B Upgrade Considerations for Oracle Net Services

Oracle9i Database Connections

Connect descriptors, created for connections to an Oracle9i or an Oracle8 database, identify a database by its service name with the SERVICE_NAME parameter.

A connect descriptor to an Oracle9i or Oracle8 database uses the parameter SERVICE_NAME, as shown in the following example:

sales= 
(DESCRIPTION= 
  (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=sales-server)(PORT=1521))
  (CONNECT_DATA=
     (SERVICE_NAME=sales.us.acme.com)))

Connect descriptors that are currently configured with the SID parameter can remain. However, to take advantage of new features, such as client load balancing and connect-time failover, Oracle Corporation recommends replacing SID with SERVICE_NAME.

To modify a connect descriptor to use SERVICE_NAME, use the Oracle Net Manager's compatibility mode, as described in "Using the Oracle Net Manager to Handle Compatibility Issues".

Consider the following questions for an environment with release 8.0 clients connecting to an Oracle9i database:

• Will my third-party applications be able use features of Oracle Net Services?

  No. You must rebuild or upgrade applications to work with Oracle Net libraries.

• Do my clients require Oracle Net to connect to a remote Oracle9i database?

  No. If a client needs to connect to a remote Oracle9i database, only Net8 Client release 8.0 needs to be configured on the client. However, new features of Oracle Net Services are not available to these clients.

• Do my clients require Oracle Net to connect to a local Oracle9i database?

  No. The client requires an installation of Net8 Client release 8.0 in its Oracle home and the Oracle9i requires an installation of Oracle Net and Oracle Net Listener in its Oracle home.

Oracle8i or Oracle7 Database Connections

A connect descriptor to an Oracle release 8.0 or Oracle7 database uses SID, as shown in the following example:

sales= 
(DESCRIPTION= 
  (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=sales-server)(PORT=1521))
  (CONNECT_DATA=
     (SID=sales)))

In addition, the listener.ora file on the database server must be configured with the description of the SID for the release 8.0 database. In the following example, the listener is configured to listener for a database service called sales.us.acme.com that has a SID of sales:

SID_LIST_listener=
(SID_LIST=
 (SID_DESC=
  (GLOBAL_DBNAME=sales.us.acme.com)
  (SID_NAME=sales)))

Consider the following questions for an environment with Oracle9i clients connecting to a release 8.0 database.

• Do my clients require Net8 Client release 8.0 to connect to a remote Oracle release 8.0 database?

  No. If a client needs to connect to a remote release 8.0 database, only Net8 Client of a compatible release needs to be configured on the client. The only limitation is that the new features available with Oracle Net Services are unavailable with this connection type.

• Do my clients require Net8 Client release 8.0 to connect to a local release 8.0 database?

  Yes. The client requires an installation of Oracle Net in its Oracle home and the release 8.0 database requires an installation of Net8 Server in its Oracle home.

Oracle Names

If you upgrade all or part of your network to Oracle9i, you should upgrade all the Oracle Names Servers in the region to version 9.

• Can my release 8.0 clients use Oracle Names version 9 to resolve service names?

  Yes.

• Can my release 8.0 clients then use the connect descriptor returned from Oracle Names version 9 to connect to an Oracle version 8 database?

  Yes, if the connect descriptor was specified correctly when it was entered into Oracle Names.

  Note:

  In future releases, Oracle Names will not be supported as a centralized naming method. Because no new enhancements are being added to Oracle Names, consider using directory naming or upgrading an existing Oracle Names configuration to directory naming, as described in the Oracle Database Net Services Administrator's Guide.

Step 1: Verify Service Name and Instance Name

If you want to identify a service and its instance in the tnsnames.ora file, ensure that the SERVICE_NAMES and INSTANCE_NAMES initialization parameters are set in the initialization parameter file.

SERVICE_NAMES = sales.us.acme.com, widgetsales.us.acme.com

Step 2: Perform Software Upgrade on the Database Server

To perform a software upgrade on the database server, install the latest release of Oracle Net and Oracle Net Listener from the Oracle Universal Installer to receive the latest executables.

You are prompted to upgrade a database with the Database Upgrade Assistant if the Oracle Universal Installer detects a pre-release 9.2 database on your system. If you do not want to upgrade during the installation process, then you can choose to install this assistant and use it later.

The Oracle Universal Installer automatically performs these tasks:

• Stops older listener

• Starts release 9.2 listener

Step 3: Perform Software Upgrade on the Client

To perform a software upgrade on the client, install the latest release of Oracle Net Services from the Oracle Universal Installer to receive the latest executables.

Step 4: Perform Functional Upgrade

After the software is upgraded, it is not required to upgrade the configuration files unless you want to use the Oracle9i features. To take advantage of new features, review the following configuration files:

• sqlnet.ora

• tnsnames.ora

• listener.ora

• protocol.ora

Replace obsolete or renamed parameters.

sales= 
(DESCRIPTION= 
  (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=sales-server)(PORT=1521))
  (CONNECT_DATA=
     (SERVICE_NAME=sales.us.acme.com)))

sales= 
(DESCRIPTION= 
 (ADDRESS_LIST=
  (FAILOVER=on)
  (LOAD_BALANCE=on)
  (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=sales1-server)(PORT=1521)
  (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=sales2-server)(PORT=1521))
  (CONNECT_DATA=
     (SERVICE_NAME=sales.us.acme.com)))

SID_LIST_listener_name=
  (SID_LIST=
     (SID_DESC=
        (GLOBAL_DBNAME=global_database_name)
        (ORACLE_HOME=oracle_home)
        (SID_NAME=sid)))