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Oracle Net File locations

ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_ BASE

In releases prior to Oracle8i release 8.1.3, when you installed Oracle components, all subdirectories were located under a top level ORACLE_HOME directory.
For Windows NT, the default location was C:\orant. This release complies with Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) guidelines. All subdirectories are not under a top level ORACLE_HOME directory. There is a top level directory called ORACLE_BASE that by default is C:\oracle. If you install the latest Oracle release on a computer with no other Oracle software installed, then the default setting for the first Oracle home directory is C:\oracle\orann, where nn is the latest release number.
The Oracle home directory is located directly under ORACLE_BASE. All directory path examples in this guide follow OFA conventions. Refer to Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) for additional information about OFA compliances and for information about installing Oracle products in non-OFA compliant directories.

This module describes how network address information for Oracle Net Services can be stored in
  1. local files or
  2. in a centralized directory server.
Using localized management, network address information is stored in tnsnames.ora files on each computer in the network. Using centralized management, network address information is stored in centralized directory server. The chapter contains the following topics:

Using Localized Management

When localized management is used, network computers are configured with the files described in Table 3-1. The files are stored locally on the computers.
Table 3-1: Oracle Net Configuration Files Used with Localized Management
Configuration File Description
tnsnames.ora Located primarily on the clients, this file contains network service names mapped to connect descriptors. This file is used for the local naming method.

sqlnet.ora Located on client and database server computers, this file may include the following:
  1. Client domain to append to unqualified service names or network service names
  2. Order of naming methods the client should use when resolving a name
  3. Logging and tracing features to use
  4. Route of connections
  5. External naming parameters
  6. Oracle security parameters
  7. Database access control parameters

listener.ora Located on the database server, this configuration file for the
listener may include the following:
1. Protocol addresses it is accepting connection requests on
2. Database and nondatabase services it is listening for
3. Control parameters used by the listener