it and moving to the next. Raise this if large or complex queries are being skipped.
     Number of Threads	1	How many tables to ingest in parallel. Raising this can speed up ingestion on databases with many tables, at the cost of more load on the source.
     Incremental Extraction	Off	When on, a run extracts only entities that changed since the last successful run, instead of re-scanning everything every time. Faster on large, mostly-unchanged databases.
     Successful Pipeline Run Lookback Days	7	Only used when Incremental Extraction is on. How many days back to search for a prior successful run to use as the starting point for “what changed since then.”
     Safety Margin Days	1	Only used when Incremental Extraction is on. Extra days added before that starting point, as a buffer so changes that were still in flight when the last run finished aren’t missed.
     Extract JSON Schema	Off	Sample values in JSON columns to infer and ingest their schema, so the individual fields inside a JSON column are visible in Collate rather than just “JSON”. Requires SELECT permission on the sampled tables; if that permission is missing, the JSON column is still ingested, just without a detailed schema.
     JSON Schema Sample Size	10	Only used when Extract JSON Schema is on. Number of rows sampled per JSON column to infer its schema. A larger sample gives more accurate results but takes longer to run.

     For more information, see Hierarchical Owner Configuration.

     

   • Filter Patterns: Apply include or exclude rules to scope which databases, schemas, tables, and stored procedures this agent ingests. These follow the same filter options described in Step 5.

     

   • Scope & Behaviour: Control how the agent handles metadata during ingestion. Toggle each option on or off based on your needs:

     Toggle	Default	Description
     Include Tables	On	Ingest tables and their columns. Turn off to skip tables entirely, for example if this agent exists only to pull tags or stored procedures.
     Include Tags	On	Ingest tags already defined on tables/columns in the source system (for example, a classification tag applied in Snowflake) and bring them into Collate as tags on the same assets.
     Include Stored Procedures	On	Ingest stored procedures as their own assets, so they show up in the catalog and can be linked into lineage.
     Include DDL Statements	Off	Also ingest the raw CREATE TABLE / CREATE VIEW statement for each asset, so it’s viewable in Collate alongside the asset’s metadata.
     Include Owners	Off	When an ingested asset’s owner in the source system is an email that matches an existing Collate user, assign that user as the asset’s owner. Never overwrites an owner an asset already has in Collate.
     Include Custom Properties	Off	Ingest source-specific metadata that doesn’t map to a standard Collate field (for example, a database-specific attribute) into custom properties on the asset, if custom properties have been defined for that entity type.
     Mark Deleted Tables	On	If a table this agent previously ingested no longer exists in the source, soft-delete it in Collate too. Only affects tables within schemas this agent actually scans.
     Mark Deleted Stored Procedures	On	Same as Mark Deleted Tables, but for stored procedures.
     Mark Deleted Schemas	Off	If an entire schema this agent previously ingested no longer exists in the source, soft-delete the schema and everything in it.
     Mark Deleted Databases	Off	If an entire database this agent previously ingested no longer exists in the source, soft-delete the database and everything in it.
     Override Metadata	Off	On: values from the source (descriptions, tags, owners, display names) always overwrite what’s currently in Collate, even if someone edited it there. Off: Collate only fills in fields that are still empty, so manual edits in Collate are preserved.
     Enable Debug Log	Off	Run this ingestion at DEBUG log verbosity instead of the normal level. Turn on when troubleshooting a failing or unexpected run; leave off otherwise, since debug logs are much larger.

     Note: Available toggles vary by connector. Stored procedure options only appear for connectors that support stored procedures.

     

   • Advanced Config: Driver-level options (connection arguments, scheme, and timeouts). Most connections never need these, and they vary by connector. This section also has one ingestion-scope toggle:

     Toggle	Default	Description
     Include Views	On	Ingest views in addition to tables. Turn off to skip views entirely. Because view lineage is derived from parsing each view’s SQL definition, turning this off also stops view-based lineage from being generated for this service.

     

5. On the Schedule Interval page, set when the agent runs:

   • Schedule: Choose a preset interval (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or enter a custom cron expression.
   • On-Demand: No automatic schedule. Trigger the agent manually when needed.
   

6. Click Add to deploy the agent.

Reverse Metadata

Reverse Metadata

Description Management

Oracle supports description updates at the following levels:

• Table level
• Column level

Owner Management

❌ Owner management is not supported for Oracle.

Tag Management

❌ Tag management is not supported for Oracle.

Custom SQL Template

Oracle supports custom SQL templates for metadata changes. The template is interpreted using python f-strings.

Here are examples of custom SQL queries for metadata changes:

-- Update column description
COMMENT ON COLUMN {schema}.{table}.{column} IS {description}

The list of variables for custom SQL can be found here.

For more information about reverse metadata ingestion, see Reverse Metadata Application.

Troubleshooting

Oracle Troubleshooting

Learn more about how to troubleshoot common Oracle connector issues and resolve configuration or ingestion errors.