Release 8.0
A58230-01
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| Oracle Net8 Administrator's Guide Release 8.0 A58230-01 |
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Once you have completed configuring your network, you should start and test each component to ensure that they are functioning properly. Net8 provides a variety of tools to help you start, test and control a Names Server, network listener, and Connection Manager.
This chapter outlines procedures to use Net8's control utilities to operate each component once they have been configured. This chapter contains the following sections:
After installing and configuring all the network components, you need to start them to make the network functional. Following is an outline of the steps you should take to start the network components. For more detailed information about using the control utilities, refer to Appendix A, "Control Utility Reference"
lsnrctl start
cmctl start cman
You should now be able to make connections across the network.
The remainder of this chapter provides more information about the control utilities, how to test connections between components, and how to resolve the most common problems.
The preferred sequence for testing the network is as follows:
Net8 provides the following tools to help you start, test and control each network component.
For more information about Net8's component control utilities and their commands, refer to Appendix A, "Control Utility Reference".
In addition, Net8 provides the following tools to help you evaluate network connectivity:
The Oracle Names Control Utility, NAMESCTL, is a tool that you run from the operating system prompt to start and control the Names Server.
The general form of the Oracle Names Control Utility is:
NAMESCTL command
You can also issue NAMESCTL commands at the program prompt. When you enter NAMESCTL on the command line, the program is opened. You can then enter the desired commands from the program prompt. For example, the following command starts the Names Server.
NAMESCTL> startup
The STARTUP command of NAMESCTL loads the Names Server into memory and tells it to begin executing. At startup, the Names Server loads its configuration and data. On each Names Server node, invoke NAMESCTL from the prompt to start the utility.
For additional information about NAMESCTL and its commands, refer to Appendix A, "Control Utility Reference".
To start a Names Server proceed as follows:
NAMESCTL STARTUP
NAMESCTL> STARTUP
To test a Names Server, use the NAMESCTL PING command. Following are two ways to PING the Names Server LABRADOR in the US.ACME domain.
NAMESCTL> PING LABRADOR.US.ACME
NAMESCTL> SET SERVER LABRADOR.US.ACME NAMESCTL> PING
You can test several Names Servers with the same PING command. For example:
NAMESCTL>PING HUEY.UK.ACME DUEY.UK.ACME LOUIE.UK.ACME
PING responds with the time it takes to contact the Names Server and return an acknowledgment. If PING fails, make sure the Names Server is started or double-check the configured address of the Names Server.
To determine whether your listener, service name, database link, or any other network object has successfully registered itself with or become known to the Names Server, use the QUERY command.
From the NAMESCTL prompt, type:
NAMESCTL> QUERY global_object_name type
Database service names have the type A.SMD, and database links have the type DL.RDBMS.OMD. The following example shows a query of the database service name BUGSY in the MACS.ACME domain.
NAMESCTL> QUERY BUGSY.MACS.ACME A.SMD
The QUERY command returns the amount of time the transaction took and information about the network object.
The Listener Control Utility, LSNRCTL, is a tool that you run from the operating system prompt to start and control the listener. The general form of the Listener Control Utility is:
LSNRCTL command [listener_name] [args]
You can also issue Listener Control Utility commands at the program prompt. When you enter LSNRCTL on the command line, the program is opened. You can then enter the desired commands from the program prompt. For example, the following command determines the amount of time in seconds the listener will wait for a valid connection request after a connection has been started.
LSNRCTL> set connect_timeout 20
For more information about LSNRCTL and its commands, refer to Section A.1 in Appendix A, "Control Utility Reference".
You may start a listener on any node where Net8 is installed. To start a listener, use the Listener Control Utility, LSNRCTL, to issue a START command as follows:
LSNRCTL START
To start a non-default listener:
LSNRCTL START listener_name
LSNRCTL will display a status message indicating that the listener has started successfully. Check that all expected SIDs for that listener are listed in the services summary in the status message.
To test a listener, initiate a connection from a client to any active database controlled by that listener. If the only clients available to access the listener are on a different protocol, you must use an Oracle Connection Manager to access the listener.
The Connection Manager Control Utility, CMCTL, is a tool that you run from the operating system prompt to start and control Oracle Connection Manager. The general form of the Connection Manager Control Utility is:
CMCTL command
You can also issue CMCTL commands at the program prompt. When you enter CMCTL on the command line, the program is opened. You can then enter the desired commands from the program prompt. For example, the following command starts Oracle Connection Manager.
CMCTL> start
For more information about CMCTL and its commands, refer to Appendix A, "Control Utility Reference".
You may start Oracle Connection Manager from any node where Net8 is installed. To start Oracle Connection Manager, use CMCTL to issue a START command as follows:
CMCTL START CMAN
CMCTL displays a status message indicating that Oracle Connection Manager has started successfully.
To test Oracle Connection Manager, initiate a connection from a client to any active database for which a source route address has been created.
TNSPING is a utility that determines whether or not a service (for example, an Oracle database, an Oracle Names Server or any other Oracle service) on a Net8 network can be successfully reached.
If you can connect successfully from a client to a server (or a server to another server) using TNSPING, it displays an estimate of the round trip time (in milliseconds) it takes to reach the Net8 service.
If it fails, it displays a message describing the error that occurred. This allows you to see the network error that is occurring without the overhead of a database connection.
To invoke the TNSPING utility, proceed as follows:
From the command line, type:
tnsping service_name [count]
Note: Different platforms may have different interfaces, but the program accepts the same arguments. Invoke TNSPING for the display of the proper interface requirements.
If the service name specified is a database name, TNSPING attempts to contact the corresponding network listener. It does not actually determine whether or not the database itself is running. Use Server Manager to attempt a connection to the database.
Following are some examples of TNSPING. For example, to connect to a database named SPOTDB, the command:
tnsping spotdb
produces the following message:
TNS Ping Utility for SunOS: Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1997. All rights reserved. Attempting to contact (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=spot)(PORT=1521)) OK (50msec)
To check whether a Names Server can be reached, use a command using the Net8 address as in the following:
tnsping (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=fido)(PORT=1575))
A message similar to the following will be returned to the user:
TNS Ping Utility for SunOS: Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1997. All rights reserved. Attempting to contact (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=fido)(PORT=1575)) OK (70 msec)
To determine whether the STPRD database can be connected to, and to specify that TNSPING try to connect 10 times and then give up, use the following command:
tnsping stprd 10
This command produces the following message:
TNS Ping Utility for SunOS: Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1997. All rights reserved. Attempting to contact (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=spot)(PORT=1521)) OK (290 msec) OK (100 msec) OK (70 msec) OK (70 msec) OK (60 msec) OK (70 msec) OK (70 msec) OK (80 msec) OK (180 msec OK (340 msec)
Below is an example of TNSPING attempting to connect to an invalid service name:
tnsping bad_db
This attempt produces the following message:
TNS Ping Utility for SunOS: Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1997. All rights reserved. TNS-03505: Failed to resolve name
Following is an example of using TNSPING to connect to a name that is valid, but that resolves to an address where no listener is located (for example, the listener may not be started):
tnsping testing
The following message is returned:
TNS Ping Utility for SunOS: Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1997. All rights reserved. Attempting to contact (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=spot)(PORT=1521)) TNS-12541: TNS:no listener
The Trace Route Utility (TRCROUTE) enables administrators to discover what path or route a connection is taking from a client to a server. If TRCROUTE encounters a problem, it returns an error stack to the client instead of a single error. These additional error messages make troubleshooting easier.
TRCROUTE is different from TNSPING in that it travels as a special type of connect packet, and is routed as such. As it travels toward its destination, the TRCROUTE connect packet collects the TNS addresses of every node it travels through. If an error occurs, TRCROUTE collects error information that shows where the error occurred. The Trace Route Utility displays the information collected on the client screen. You can redirect the TRCROUTE output to a file, and print it if you wish.
Trace Route works only over Net8 and SQL*Net version 2.3 and later. Every node along the route from client to server must use SQL*Net version 2.3 or later. If a pre-2.3 node is on the path, the following error is displayed:
TNS-03603: Encountered a node with pre-2.3 version of SQL*Net
TRCROUTE shows what node along the path is responsible for any errors.
The Trace Route Utility uses minimal resources. It gathers information in the connect data of a special connect packet; standard connect packets are not affected.
The server is not affected by TRCROUTE. The listener receives and processes the TRCROUTE connect packet. It returns the information to the client by putting it into a refuse packet. The server does not need to start up any new processes or deal with dummy connections.
To invoke TRCROUTE, type the following from the command line:
trcroute service_name
If you have configured your network to use listener load balancing, there may be more than one listener on different nodes for a database. If so, the Trace Route Utility might use any of the listeners, just as a regular connection request might. The output it returns shows you what listener node it used.
The following are two examples of trace route output:
%trcroute tcp_direct Trace Route Utility for Solaris: Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1997. All rights reserved. Route of TRCROUTE:------------------ Node: Client Time and address of entry into node: ------------------------------------------------------------- 01-DEC-96 13:26:36 ADDRESS= PROTOCOL=TCP Host=shining-sun Port=1581 Node: Server Time and address of entry into node: ------------------------------------------------------------- 01-DEC-96 13:27:20 ADDRESS= PROTOCOL=TCP Host=setting-sun Port=1521Example 8-2 Trace Route with Error
% trcroute tcp_direct Trace Route Utility for SVR4: Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1996. All rights reserved. Route of TRCROUTE:------------------ Node: Client Time and address of entry into node: ------------------------------------------------------------- 01-DEC-96 11:12:34 ADDRESS= PROTOCOL=TCP Host=shining-sun Port=1581 TNS-12224: TNS:no listener TNS-12541: TNS:no listener TNS-12560: TNS:protocol adapter error TNS-03601: Failed in route information collection
To test several different clients in your network, initiate a connection to a server from each of them. If the connection is unsuccessful, use logging and tracing (including TRCROUTE), to find the cause of the problem.
There are a number of ways to initiate a connection to an Oracle server. Commonly used methods include:
The specifics of use are slightly different in each case. Each of the general methods listed is briefly covered here. To identify the method used in a specific tool, refer to the tool's user's guide.
The general form of connecting an application to a database server from the command line is:
tool username/password@service_name
To prevent the password from displaying during a logon, you can leave out the password parameter on the command line; you will be prompted to enter your password without it showing on screen.
Most Oracle tools can use the operating system command line to connect; some provide alternatives.
Some tools provide a logon screen as an alternative form of logon. A user can log on to a database server by identifying both the username and service name (username@service_name) in the username field of the tool logon screen, and typing the password as usual in the password field.
In applications written using 3GL, the program must establish a connection to a server using the following syntax:
EXEC SQL CONNECT :username IDENTIFIED BY :password
In this connection request, the :username and :password are 3GL variables that can be set within the program either statically or by prompting the user. When connecting to a database server, the value of the :username variable is in the form:
username@service_name
The :password variable contains the password for the database account being connected to.
Some Oracle tools have commands for database connection, once the tool has been started, to allow an alternative username to be specified without leaving the tool. Both SQL*Plus and SQL*DBA allow the CONNECT command using the following syntax:
SQL> CONNECT username/password@service_name
For example:
SQL> CONNECT SCOTT/TIGER@SERVERX
This is very similar to the operating system command line method, except that it is entered in response to the tool prompt instead of the operating system prompt.
Other Oracle tools use slightly different methods specific to their function or interface. For example, Oracle CDE tools use logon buttons and a pop-up window with the username, password, and remote database ID field. For more information on connecting to Oracle with a specific tool, refer to the tool's user guide.
The following checklist is provided to help you troubleshoot common problems you may encounter when starting Net8 components.
| Cause | Action |
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Inactive Components |
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Syntax errors in your configuration files |
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Files are incorrectly placed. |
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The address is already in use. |
Another process may already be using the address listed in the listener configuration file (LISTENER.ORA). On some protocols such as TCP/IP, DECnet, and OSI, each network service on a node must use a unique port or socket. On other network protocols such as SPX/IPX or NetBIOS, each network service name must be unique for the entire network. Another network service may be using the same configuration. Contact your network administrator to evaluate whether the network address is available. |
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When trying to connect to a database, you may get the message |
Use the Listener Control Utility (LSNRCTL) to start the listener. |
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When trying to make a connection from a client, you may get the message |
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When trying to connect to a database, you may get the message |
The database is not running on the server machine. A listener alone does not provide a database connection; the database instance must also be started. |
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A client returns the message "ORA-12541: No Listener". |
Connect requests that come in too quickly for a listener to handle, and which exceed the listener's backlog (determined by QUEUESIZE parameter in LISTENER.ORA and NAMES.ORA), are returned with an ECONNREFUSED error. A client encountering this error returns the message "ORA-12541: No Listener" and the client log or trace files will show the ECONNREFUSED message. To correct this problem, follow these steps: |
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When attempting to stop the listener, you may get the message TNS-01169: "The listener has not recognized the password." |
Enter the SET PASSWORD command from within the Listener Control Utility (LSNRCTL), and then enter the STOP command to stop the listener. |
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