Net configuration assistant changes are not saved on Windows 7

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If you are trying to use the oracle net configuration assistant in order to create tnsnames.ora entry on windows 7, you may notice that sometimes the net service name is simply not created. Even after you run through the wizard successfully you may get the famous “ORA-12154 – TNS could not resolve service name” when you actually try to use it. Another symptom would be that when you run the net configuration assistant again, the entry you just added will not be there.

 

This issue is caused by the change in Windows 7 default permissions. Windows 7 has the “Administrator” account disabled by default right out of the box. During the Windows 7 setup, the user is prompted for a username that has administrator rights and is in the administrator group. Running the net configuration assistant as the “administrator” user does not guarantee that this user has the administrator’s rights. This probably prevents the Network Configuration Assistant from editing the tnsnames.ora therefore the changes are not saved.

 

 

A simple solution to this issue is to run the network configuration assistant as an administrator.

 

  1.  Press and hold Ctrl+Shift while opening the program. Alternatively, you can navigate to the program shortcut (or the actual exe file), right click and then click on Run as administrator.
  2. If prompted by the UAC you should click on Yes to apply permission to allow the program to run with full permission as an Administrator (You may need to provide the administrator password if you are logged in as a standard user).

“Shrink failed for Database” when attempting to shrink a data file.

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Sometimes, when you try to shrink a data file you may get the following message:

TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
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Shrink failed for Database ‘Data base name’.  (Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo)
For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=9.00.1399.00&EvtSrc=Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.ExceptionTemplates.FailedOperationExceptionText&EvtID=Shrink+Database&LinkId=20476
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
An exception occurred while executing a Transact-SQL statement or batch. (Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo)
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A severe error occurred on the current command.  The results, if any, should be discarded. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 0)
For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=09.00.1399&EvtSrc=MSSQLServer&EvtID=0&LinkId=20476


First, you should know that shrinking data files is not recommended and will hurt performance. Shrinking data files will cause index fragmentation. You can recreate the indexes but it will require the freed space. Shrinking will also cause fragmentation in the server’s file system which will slow it even more. In addition, since every page move is logged to the transaction log, chances are that the transaction log will claim the same space.


However, if in case you decide to shrink the database anyway (for example, after a large and permanent delete, or in case it is a test system) a common reason for this error is lack of space.
Since many times the attempt to shrink a database will come after discovering that the drive is running out of space, it would only make sense that there is not enough space for the shrinking process itself.


To verify, open the sql server error log (usually under Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.n\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG) and look for Operating system error 112(There is not enough space on the disk.).


To solve, you should clear some space to allow the process to complete. If you can not free some disk space, Try to shrink the transaction log and tempdb.

What to do when listener.log is growing.

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over time, the Listener.log file can grow to huge size and take a lot of disk space.
If you will try to delete it in windows you may get the following error:

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Error Deleting File or Folder
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Cannot delete listener: It is being used by another person or program.

Close any programs that might be using the file and try again.
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OK
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Linux will allow you to delete the file but it will not create a new one.


The solution to this issue is simple. following are some options:


The easiest solution would be to stop the listener process, delete the file and restart the listener service. However, stopping the listener will prevent new connections to the database and disrupt service.


A better option would be to stop logging to the listener.log file:

In the command prompt type >lsnrctl
This will open the Listener control utility. Type LSNRCTL> set log_status off
now you can navigate to the file location and delete the file using the operating system.
This will prevent the file from growing in the futre.
If you like, you can restart logging LSNRCTL> set log_status on
This will allow you to delete listener.log but nothing will be logged when the log_status is set to off.


If you want to the logging to continue. you can switch to a different logging file:
type LSNRCTL> set log_file listener2.log

The listener will now log to the new file. you can delete or move the old file.

Adding a Transaction Log at runtime to prevent it from running out of space

sometimes, when running a big transaction, the transaction log can become full or simply grow to a huge size . while you can sometimes free some space using “backup log db-name with truncate_only” and trying to shrink the DB using SQL Management studio.


The process is described in the above link but basically it is: right click on the Database name ->tasks->shrink->files and choosing the log file.
This will shrink the db if there is free space in the transaction log but it can only serve as a temporary solution.

If the transaction is still running and you are afraid that the hard drive will run out of disk space, a better solution would be to create another transaction log on a different drive. This will solve the disk space issue and might even improve performance.
To create another transaction log file  using the SQL Server Management Studio:

    1) Expand the DataBases node and choose your Database
    2) Right Click your Database and click Properties.
    3) Select the Files Page
    4) CLick ADD and Navigate to te Database files grid.
    5) Enter a name for the new log file. This name must be unique within the database.
    6) Select the Log file type
    7) select initial size, growth method (auto Growth, fixed Increments or percent). you can also set a maximum size. Set up the path to the new file and file name and Click OK

In Some cases, the file name column might be disabled when adding a log file using the Sql Server Mangment Studio while the transaction is still runing.
In this case you can add the file manually using a query.
Open a query editor and type:


USE master

GO

ALTER DATABASE db-name

ADD LOG FILE

( NAME = addedlog,

FILENAME = ‘I:addedlog.ldf’,

SIZE = 1000MB,

— MAXSIZE = 10000MB,

FILEGROWTH = 10MB)

GO

There are better ways to avoid the Transaction log is full situation and this should be prevented in the the first place by the code but if you got no access to it, this might be a good solution.

Possible Causes to ORA-00980 Synonym Transaltion no longer valid

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ORA-00980: synonym translation is no longer valid
This error usually means that the synonym used is based on a table, view, or synonym that no longer exists. in order to fix it you will need to replace the synonym with the name of the object it references or re-create the synonym so that it refers to a valid table, view, or synonym. However, this is not always simple. following are some common causes and suggested solutions.

    1) If you imported a specific schema, it is possible that one of the sysnonyms is pointing to an object on a different schema that is simply not there. run SELECT * FROM all_synonyms and verify that all the table name are there and reachable.
    2) If you imported from a different version it is also possible that that the synonym is pointing to an object that does not exists in the new version. This could be due to the fact that this component was not installed on the new version or that the component is not in a valid state.
    SELECT comp_name, version,status FROM dba_registry     and make sure that all the components are valid.
    3) it is also possible that object is there but you don’t have access to it. connect as system and do the SELECT * FROM dba_synonyms WHERE owner=’YOUR USER”. again, make sure that your user have access to all the objects under TABLE_NAME. If not, grant it.
    4) if this issue happens during import or export, add trace=y to the imp/exp command (imp user/pass file=filename.dmp trace=y) This will create a trace file that will provide more information on what is failing.