tnsManager Installation guide for Windows

• 1. Download and unpack
  Download the latest tnsManager binary from here. Transfer the zip file to your chosen machine and unpack it.
  
  Three files will be un-zipped:
  
  
  • tnsManager.exe - the main executable.
    
  • tnsManager.conf - the configuration file.
    
  • README.TXT - The usual legal stuff. Make sure that you read it and agree with it!
    
  
  This guide will assume that the files have been unpacked to 'C:\tnsManager\', but they can be located anywhere.
  
  
• 2. Install the tnsManager Windows service
  tnsManager runs as a Windows service. To install the service, open a command prompt window and run the following:
  

  c:
  cd \tnsManager
  tnsManager install
  

  The service will be installed but not started at this point.
  
  
• 3. Transfer your tnsnames.ora
  Transfer your tnsnames.ora to the tnsManager server. It can be located anywhere in the file system as long as tnsManager has access to it. This guide will assume that the tnsnames.ora is located in 'C:\tnsManager\'.
  
  Note. Sqlnet LDAP naming does not recognise database domains (such as the infamous '.world'). tnsManager will automatically strip any domain suffixes as it loads the tnsnames.ora into memory. You must ensure that your client PCs do not attempt connections using service names with a domain suffix.
  
  
• 4. Edit the configuration file
  The tnsManager.conf file must be edited before tnsManager is started for the first time. The following settings should be altered:
  
  tnsnames_location - should be set to the full path and file name of the tnsnames.ora from step 3.
  
  log_location - tnsManager will log events to this file. Specify the full path and file name. The log file will be created the first time that tnsManager is started. Alternativley, you can disable logging by setting log_level to 0 (zero).
  
  After editing, your tnsManager.conf should look something like this:
  

  # Basic settings ##################################################
  
  tnsnames_location=C:\tnsManager\tnsnames.ora
  
  log_level=1
  
  log_location=C:\tnsManager\tnsManager.log
  
  tcp_port=3838
  

  Note. When tnsManager is started, it will look for its configuration file in the same folder as tnsManger.exe.
  
  
• 5. Start tnsManager
  Start the tnsManager service using following command:
  

  tnsManager start
  

  Note. You can also start and stop tnsManager using the Windows Service Manager.
  
  You will see output similar to the following:

  C:\tnsManager>tnsManager start
  
  tnsManager v1.8.0
  Copyright (c) 2005-2008 Andrew Barry.  All rights reserved.
  
  Starting service......done.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Status                    Running
     Startup time           Sat Aug 30 16:07:35 2008
     TCP Port               3838
     Logging level          2 (debug)
     Log File               C:\tnsManager\tnsManager.log
     Config file            C:\tnsManager\tnsManager.conf
  TNS file                  C:\tnsManager\tnsnames.ora
     Modification date      Sat Aug 30 14:44:15 2008
     Bytes                  158703
     TNS entries            2936
  Total queries             0
     Successful queries     0
     Unsuccessful queries   0
     Timed-out requests     0
     Invalid requests       0
     Last query time        No queries
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  tnsManager has started successfully.
  
  C:\tnsManager>
  

  Note. Run 'tnsManager help' for a complete list of options.
  
  If your machine has a personal firewall you might recive a message similar to this one:
  
  
  tnsManager needs to communicate on the port specified in the configuration file (3838 by default). Click on 'Unblock' to allow it.
  
  
• 6. Workstation configuration
  Your workstation machines will need to be configured to use tnsManager instead of tnsnames. To do this you will need to create two new files; sqlnet.ora and ldap.ora. Both of these files will be placed in the same location: <ORACLE_HOME>\network\admin. The contents of the two files should be as follows:
  
  sqlnet.ora
  Configure sqlnet.ora to use ldap for names resolution:

  NAMES.DIRECTORY_PATH= (LDAP)
  NAMES.NO_PERSISTENT_RESOURCES=TRUE
  

  ldap.ora
  The ldap.ora tells your Oracle client what the tnsManager server is called and which TCP port it is listening on. Add the following lines to it, putting your own server name in:

  DIRECTORY_SERVERS = (put_your_server_name_here:3838)
  DEFAULT_ADMIN_CONTEXT = ""
  DIRECTORY_SERVER_TYPE = OID
  

  If you want to, you can protect against hardware or network failure by having tnsManager running on more than one server. Simply comma-separate the host names in the ldap.ora, like this:
  

  DIRECTORY_SERVERS = (server1:3838, server2:3838)
  

  See the 'Configuring for high availability' guide for more information.
  
  
• 7. Test the installation
  To test the installation simply use tnsping or sqlplus from your workstation. Both tools should behave in the usual way. If you run 'tnsManager status' you should also see the query counters increasing.
  
  If you encounter problems, check the tnsManager log file for more information. If you get really stuck, try increasing the logging level to 2.