"ERROR: ORACLE disconnect error: ORA-03135" occurs when SAS® disconnects from the Oracle database server


If you have a VPN connection to a host running 32-bit SAS on Windows, you might encounter the following error when SAS tries to disconnect from the Oracle database:

ERROR: ORACLE disconnect error: ORA-03135: connection lost contact

For example, you might get the error when you run either of the following statements in the SQL procedure:

libname libref clear;
disconnect from oracle;

This is a known problem related to Oracle client 12c.

The workaround is to install and use the 32-bit Oracle client 11g or to upgrade to 64-bit SAS with the 64-bit Oracle client 11g or later versions. 64-bit SAS has better performance and is recommended.