topic Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root! in Operating System - HP-UX

Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

MAD_2 — Sat, 28 Sep 2002 15:11:33 GMT

We have a server with the following Oracle release:
Oracle8i Enterprise Edition Release 8.1.5.0.0 -Production With the Partitioning and Java options PL/SQL Release 8.1.5.0.0 - Production

I am trying to figure out why it is that after we reboot we can only start the listener as root. When we attempt to start it as another user, for example as Oracle, the following error is displayed:

=========================================
TNSLSNR for Intel SVR4 UNIX: Version 8.1.5.0.0 - Production on 28-SEP-02 10:23:14
(c) Copyright 1998 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
System parameter file is /oracle/network/admin/listener.ora Log messages written to /oracle/network/log/listener.log Listening on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=EXTPROC0)))
Attempted to listen on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=EXTPROC0)))
TNS-12541: TNS:no listener
TNS-12560: TNS:protocol adapter error TNS-00511: No listener
Intel SVR4 UNIX Error: 2: No such file or directory
TNSLSNR for Intel SVR4 UNIX: Version 8.1.5.0.0 - Production on 28-SEP-02 10:24:58
(c) Copyright 1998 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
System parameter file is /oracle/network/admin/listener.ora Log messages written to /oracle/network/log/listener.log

=========================================

However, after the system has restarted and the listener is reinitialized, we can stop and then re-start it as Oracle???

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

harry d brown jr — Sat, 28 Sep 2002 19:33:43 GMT

One thing I would look for is files that have root ownership that should be owned by oracle.

live free or die
harry

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

MAD_2 — Sat, 28 Sep 2002 19:46:33 GMT

Well Harry, that crossed my mind too, but how many files are we talking about here? I did not know where to start, specially since the errors I encountered in the listener log did not point me in any specific direction.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

john korterman — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 07:36:42 GMT

Hi Adam,
the "No such file or directory" suggests that a certain file is missing, but if root can start the listener, the file in question must then either have been created or modified by root.
The next time you boot your server you could do a simple search for that file:
1) touch a file immediately before you startup the listener as root, e.g.
# touch /tmp/after_this
2) startup the listener as root
3) # find /oracle -newer /tmp/after_this
This should only show files modified since creation of /tmp/after_this, but if too many files appear, then limit the scope to files with changed inode info:
# find /oracle -newer /tmp/after_thisc

see also man page for find.

regards,
John K.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

MAD_2 — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 14:41:16 GMT

John, your reply sounded like a good idea, and this is the list of files I got by using your suggestion:

conversant >find /oracle -newer /tmp/after_this
/oracle/network/log/listener.log
/oracle/oradata/A/control01.ctl
/oracle/oradata/A/control02.ctl
/oracle/.sh_history

However, after checking, I realized that ownerships of those files did not change. What is very weird is that this only happens when trying to initilize the listener right after a reboot. After it is initialized with root, if manually stopped once again, it can be restarted with the oracle login.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

steven Burgess_2 — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 14:42:25 GMT

Hi Adam

Why don't you set SUID on your oracle start up script

chmod g+s oracle

HTH

Steve

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

john korterman — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 16:35:49 GMT

Hi again,
the oracle user may have access problems. Can the oracle user create a file in /oracle/network/log?
Naughty question, but I have to ask: does the listener.log exist after a reboot?

regards,
John K.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

MAD_2 — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 16:51:46 GMT

John, the answer to both of your questions is "yes". The oracle user can create files under /oracle/network/log and there is a listener.log file after reboot that is still building up, so it is not a new file after a reboot.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

john korterman — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 18:27:57 GMT

Hi again Adam,
I'm a bit low on ideas now, but perhaps my basic assumption is wrong. Does the error message originally posted by you appear every time the oracle user attempts to start the listener? Is there an error message when root starts the listener?

regards,
John K.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

Bill Hassell — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 18:46:15 GMT

You may need to reinstall Oracle. It sounds as if the original installation was performed as root, a big no-no for any application, especially ones that do not use Software Distributor for packaging. If Oracle was installed as root (and worse: root has no umask), a reinstall is almost mandatory.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

harry d brown jr — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 19:03:34 GMT

Adam,

What does "INTEL" SVR5 mean? Is this an install on Solaris??

TNS-12560: TNS:protocol adapter error TNS-00511: No listener
Intel SVR4 UNIX Error: 2: No such file or directory
TNSLSNR for Intel SVR4 UNIX: Version 8.1.5.0.0 - Production on 28-SEP-02 10:24:58

Oracle is so great at it's error messages that future programmers should take note to make sure that they never follow oracle's lead, then maybe sometime in the future we'll have code that actually produces meaningful error messages and clues to the corrective action.

live free or die
harry

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

MAD_2 — Sun, 29 Sep 2002 19:37:02 GMT

OK, I am going to attemp to answer eveyone's questions here:

John, the answer to your question is no. The error only appears when a user other than root attempts to restart the listener right after a reboot. It does not appear, however, after root has restarted it and if it is manually stopped after that, it can be re-started by oracle (I have not attempted other users to restart the listener after it is stopped the first time). No error when root does the attempt at any point.

Bill, I certainly am not sure if the installation was performed using root. The installation of oracle was done by AVAYA folks, so I will have to find out. However, everything seems to be working fine with the exception of the described problem.

Harry, this is not an HP-UX. We do use Oracle in two of our HP-UX systems, 10.2 and 11.0. The 11.00 has 8.x What the "Intel SVR4 UNIX Error: 2: No such file or directory" means? I am not sure. This is a "SCO UnixWare 7.1.1" system.

Thanks everyone...

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

john korterman — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 06:57:11 GMT

Hi again,
last suggestion... I originally concluded that the "No such file or directory" message meant that a certain file was expected but not present (and could not be created). As the error does not appear for root, it makes me believe that the file in question can be - and is - created by root. Last attempt would be to repeat my first search suggestion, but then not only under the /oracle dir.

regards,
John K.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

Ian Dennison_1 — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 07:50:34 GMT

Possible contention issue,...

Check $ORACLE_HOME/bin/dbsnmp permissions, make sure the sticky bit is set.

-rwsr-s--- 1 root dba 9555968 Mar 26 2002 dbsnmp

I believe this talks with the listener.

Share and Enjoy! Ian Dennison

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

MAD_2 — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 10:31:23 GMT

Ian, the permissions are correct. John, I am looking into the list created when the scope is widened to the entire system, which creates a very long list by the way. I hope to be able to catch something there...

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

harry d brown jr — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 10:47:42 GMT

Why not call Oracle, being that it's those lazy bums that don't know how to write appropriate error messages?

live free or die
harry

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

Johan Bergwitz — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 11:55:17 GMT

Which port are you trying to bind to? All ports below 1024 can only be bound by root or a process using setuid root.

Rgds
Johan

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

john korterman — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 12:42:42 GMT

Hi Adam,
if you delete the /tmp after reboot, you should start searching there.

regards,
John K.

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

Jean-Luc Oudart — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 13:45:31 GMT

Hi this is an extract from Metalink.
The problem is around file permissions (directory) for socket files.
You would have to check for the right directory re you rsystem :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You receive the following messages in the "listener.log" file: TNSLSNR for Solaris: Version 8.0.5.0.0 - Production on 07-JUL-99 18:43:51 (c) Copyright 1997 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved. System parameter file is /infosys/oracle/tnsadmin/listener.ora Log messages written to /var/log/oracle/sqlnet/lsnr01.log Attempted to listen on: (DESCRIPTION=(CONNECT_TIMEOUT=10)(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=ipckey))) TNS-12541: TNS:no listener TNS-12560: TNS:protocol adapter error TNS-00511: No listener Solaris Error: 2: No such file or directory" Solution: ========= The Listener requires access to the directory '/var/tmp/oracle' in order to write socket files. The socket files are used for internal pipe connections to the database. Make sure that the Oracle user is the owner in this directory and has full permissions to it. Problem Explanation: ==================== The ORA-12541 is actually cause by a Unix/Solaris error #2 :No such file or directory. This can be caused when the Listener attempts to access internal pipes socket files.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jean-Luc

Re: Can only start the Oracle listener as root!

Tom Danzig — Mon, 30 Sep 2002 14:59:39 GMT

Check permissions for oracle user for /etc/tnsnames.ora and /etc/listener.ora (if that's where they are).

Also, make sure the port number you are trying to use is > 1024 (not privileged).