Location of Networking Files in a Read-Only Oracle Home

Learn about the search order and location of networking files like sqlnet.ora, tnsnames.ora, or listener.ora in a read-only Oracle home.

The networking directories network/admin, network/trace, and network/log are located in the ORACLE_BASE_HOME directory. In a read/write ORACLE_HOME the networking directories appear to be in ORACLE_HOME because ORACLE_BASE_HOME is co-located with ORACLE_HOME, whereas in a read-only ORACLE_HOME the networking directories are located in ORACLE_BASE/homes/HOME_NAME.

tnsnames.ora

The order for checking the tnsnames.ora file in a read-only Oracle home is:

1. The directory specified by the TNS_ADMIN environment variable.
2. The /etc directory.
3. The ORACLE_BASE_HOME/network/admin directory.
4. The ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory.

sqlnet.ora

The order for checking the sqlnet.ora file in a read-only Oracle home is:

1. The directory specified by the TNS_ADMIN environment variable.
2. The ORACLE_BASE_HOME/network/admin directory.
3. The ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory.

Password Files

The search order for password files in a read-only Oracle home is ORACLE_BASE_HOME/dbs followed by ORACLE_HOME/dbs.