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oratab question

 
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ran_li
Regular Advisor

oratab question

I noticed there are some lines start with "*" in oratab file, what does the "*" mean? Is it put by OEM? Thanks.

*:/app/oracle/product/8.1.7:N
*:/app/oracle/product/9.2.0:N
*:/app/oracle/product/10.2.0:N
DB10G:/app/oracle/product/10.2.0:N
DB8I:/app/oracle/product/8.1.7:N
DB9I:/app/oracle/product/9.2.0:N
4 REPLIES 4
TwoProc
Honored Contributor
Solution

Re: oratab question

Many times,

When you run an installer, or an autoconfig, or any of the Oracle tools that love to fool with any of the .xml files laying around in the installed (or yet to be installed) directories - the tool will often comment out the old contents of the /etc/oratab and put in there what it thinks it needs.

You can just delete those lines starting with "*", they are commented out.

BTW, I hardly ever let Oracle manage those files, I keep an "/etc/oratab.keep" backup file handy to restore and edit manually after an Oracle tool "fixes" my file for me from time to time.

We are the people our parents warned us about --Jimmy Buffett
Frank de Vries
Respected Contributor

Re: oratab question

I disagree with John, that the *
means in fact 'NO SID'.
And the behaviour is deliberate.

You can customize it by replacing the *
with the actual sid name or a dummy name.

Also it is allowed to have multiple entries.

I agree with John that you can delete these
lines in your case as you have already
added new lines for your SID's , then it is
safe to delete the first 3.

Oratab is used dynamically by
oraenv, dbstart and dbshut and of course
you can write your own scripts based on it.

Look before you leap
TwoProc
Honored Contributor

Re: oratab question

I disagree with Frank disagreeing with me.

:-)

Don't let the Oracle tool "fix" your oratab for you - know what's in it, what's supposed to be in it - and keep a backup.
We are the people our parents warned us about --Jimmy Buffett
Paul Sperry
Honored Contributor

Re: oratab question

short sweet

The "*" are commited out you can delete those lines.