Quick Steps to Configure Tnsnames.ora and Listener.

ora file

Tnsnames.ora and Listener.ora are main files for database connection, So Configure Tnsnames.ora
and Listener.ora file has become an important task for Database administrator. Listener.ora file have
listener details which listen to new database connections and connect them to database. Any new
connection to the database server must go through listener, So if listener on the server is down, new
connection to the database are not possible.

Tnsnames.ora file is use for connection from client to server, this file has all details related to
destination database serve like database host server name or IP, the service name or instance name
database will connect to. DBA can connect to database using this file from any location.

How to configuring Listener.ora file ?

Listener.ora is the file, which is available at $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin location. If you are
using Real Application Cluster environment then listener file in use will be available at location
$GRID_HOME/network/admin. Usually you will find one listener configured into datbase server by
name listener which is defualt listener.

There are two kind of Listener configuration.

1. Dynamic Registration.
2. Static Registration.

1. Configure Dynamic Registration Listener: Default port for dynamic listener is

1521, Though DBA can also change this port. Suppose you are creating a new database, then by
default this database will be registered dynamic listener running on 1521 post. A dynamic Listener
service looks like below.
[oracle@database samples]$ cat /etc/oracle/oracle/network/admin/listener.ora

# listener.ora Network Configuration File:

/etc/oracle/oracle/network/admin/listener.ora
# Generated by Oracle configuration tools.

LISTENER =
(DESCRIPTION_LIST =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = EXTPROC1521))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = database.example.com)(PORT = 1521))
)
)
LOCAL_OS_AUTHENTICATION_LISTENER = OFF
ADR_BASE_LISTENER = /etc/oracle
ENABLE_GLOBAL_DYNAMIC_ENDPOINT_LISTENER=ON # line added by Agent

DBA can check listener service status by "lsnrctl status" command for both dynamic and static
listener. Dynamic Listener is very good feature to use because it doesn't need any configuration and
maintenance. but as per my recommendation this is more prone to vulnerability.
So for Database Best Security Practice, I would suggest to use static Listener registration for Listener
with post other than 1521. In conclusion, Listener with dynamic Registration is self configured and
DBA has noting to do about its configuration.

2. Configure Static Registration Listener: In Configuration of static Listner,

Database Administrator has to add entries into Listener.ora file. Any listener service configured other
than 1521 post is always Static Listener. Let's register a database with Static Listener. To configure a
new listener you can find sample listener file into $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin location. Copy
below entry from sample file or from this place and make a listener.ora if not exists or append if exists
into $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin.
LISTENER =
(ADDRESS_LIST=
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=localhost)(PORT=1521))
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=PNPKEY)))

SID_LIST_LISTENER=
(SID_LIST=
(SID_DESC=
(GLOBAL_DBNAME=salesdb.mycompany)
(SID_NAME=sid1)
(ORACLE_HOME=/private/app/oracle/product/8.0.3)
(PRESPAWN_MAX=20)
(PRESPAWN_LIST=
(PRESPAWN_DESC=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(POOL_SIZE=2)(TIMEOUT=1))
)
)
)
Here, Database Administrator has to fill following parameters, HOST, PORT, GLOBAL_DBNAME,
SID_NAME and ORACLE_HOME.

Let's find all one by one.

HOST is IP address of your host or name of the machine. You can use any one of these two. To find
IP address or host name use below steps.
[oracle@database ~]$ ifconfig

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 08:00:27:C2:5E:3E

inet addr:192.168.56.102 Bcast:192.168.56.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::a00:27ff:fec2:5e3e/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:625 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:16581 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:74105 (72.3 KiB) TX bytes:696618 (680.2 KiB)

[oracle@database ~]$ hostname

database.example.com

Port is port number at which Database Listener service will run, Let's choose 1522 as port for new
listener. If you have firewall configured into your network, Ask Network team to open 1522 port
into firewall otherwise you won't be able to connect to database.

User below command to check port is open on not.

[oracle@database ~]$ telnet database.example.com 1522

GLOBAL_DBNAME is the database parameter. To find this parameter value. Login to

database which you want to register with Listener and user below command
SQL> select * from global_name;

GLOBAL_NAME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORCL.EXAMPLE.COM

SID_NAME is database instance name parameter. Since this is a single instance database db
name and instance name are same. So use v$instance_name view to find SID_NAME
SQL> select instance_name from v$instance;

INSTANCE_NAME
----------------
orcl

ORACLE_HOME is the path where DBA has installed Oracle Software. DBA can find
ORACLE_HOME by using

[oracle@database ~]$ echo $ORACLE_HOME

/etc/oracle/oracle

I am using listener name as "LISTENER" which is default. Now after doing all these changes. Final
Listener.ora file look like below. To run Listener on non default port DBA has to register database with
listener and to set LOCAL_LISTENER parameter values as given here.
[oracle@database ~]$ cat /etc/oracle/oracle/network/admin/listener.ora

LISTENER =
(ADDRESS_LIST=
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=database.example.com)(PORT=1522))
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=PNPKEY)))

SID_LIST_LISTENER=
(SID_LIST=
(SID_DESC=
(GLOBAL_DBNAME=ORCL.EXAMPLE.COM)
(SID_NAME=orcl)
(ORACLE_HOME=/etc/oracle/oracle)
(PRESPAWN_MAX=20)
(PRESPAWN_LIST=
(PRESPAWN_DESC=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(POOL_SIZE=2)(TIMEOUT=1))
)
)
)

Login to Database register database with listener, set LOCAL_LISTENER parameter and
start the listener.
SQL> alter system register;

SQL> alter system set LOCAL_LISTENER='(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL=TCP)

(HOST=database.example.com)(PORT=1522))' scope=both;

[oracle@database ~]$ lsnrctl start

LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 11.2.0.2.0 - Production on 22-JUL-2013 18:05:06
Listening on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=database.example.com)
(PORT=1522)))
Listening on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=PNPKEY)))
Connecting to (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=database.example.com)(PORT=1522))
STATUS of the LISTENER

------------------------
Alias LISTENER
Version TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 11.2.0.2.0 - Production
Start Date 22-JUL-2013 18:05:06
Uptime 0 days 0 hr. 0 min. 1 sec
Trace Level off
Security ON: Local OS Authentication
SNMP OFF
Listener Parameter File //etc/oracle/oracle/network/admin/listener.ora
Listener Log File /etc/oracle/diag/tnslsnr/database/listener/alert/log.xml
Listening Endpoints Summary...
(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=database.example.com)(PORT=1522)))
(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=PNPKEY)))
Services Summary...
Service "ORCL.EXAMPLE.COM" has 1 instance(s).
Instance "orcl", status UNKNOWN, has 3 handler(s) for this service...
The command completed successfully

Here Database Admin can observe, Listener is configured at 1522 port and has "orcl"
instance registered with it. To know the difference between static and dynamic and
Exploring the LOCAL_LISTENER parameter See Here.

How to Configure Tnsnames.ora file ?

The main difference between Listener.ora and Tnsnames.ora is, Listener.ora is a server parameter file
while Tnsnames.ora is a client side file. If you want to connect from client to database server then
DBA has to configure tnsnames.ora file on client machine and you must also have Oracle Client
Software installed on client system.

Here, we will configure a tnsnames.ora file to connect to the database server. A sample tnsnames.ora
file is present in "$ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/sample" folder or you can copy from Here.
{addressname}=
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(Host = {hostname})(Port ={port number} ))
)
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVICE_NAME = {service name})
)
)

In this sample file, We will add addressname, hostname, port and SERVICE_NAME to configure it for
particular database.

addressname is name given to it, which will work as connection string when we will connect to
the database. Let's say addressname is db_orcl. DBA can choose any name for this.
Host is the host name of database server, which we have already seen during Listener configuration.
You have to give database server host name here.

Port is again Database server port number at which Listener is running you can find it in database
server Listener.ora file. In above Listener configuration we give 1522 as listener port.

Service_name is database service name shown in Lsnrctl status output.

Services Summary...
Service "ORCL.EXAMPLE.COM" has 1 instance(s).
Instance "orcl", status UNKNOWN, has 3 handler(s) for this service...
The command completed successfully

From the above snap shot of Lsnrctl status Service name is "ORCL.EXAMPLE.COM". Use same
method to get your database service name. This service has "orcl" instance registered with it.

Here is configured tnsnames.ora file. Copy this into $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora

file.
db_orcl =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS_LIST =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(Host = database.example.com)(Port = 1522))
)
(CONNECT_DATA =
(SERVICE_NAME = ORCL.EXAMPLE.COM)
)
)

Now Database admin can connect to database using this tnsnames.ora file from a client
machine to database.

[oracle@database admin]$ sqlplus scott/tiger@db_orcl

SQL*Plus: Release 11.2.0.2.0 Production on Mon Jul 22 22:59:02 2013

With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options
SQL>