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5. Configuration

5.1 Overview

Congratulations, you have Oracle running on your Linux box. You have created a database and can connect to it using SQL*Plus.

Of course, this is not the end of it. Ideally, you'd be able to connect to it as another Unix user or from a completely different machine. That is what this section is for.

5.2 Connecting as another user

Some of the details in this section are a little sketchy as this is not a configuration that I personally use. However, performing one of the following steps should work:

When running "oraenv" I get an error if I use 'bash', the default Linux shell. It seems not to cause any problems so don't worry. You can always use 'pdksh' if it does worry you.

5.3 Connecting from another machine

I remember this being very complex with earlier versions of Oracle, but just seemed to work here. I'm sure that must mean that I did something wrong, forgot something I did or that there's a massive security hole.

This is what I remember doing:

  1. Logging into Linux as user 'oracle'
  2. Make sure that "oraenv" has been executed (i.e., your $ORACLE_HOME is set correctly)
  3. Type: 
    lsnrctl start

On your client machine all you need to do now is point it at the right machine and database instance.

If you want more control over the process, the "Net8 Configuration Assistant" ('netec') should be able to help.

5.4 Connecting to another machine

This used to be very difficult in many earlier version of Oracle, involving editing many text files, most of which had an fantastically complex syntax.

But in 8i, if you've got your JVM working, then all you need is the "Net8 Easy Config" program. Follow these steps to allow your machine to connect to a database on another machine:

  1. Start "Net8 Easy Config" by typing netec at the command prompt while logged in as 'oracle.'
  2. After a short delay while Java gets its act together, the welcome screen appears. It should be asking what you want to do. Leave the radio buttons on the left alone (the default is 'create') and enter the name of the database in the text box. Click 'Next' when you're done.
  3. Select one of the protocols it offers. Unless you know differently, this should probably be 'TCP/IP' which is the default. Press 'Next.'
  4. Enter the hostname (or IP address) of the remote machine. The port number probably doesn't need changing. Press 'Next.'
  5. Select the type of database (8i or other) using the radio buttons and enter the name in the appropriate text box. Press 'Next.'
  6. You can now test that the information you've enter makes sense to Oracle. I found that 'netec' has a tendency to crash if some of the details are wrong. Press 'Next' when you're sure that it all works. You can keep pressing the 'Back' button to go back and correct any information.
  7. If you're happy with all the information you've entered, you can press the 'Finish' button and that's it!

If you want more control over the process, you may need to use the "Net8 Assistant" -- a big window with many confusing options -- which can be started with the netasst command.

5.5 Questions and answers

I can't start 'netasst'

The problem is with a couple of zero-length files. Installing the patch should fix this problem.

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