Oracle TNS Alias OCI Configuration

When connecting to Oracle using the OCI Driver, you can create a TNS Alias configuration to use in your database connection object in IguanaX. This method will work with all operating systems.

The Oracle ODBC package depends on the OCI drivers — so you need to set them up first. Follow the procedure in: Oracle OCI Driver Setup.

If the network admin directory does not exist, create it within your instantclient directory:

Windows: C:\Oracle\instanclient_X_Y\network\admin
Linux: /usr/lib/instanclient_X_Y/network/admin

Your database name (or tns_alias) can be defined in the Network Configuration File, tnsnames.ora. This file uses the following format:

<tns_alias>=
   (DESCRIPTION=
      (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = hostname)(PORT = portnum))
      (CONNECT_DATA=
         (SERVICE_NAME= <service_name>)))

For example:

If sqlnet.ora does not exist, create it.

This tells the Oracle client to time out if a connection to the Oracle server cannot be obtained within the specified number of seconds (the example uses 5 seconds). The default is to never time out, which can cause problems if the server is down or cannot be reached.