Cloning DB to single instance ASM issue 11.2.0.3

Question

Hi All,
Having trouble cloning a DB via OEM to a new server I just built up which utilizes a single instance ASM.
Creating a new DB via dbca onto ASM works no problems.
When doing the clone it fails on the source server during the duplicate database step with the following output:
  RMAN>
echo set off
  RMAN>
connected to target database: SOURCEDB (DBID=3592949595)
  RMAN>
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-04006: error from auxiliary database: ORA-12543: TNS:destination host unreachable
It appears as though the target server doesn't start the new DB up in nomount because control files don't exist yet.
The init ora file exists on the target server and when trying to run "startup nomount" manually it fails with:
SQL> startup nomount
ORA-01078: failure in processing system parameters
LRM-00117: syntax error at ',' at the start of input
The init ora file looks all correct except for the last line:
control_files='',''
Any ideas on what else to check?
No firewall issues, both source and target servers can ping one another and port 1521 is open on both.
Both source and target servers are running 11.2.0.3.
Looking forward to some much needed help as this has me stumped.

Answer 1

If I were you, I would open in nomount the Instance were its going to be duplicated to verify all the parameters are correct even before starting the duplicate, also you can change several parameters in the duplicate command
run {
allocate channel prmy1 type disk;
allocate channel prmy2 type disk;
allocate channel prmy3 type disk;
allocate channel prmy4 type disk;
allocate auxiliary channel stby type disk;
duplicate target database to test_db from active database
spfile
parameter_value_convert 'testgg1','testgg2'
set db_unique_name='testgg2'
set db_file_name_convert='/u01/app/oracle/oradata/testgg1/TESTGG1/datafile/','/u01/app/oracle/oradata/testgg2/TESTGG2/datafile/'
set log_file_name_convert='/u01/app/oracle/oradata/testgg1/TESTGG1/onlinelog/','/u01/app/oracle/oradata/testgg2/TESTGG2/onlinelog/'
set control_files='/u01/app/oracle/oradata/testgg2/control/control01.ctl','/u01/app/oracle/oradata/testgg2/control/control02.ctl'