To install cx_Oracle on Red Hat Linux # yum search python-dev # yum install platform-python-devel.x86_64 # /usr/bin/pip-3 install cx_Oracle Since we launch python often, it's better to create an alternative to avoid typing full path: # alternatives --set python /usr/bin/python3 $ export ORACLE_HOME= $ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib $ python -c 'import cx_Oracle' $ $ cat test_conn.py import cx_Oracle con = cx_Oracle.connect('yong/mypwd@sanddb') print(con.version) con.close() $ python test_conn.py 19.20.0.0.0 Old: # yum search python-dev ... python-devel.i686 : The libraries and header files needed for Python development python-devel.x86_64 : The libraries and header files needed for Python development # file /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/python: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs) # yum install python-devel.x86_64 # pip install cx_Oracle $ export ORACLE_HOME= $ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib $ python -c 'import cx_Oracle' $ $ cat test_conn.py import cx_Oracle con = cx_Oracle.connect('yong/mypwd@sanddb') print con.version con.close() $ python test_conn.py 11.2.0.1.0