Re: Second request: invalid username/pswd on db-link

Ed Stevens wrote:
> Please forgive me the re-posting. I first posted this a week ago and
> got no bites, so thought I'd try again.
>
> Oracle 8.1.7.4 on Win2k
>
> Recently I started getting a number of OEM alerts from one particular
> database. The error is a ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon
> denied. Since this error is showing up in the alert log, it must be
> happening when a db_link to a second db is accessed. That ought to be
> simple enough, but if I connect with SQL-Plus and issue a SELECT
> against the db-link, it works every time. Since the userid/pswd is a
> hard-coded part of the db-link definition, I would exect it to work
> every time or never.
>
> The app is still under development and the developer has never
> reported a problem. If I weren't getting the OEM alerts, we'd never
> know there was an issue.
>
> Ideas?

Seems you are making some assumptions that may need more checking.

Can you describe the exact syntax of the link(s) in question (public, shared, authenticated clause)? There are several flavors of dblinks each with its own security considerations. Be sure to include all links, you might not be getting the one you think you're getting due to schema object resolution rules.

What are the link(s) used for? Replication? Application-specific distributed transactions? Are you using shared server or dedicated server (some shared server error messages show up in alert.log)? Is the link being referred to with or without the domain and connect descriptor components of the name? Does the error refer to an incoming or an outgoing connection attempt?

When you do your SQL*Plus test, what user are you using?

What else is showing up in the alert log? (It's not clear that OEM is adding any value to your troubleshooting process). If the system is under development it should be easy to isolate exactly what is going on at the time the errors are received. Check your listener.ora file to see what incoming connections are being attempted at the same time of the errors.

A key phrase is "recently I started getting". What else happened in the same recent time window? A server re-start? An upgrade? A new admin employee on staff?

-Mark Bole Received on Mon Dec 13 2004 - 10:02:53 CST