Net8 configuration on a database server is more complex than on a client. Not only do most of the tasks from client configuration carry over to server configuration, but you also have the additional complexity of configuring a Net8 listener. The Net8 listener is the software that allows Net8 clients to establish connections with the database instances running on a server.
This chapter will show you the basic tasks involved in configuring Net8 on a server. It describes the software that you need to install, and it shows you how to configure one or more Net8 listeners. It also describes dead connection detection and the use of prespawned dedicated server processes. Information on the use of multi-threaded server, and on advanced topics such as the configuration of Oracle Names and Connection Manager, are relegated to their own chapters later in this book.
If you’re just trying to get a basic Net8 configuration up and running on your server so that clients can connect to your database, the process is fairly simple. Just follow these steps:
Install the Net8 software. This happens automatically when you do a default install of Oracle.
Create at least one database in order to have something to which clients can connect.
Configure your Net8 profile.
Define net service names.
Configure a Net8 listener using Net8 Assistant or by editing the
listener.oraconfiguration file.Optionally configure other Net8 features such as dead connection detection and prespawned dedicated server processes.
Start the Net8 listener using either Net8 Assistant or the Listener Control utility.
Test the Net8 connectivity between clients and your new server.
If you’re reading this chapter, chances are you’ve either already installed the Oracle software or are about to do so. If you’re getting ready to install Oracle on a new server, you’ll want to read the next section, which talks about the software that you need to include in order to use Net8.
The entire subject of database creation is well outside the scope of this chapter, and it’s not absolutely necessary to have a database when configuring Net8. But having a database is convenient, because connecting to a database is really the only sure way to verify that your entire Net8 configuration is correct. If you perform a default install of Oracle, you have the option to create a starter database as part of that process. If you didn’t take the starter database option, you’ll eventually need to create a database yourself. You can do that using Oracle’s Database Creation Assistant, or you can create one manually. For the purposes of this chapter, we’re going to assume that you already have a database up and running.
Steps 3 and 4, configuring the profile and defining net service names, are described in Chapter 3. Servers need a profile just as clients do. If you never plan to connect to remote databases from your server, you may be able to skip Step 4.
Step 8, testing a connection, is also covered in Chapter 3, as well as in Chapter 10. That leaves, for this chapter anyway, Steps 5 through 7.
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