Understanding SQL*Net

Creating the SQLNET.ORA File for Clients and Servers

SQLNET.ORA is made up primarily of simple keyword-value pairs. Each keyword-value pair starts at the left-most column of a line, with no empty spaces preceding it. If the keyword-value pair consists of a single word or a concatenation of words on either side of the equal sign, no parentheses are needed. Spaces around the equal sign are optional.

Similarly, if you do not want to use IPC addresses and you do not want to use the multi-threaded server, you would add the following keyword-value pairs to the file:

AUTOMATIC_IPC = OFF
USE_DEDICATED_SERVER = ON

This syntax applies to all the parameters you might need to add manually to the SQLNET.ORA file.

If the network includes Oracle Names, the SQLNET.ORA file also contains addresses of the Names Servers preferred by the client or server. These addresses are entered by Network Manager and should not be edited. They have the same syntax as addresses in the LISTENER.ORA file described earlier. For example, a server in a TCP/IP community might have a preferred Names Server listed as follows:

names.preferred_servers =
	(ADDRESS_LIST =
		(ADDRESS =
			(PROTOCOL = TCP)
			(Host = iris.west.acme.com)
			(Port = 1522)
		)
	)
name.preferred_servers =
	(ADDRESS_LIST =
		(ADDRESS =
			(PROTOCOL = TCP)
			(Host = iris.west.acme.com)
			(Port = 1522)
		)
	)

The address is listed twice with slightly different keywords to provide backward compatibility to an earlier version.

Note: Do not edit the addresses of preferred Names Servers manually. Create and modify them using the Oracle Network Manager.