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4 Configuring the Network

Environment
After installing your Oracle software and database, you have a fully functional database
with a client/server network environment that has been minimally configured.

This chapter contains the following topics to help you completely configure your
client/server network:

• Understanding Network Configuration

• Tools for Network Configuration
• Viewing Listener Configuration
• Starting and Shutting Down the Listener
• Configuring Oracle Networking on Client Machines
• Networking: Oracle by Example Series

Understanding Network Configuration

A client is any application that needs to connect to the Oracle database to send or retrieve
data. An Oracle client application can reside on any machine provided it has Oracle client
software installed.

Oracle Net is a software component that resides on the client and the Oracle database
server. It is responsible for establishing and maintaining the connection between the
client application and the server, as well as exchanging messages between them, using
industry standard protocols.

For the client application and a database to communicate, the client application must
specify location details for the database it wants to connect to and the database must
provide some sort of identification, or address.

See Also:
 Oracle Net Services Administrator's Guide for more guidance in
understanding Net Services and for more configuration details.

Oracle Net Listener Configuration

On the database server side, the Oracle Net listener, commonly known as the listener, is a
process that listens for client connection requests. It is configured in a file named
listener.ora, with a protocol address that identifies the database. This address defines
the protocol the listener is listening on and any other protocol specific information. For
example, the listener could be configured to listen at the following protocol address:

(DESCRIPTION=
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=my-server) (PORT=1521)))

This example shows a TCP/IP protocol address that specifies the host machine of the
listener and a port number.

Client Configuration

When a client configured with the same protocol address broadcasts a request for a
connection, the listener on the server machine brokers the request and forwards it to the
Oracle database.

The client uses a connect descriptor to specify the database it wants to connect to. This
connect descriptor contains a protocol address and a database service name. A database
can have multiple services defined, so a specific one must be specified for the connection.
In the case of the preconfigured database that you installed, there is only one service, the
name of which defaults to the global database name.

The following example shows a connect descriptor that enables clients to connect to a
database service called mydb.us.acme.com:

(DESCRIPTION=
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=my-server) PORT=1521))
(CONNECT_DATA=
(SERVICE_NAME=mydb.us.acme.com)))

Connection Requests

Users initiate a connection request by providing a connect string. A connect string

includes a username and password, along with a connect identifier. This connect
identifier can be the connect descriptor itself, or a name that resolves to the connect
descriptor. One of the most common connect identifiers is a net service name, a simple
name for a service. The following example shows a connect string that uses net service
name mydb as the connect identifier.
CONNECT scott/tiger@mydb

While the connect identifier is relatively simple as shown, it can be long and
inconvenient to use if your environment configuration is more complex. With long
connect identifiers, you can use a mapping method that maps the net service name to the
connect descriptor. This mapping information is stored in one or more repositories of
information that are accessed with naming methods.

Naming Methods

Oracle Net provides support for the following mapping methods:

• Local Naming
• Directory Naming
• Easy Connect Naming
• External Naming

The preconfigured database uses local naming. Only this form of naming is used in this
book.

Local Naming

The local naming method stores connect descriptors, identified by their net service name,
in a local (on the client) configuration file named tnsnames.ora.

Directory Naming

The directory naming method stores connect identifiers in a centralized LDAP-compliant

directory server to access a database service.

Easy Connect Naming

The easy connect naming method enables clients to connect to an Oracle database server
by using a TCP/IP connect string consisting of a host name and optional port and service
name:

CONNECT username/password@host[:port][/service_name]

For example:

CONNECT scott/tiger@my-server:1521/mydb

The easy connect naming method requires no configuration.

External Naming

The external naming method stores net service names in a supported non-Oracle naming
service. These supported third-party services include:

• Network Information Service (NIS) External Naming

• Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) Cell Directory Services (CDS)

Tools for Network Configuration

Oracle enables you to manage your network configuration with the following tools:
Oracle Net Configuration Assistant, Enterprise Manager, and Oracle Net Manager.

Oracle Net Configuration Assistant

The Oracle Universal Installer launches Oracle Net Configuration Assistant after the
database is installed. Oracle Net Configuration Assistant enables you to configure the
listening protocol address and service information for an Oracle database.

During a typical database install (as opposed to client install), Oracle Net Configuration
Assistant automatically configures a listener with a name of LISTENER that has a TCP/IP
listening protocol address for the Oracle database that you install. If you do a custom
install, Oracle Net Configuration Assistant prompts you to configure a listener name and
protocol address of your choice.

Oracle Net Configuration Assistant is primarily a post installation tool. Thereafter, Oracle
provides other means for network configuration, which are the Oracle Enterprise
Manager and Oracle Net Manager.

Enterprise Manager

Enterprise Manager enables you to manage your server-side network configuration with
two pages: the Listener page and the Net Services Administration page.

The Listener page displays the listener status and enables you to shut it down. You can
navigate to this page from the Home page by clicking the Listener link under General.
See "Viewing Listener Configuration" in this chapter.

You can navigate to the Net Services page from the Home page by clicking Listener
under General. The Listener page appears. Under Related Links, click Net Services
Administration.

The Net Services Administration page enables you to do the following:

• Configure the following:

 o Local naming (tnsnames.ora files) on the machine running the database
o Directory naming
o Listeners
• Search and sort local and directory naming entries
• Export directory naming entries to tnsnames.ora file
• Perform the following administrative tasks for a selected listener:
o Show current status
o Change status (start/stop listener)
o Change tracing settings
o Change logging settings

Oracle Net Manager

You can access Oracle Net Manager from the command line or for Windows platforms
through the Start menu.

• For command line (UNIX, Linux, or Windows) run netmgr.

• On Windows choose:
• Start > Programs > Oracle - home-name > Configuration and
Migration Tools > Net Manager
•

Oracle Net Manager provides the same features as Oracle Enterprise Manager with the
addition of configuring profiles. To learn how to use this tool, see "Configuring Oracle
Networking on Client Machines".

Viewing Listener Configuration

The listener runs on your database server machine and brokers incoming client requests.
With Enterprise Manager, you can view the status of the listener, which is set to start
automatically whenever your server machine is restarted.

To view the status of the listener, navigate to the Enterprise Manager home page. Under
General, click Listener. The Listener: listener_name page appears. Under General, note
the listener status, which is either Up or Down.

This page also gives the listener version, its net address, and start time.

You can additionally view the listener status at the command line using

lsnrctl status

Starting and Shutting Down the Listener

The Oracle listener is set up to start automatically whenever your server machine is
restarted. However, when your system encounters unforeseen circumstances, or when
you have manually stopped the listener, you can restart it at the command line. To do so,
use the following:

lsnrctl start

You can use Enterprise Manager to stop the listener. To do so, navigate to the Listener:
listener_name page by clicking Listener on the Home page. To shut down the listener,
click Stop.

You can also stop it at the command line using the following:

lsnrctl stop

Configuring Oracle Networking on Client

Machines
Client machines need to be configured before they can connect to an Oracle database. To
configure the client machine, you must first install Oracle client software, which includes
Oracle Net software.

This example shows you how to configure a Windows client with local naming, which
involves adding a connect descriptor entry to the local tnsnames.ora file. The connect
descriptor specifies the host name, protocol address, and service name of the database to
connect to.

On Windows, you can use the Oracle Net Manager program to create a new net service
entry in your tsnames.ora file as follows:

1. Start Oracle Net Manager by clicking Start->Programs->Oracle->Configuration

and Migration Tools->Net Manager
2. Highlight Local Naming and click the plus (+) on the left hand side of the page.
The Net Service Name Wizard appears.
3. Enter a net service name to identify it. The name you choose will appear under the
Service Naming folder. Click Next.
4. Select the protocol to use to connect to your database. For example, you can
accept the default TCP/IP (Internet Protocol). The database listener must be
configured to use the same network protocol. Click Next.
5. Enter the host name of the database machine, such as coconuts.island.com.
6. Enter either the database service name or the database SID. In addition, select a
Connection Type, either Shared or Dedicated. Shared connections require your
database to be running in shared mode. If you choose Dedicated, the database
dedicates a single server process to serve your connection. If you are unsure or
 would like to use the default database connection type, select Database Default.
Click Next.
7. The last screen of the wizard enables you to test the connection using the
information you entered. To do so, click Test. To log in to the database, you can
use the SYS user and the password you specified when you configured your
database. The wizard tells you if the connection test succeed or not.
8. Click Finish. The new service appears under the Service Naming folder. You can
view or modify the configuration for the highlighted service under Service
Identification and Address Configuration.

Note that you can additionally run Oracle Net Manager from the command line using
netmgr on Windows, Linux, and Unix platforms.

Networking: Oracle by Example Series

Oracle by Example (OBE) has a series on the Oracle Database 2 Day DBA book. This
OBE steps you through the tasks in this chapter and includes annotated screen shots.

To view the Networking OBE, point your browser to the following location:

http://otn.oracle.com/obe/2day_dba/network/network.htm

Copyright © 2004, Oracle. All rights reserved

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