Export data from Oracle to JSON via command line on Linux

Want to export Oracle data to JSON Lines (JSONL) file via Command Line Interface (CLI) on Linux (Ubuntu/RedHat/CentOS…)?

Using ora-cmd, Command Line Interface (CLI) client for Oracle, you can unload Oracle data to JSON easily and fast. Direct Interaction or Scripting and Automation.

• No need to install Oracle client library.
• Convenient to deploy to cloud. No need to run installation file, just uncompress and run, immediately.
• Commands are entered into a terminal or command prompt, accessed from local or remote (like SSH).
• Support Windows, Linux, and MacOS.

Download ora-cmd Linux version
ora-cmd.linux-386.zip
ora-cmd.linux-amd64.zip
ora-cmd.linux-arm64.zip

JSON Lines text format, also called newline-delimited JSON (NDJSON), or Line-delimited JSON (LDJSON). JSON Lines files may be saved with the file extension .jsonl, *.ndjson, *.ldjson.

Export Oracle data to JSON via command line on Linux (Ubuntu/RedHat/CentOS…)

1. Unload Table.

1) In interactive mode:

ora-cmd> unload table=jobs datafile=e:\temp\tables\jobs.json filetype=json;

2) In batch mode:

ora-cmd dsn="pan:withdata@192.168.0.102/test" task=unload table=jobs datafile=e:\temp\tables\jobs.json filetype=json quit=y

2. Unload Query.

1) In interactive mode:

ora-cmd> unload query="select job_id,job_title from jobs"
     >  datafile=e:\temp\tables\jobs_part.json
     >  filetype=json;

2) In batch mode:

ora-cmd dsn="pan:withdata@192.168.0.102/test" task=unload query="select job_id,job_title from jobs" datafile=e:\temp\tables\jobs_part.json filetype=json quit=y

3. Unload All Tables.

1) In interactive mode:

ora-cmd> unload table=all folder=e:\temp\tables filetype=json;

2) In batch mode:

ora-cmd dsn="pan:withdata@192.168.0.102/test" task=unload table=all folder=e:\temp\tables filetype=json quit=y

See parameters detail.

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More about ora-cmd – Command Line Interface (CLI) tool for Oracle

Oracle → JSON reference

Type mapping

Value kind	in Oracle	in JSON
Int	NUMBER(10)	1234 (number)
Bigint	NUMBER(19)	9007199254740993
Decimal	NUMBER(p,s)	1234.56 (number)
Float	BINARY_DOUBLE	1.234e10 (number)
Text	VARCHAR2(n)	"text" (string)
Long text	CLOB	"multi-line\ntext" (escaped newline inside a string)
Date	DATE	"2026-09-18" (string)
Datetime	TIMESTAMP	"2026-09-18T14:30:00Z" (string)
Binary	BLOB	"base64:..." (string)
Boolean	NUMBER(1)	true / false (boolean)
JSON	CLOB	nested object or array, kept as structure

Dialect differences

Oracle is a database server and JSON is a file format, so the gap is wider than a dialect difference - the rows below are where values and structure stop lining up.

Property	in Oracle	in JSON
port	1521	—
identifiers	"double quotes"	Double quotes; backslash escapes
row limit	FETCH FIRST n ROWS ONLY	—
dates	DATE, TIMESTAMP	No date type: dates arrive as strings and the reader must p...
long text	CLOB, NCLOB	—
binary	BLOB, BFILE	Not supported natively - base64 inside a string
separator	—	Braces and commas
encoding	—	UTF-8 by definition
typing	—	string, number, boolean, null, object, array - no date type
shape	Tables of rows and columns	Nested objects and arrays
ceiling	—	Whole document is usually parsed into memory

Command line

Side	Command
Oracle	exp / expdp
Oracle (load)	sqlldr (SQL*Loader)

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