Whilst configuring a database in the Oracle APM receiving the error - Failed to connect to databa (4042517)

Date: Aug 2010

Affected Product & Version :  NVBU (All versions)

Affected Module & Version : Oracle Plugin (all versions)

OS Version - any


Symptoms: Whilst configuring a database in the Oracle APM receiving the error - Failed to connect to database

How to diagnose the connection failure...

Step 1 - Validate the credentials
Run the following commands inside a sqlplus session to check the credentials.

To find the SID:
SQL> select instance_name from v$instance;

To find ORACLE_HOME for 10g and 11i;
SQL > var OHM varchar2(100);
SQL > EXEC dbms_system.get_env('ORACLE_HOME', :OHM) ;
SQL > PRINT OHM

To validate the username and password that is being used to login as SYSDBA;
SQL> connect username/password as sysdba


Step 2 - Validate the environment
Verify that RMAN executes when the O/S user 'oracle' runs it at a prompt, for example:

Windows;
C:\>rman
Recovery Manager: Release 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on Wed Aug 25 15:57:25 2010
Copyright (c) 1982, 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
RMAN>

Linux;
[oracle]$ rman
Recovery Manager: Release 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on Wed Aug 25 16:31:25 2010
Copyright (c) 1982, 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
RMAN>


Step 3 - Test nvoracleclient
Nvoracleclient is the executable that connects to Oracle. It can be lauched independantly for testing purposes. The procedure is;

Windows;
C:\> cd <NetVault>/bin
C:\Program Files\BakBone Software\NetVault Backup\bin> nvoracleclient

Linux;
$ su - oracle
$ cd <NetVault>/bin
$ ./nvoracleclient


The expected result is that the session connects to Oracle and waits for input from the session.

If a library error is returned the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH will need to be set in the Oracle user profile to include $ORACLE_HOME/lib.
Any other errors should be investigated on their own merits.

If the error message is unclear, under linux it is possible to trace the calls being made by nvoracleclient as follows;
$ su - oracle
$ cd cd <NetVault>/bin
$ strace -f -o strace.out ./nvoracleclient

You will need the strace package installed. LDAP has been known to cause problems which can be identified by looking at the trace output.