This section will define the steps to install the Oracle Client Utilities on a workstation and define a Service Name.
Oracle requires the installation of certain utilities and drivers that are used by the application programs to connect and converse with the actual database. This is not meant to be an in-depth explanation as there are many factors that can affect the installation and Oracle's install scripts have been known to contain quirks and inconsistencies that may need to be worked around.
If the Oracle Client is already installed you should skip the install section and go directly to the Configure Oracle Service Name(s) section below.
The documentation's screen shots are from an Oracle 8.1 Personal Edition installation.
Your installation screens may look different than the screen images in this document depending on the version of Oracle you are installing, however the concept is the same.
You need either the CD with the Oracle Client Utilities or a networked drive where the CD has been copied to.
If you have neither then you can try going to the www.oracle.com site, locate and download the 'Oracle Instant' client and install it.
If you have the Oracle CD then insert it into the CD drive or navigate to the directory that contains the Oracle 'Setup.exe' program and start it. A screen similar to the following should appear.
Select 'Begin Installation' and the following screen should appear:
If you have a Oracle setup version that is shipped with the full production install then the screen may have an option to install the 'Client Utilities'. If so then select it and accept the defaults.
Enter your company name and accept the defaults for 'Oracle Home'. Click on Ok.
Select 'Custom Installation' or, if an option is available to install 'Client Utilities' only then select it.
For 'Custom Installation' select at least the items highlighted in the above screen and click OK. The Oracle installer will then do some checking and proceed with the installation if all is well.
If the installation completes successfully and you need to add/remove other utilities you can start Oracle's 'Universal Installer' usually by selecting the Start Button -> Programs -> Oracle -> Universal Installer where you would then see the following screen.
Clicking on 'Installed Products' would then display a screen similar to the following showing the utilities that are currently installed. You may then select components to add or remove.
Configure Oracle Service Name(s)
When the Oracle Utilities are installed we need to define a 'SID' or 'Service Name'. The Service Name is basically an alias that defines the database server computer, the name of the database instance on the server and which protocol that the workstation will used to communicate with the server. The Service Name or SID is then used by the applications to connect to the database via the Oracle Client drivers.
When you create a new Service Name you may name it whatever you want ie; PAYROLL or your SITE_NAME or your COMPANY_NAME or whatever. Just remember what you name it as later we will need to let the Payroll system know which name to use.
These Servicename/SID definitions are saved in a file named 'tnsnames.ora' located in the Oracle installation directory.
You can either directly edit the tnsnames.ora file or use the utility programs supplied by Oracle.
The Net8 Assistant program can be used to define the Service Name and is normally found as Start -> Programs -> Oracle Home -> Network Administration -> Net8 Assistant. The following screen shows the Net8 Assistant with the Service Naming branches opened.
To Add a new service name click the + (Plus sign) or File -> New and enter the information on the following screens.
Enter your desired service name and click Next.
Enter the communication protocol to use then click Next.
This is usually TCP/IP unless you have some compelling reason to use a different protocol.
Enter the name of the database server computer or it's IP address and click Next.
The Port number defaults to 1521 and can remain so unless you have changed it on the database server computer.
Enter the name of the service that is running on the database server computer then click Next.
When an Oracle instance (database) is started (in a Window's environment) it is started as an NT Service and the letters after 'OracleService' are the database's Service Name on the database server computer. The following screen shows an Oracle instance started which is called ORAPAY. This name is not to be confused with the Service Name we are currently setting up on the workstation (although they can be the same).
You will next be shown a screen that allows you to Test the Connection or accept everything as is.
You should always do the Test to ensure that all values entered are correct.
Click test and the following screen will appear.
A default user named SCOTT with a password of TIGER will be tried initially.
If the database does not have this user defined you will receive an error message and may have to change the login/password to a known user.
Screen to change the user/password.
Note: you will need to contact the system administrator for a valid username/password to use.
If the username/password used is valid and the connection is not successful you will need to read the error messages and act accordingly. ie; go back and change some settings, ensure that the service is running on the database server computer or switch to Microsoft SQL Server.
When you have connected successfully you should then see your new service name listed with it's settings showing on the right side of the screen.
You are done.
Either select File->Save or click the top-right X and confirm saving the changes.
Note: The Net8 Assistant program is a graphical interface used to edit the tnsnames.ora and listener.ora files. These are located in the directory shown in the caption of the above screen (c:\oracle\ora81\NETWORK\ADMIN). You can also edit these files manually using a text editor such as notepad.exe.
Techy note:
When a payroll program starts it sets it's database connection information to one of the aliases defined in daybreak.ini.
The program then attempts to connect to the database by passing the 'SERVER NAME' parameter to the Oracle SQL driver.
The Oracle SQL driver then looks in the tnsnames.ora file to locate the local Service Name where it then extracts the address of the database server and the Service Name or SID of the database.
The Oracle SQL driver then attempts to connect to the database and, if successful, the program continues. If no connection is made an error message is displayed. There can be multiple reasons why the connection could not be made ie; no network connection, database server is not running, Service Name or SID is improperly defined in tnsnames.ora, database connection is improperly defined in daybreak.ini, etc...