ORA-12514 with Easy Connect only

Question

Greetings,
On linux with a recent local install of Oracle XE:
$ echo ORACLE_SID
XE
$ sqlplus system...works fine with nothing output to listener.log. I can connect no problem. However if I try:
$ sqlplus system@localhost:1521/XEI get the following in listener.log:
08-SEP-2008 14:03:11 * (CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=XE)(CID=(PROGRAM=sqlplus)(HOST=my.host.local)(USER=oracle))) * (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=127.0.0.1)(PORT=42572)) * establish * XE * 12514
TNS-12514: TNS:listener does not currently know of service requested in connect descriptorTnsping works:
$ tnsping XE
*+...+*
Used TNSNAMES adapter to resolve the alias
Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = localhost)(PORT = 1521)) (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVER = DEDICATED) (SERVICE_NAME = XE)))
OK (0 msec)My tnsnames.ora is:
$ cat /usr/lib/oracle/xe/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/server/network/admin/tnsnames.ora
# tnsnames.ora Network Configuration File:
XE =
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = localhost)(PORT = 1521))
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SERVER = DEDICATED)
      (SERVICE_NAME = XE)
EXTPROC_CONNECTION_DATA =
  (DESCRIPTION =
    (ADDRESS_LIST =
      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = EXTPROC_FOR_XE))
    (CONNECT_DATA =
      (SID = PLSExtProc)
      (PRESENTATION = RO)
  )I put the listener in trace at the SUPPORT level. I can post that dump as well if it would help?
Without the Easy Connect connection identifier is it that I'm connecting via IPC? This is preventing me from remotely connecting via sqlplus or JDBC over an SSH tunnel of 1521 (the box is firewalled).
Thanks!
Ian
Edited by: ibrandt on Sep 8, 2008 2:29 PM - Fixed unintended wiki markup.
Edited by: ibrandt on Sep 8, 2008 3:19 PM - Formatting.

Answer 1

Well, I've gotten it to work by changing 'localhost' to 'myhost.mydomain.local' (name changed to protect the innocent) in tnsnames.ora and listener.ora, adding myhost.mydomain.local to my local DNS server such that it resolves to eth0's external IP, and restarting oracle. After that...
$ lsnrctl status XE
LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 10.2.0.1.0 - Production on 09-SEP-2008 12:08:07
Copyright (c) 1991, 2005, Oracle.  All rights reserved.
Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=myhost.mydomain.local)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVER=DEDICATED)(SERVICE_NAME=XE)))
STATUS of the LISTENER
Alias                     LISTENER
Version                   TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 10.2.0.1.0 - Production
Start Date                09-SEP-2008 12:07:29
Uptime                    0 days 0 hr. 0 min. 37 sec
Trace Level               support
Security                  ON: Local OS Authentication
SNMP                      OFF
Default Service           XE
Listener Parameter File   /usr/lib/oracle/xe/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/server/network/admin/listener.ora
Listener Log File         /usr/lib/oracle/xe/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/server/network/log/listener.log
Listener Trace File       /usr/lib/oracle/xe/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/server/network/trace/listener.trc
Listening Endpoints Summary...
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(KEY=EXTPROC_FOR_XE)))
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=myhost.mydomain.local)(PORT=1521)))
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=127.0.0.1)(PORT=8081))(Presentation=HTTP)(Session=RAW))
Services Summary...
Service "PLSExtProc" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "PLSExtProc", status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "XE" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "XE", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "XEXDB" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "XE", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
Service "XE_XPT" has 1 instance(s).
  Instance "XE", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...
The command completed successfully...which is notably different from before. After that I can connect with:
sqlplus system/password@localhost/XEAlso of note, using the external IP directly in tnsnames.ora and listener.ora did not work.
So my new question is, why does Oracle need a HOST=hostname--where hostname resolves to an external IP--to startup correctly? Though I have 1521 firewalled from the outside world it seems like an unnecessary security hole.