11 Configuring and Administering Oracle Connection Manager

Configuring the Oracle Connection Manager Computer

To configure the machine where Oracle Connection Manager is installed, you can define three types of parameters in the cman.ora file:

• Listening endpoint (ADDRESS)

• Access control rule list (RULE_LIST)

• Parameter list (PARAMETER_LIST)

The cman.ora file is located in the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory on UNIX and in the ORACLE_HOME\network\admin directory on Windows. Example 11-1 shows an example cman.ora file file that contains a configuration entry for an Oracle Connection Manager called CMAN1.

CMAN1=
  (CONFIGURATION=
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=proxysvr)(PORT=1521))
    (RULE_LIST=
      (RULE=(SRC=206.62.226.32/27)(DST=sales-server)(SRV=*)(ACT=accept)
        (ACTION_LIST=(AUT=on)(MCT=120)(MIT=30)))
      (RULE=(SRC=206.26.226.32)(DST=proxysvr)(SRV=cmon)(ACT=accept)))
    (PARAMETER_LIST=
      (MAX_GATEWAY_PROCESSES=8)
      (MIN_GATEWAY_PROCESSSES=3)
      (REMOTE_ADMIN=YES)))
       

One computer can host any number of Oracle Connection Managers, each with its own configuration entry in cman.ora. When defining more than one Oracle Connection Manager in the file, you can assign a default by giving only one a fully qualified host name.

(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=proxysvr)(PORT=1521))

(RULE=(SRC=206.62.226.32/27)(DST=sales-server)(SRV=*)(ACT=accept)
  (ACTION_LIST=(AUT=on)(MCT=120)(MIT=30)))
(RULE=(SRC=206.26.226.32)(DST=proxysvr)(SRV=cmon)(ACT=accept))

Configuring Clients for Oracle Connection Manager

To route clients to the database server through Oracle Connection Manager, configure the tnsnames.ora file with a connect descriptor that specifies the protocol address of Oracle Connection Manager. This address enables clients to connect to the Oracle Connection Manager computer. The connect descriptor looks like this:

sales=
  (DESCRIPTION=
    (ADDRESS=
      (PROTOCOL=tcp)
      (HOST=cman-pc)
      (PORT=1521))
    (CONNECT_DATA=
      (SERVICE_NAME=sales.com)))

To configure a protocol address for Oracle Connection Manager:

1. Start Oracle Net Manager.

   
   

   See Also: "Oracle Net Manager"

   
   

2. In the navigator pane, expand Directory or Local > Service Naming.

3. Click plus (+) from the toolbar, or choose Edit > Create.

   The Welcome page of the Net Service Name Wizard appears.

4. Enter any name in the Net Service Name field.

5. Click Next.

   The Protocol page appears.

6. Select the protocol on which Oracle Connection Manager is configured to listen on. By default this protocol is TCP/IP.

7. Click Next.

   The Protocol Settings page appears.

8. Enter the appropriate parameter information for the selected protocol in the fields provided. If you are using TCP/IP, the default port to use is 1521.

   
   

   See Also: Oracle Database Net Services Reference for protocol parameter settings

   
   

9. Click Next.

   The Service page appears.

10. Select a release, and then enter the name of destination database service.

    If the destination service is an Oracle Database 10g, Oracle9i or Oracle8i database, select Oracle8i or later, and enter a service name in the Service Name field. If destination service is an Oracle release 8.0 database, select Oracle8 or Previous, and enter an Oracle System Identifier (SID) for an instance in the Database SID field.

    
    

    See Also: "About Connect Descriptors" for further information about setting the service name string

    
    

11. Click Next.

    
    

    Note: Do not click Test, because a connection cannot be tested at this point.

    
    

12. Click Finish to save your configuration and dismiss Net Service Name Wizard.

    The new net service name and the Oracle Connection Manager protocol address is added to the Service Naming folder.

Configuring the Oracle Database Server for Oracle Connection Manager

Configuring the database server is a two-part process that involves registering database information remotely with Oracle Connection Manager and, optionally, configuring the server for multiplexing.

REMOTE_LISTENER=cman_listener_alias

REMOTE_LISTENER=listener_cman

listener_cman=
 (DESCRIPTION=
  (ADDRESS_LIST=
   (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=proxyserver1)(PORT=1521))))

DISPATCHERS="(PROTOCOL=tcp)(MULTIPLEX=on)"

Enabling Session Multiplexing

Once the attributes PROTOCOL and MULTIPLEX have been added to the parameter DISPATCHERS in the initialization parameter file, enabling session multiplexing is simply a matter of ensuring that MULTIPLEX is set to on or to an equivalent value.

You can set different levels of multiplexing, as Table 11-1 shows.

Enabling Access Control

As stated in "Configuring the Oracle Connection Manager Computer", you can use the parameter RULE_LIST to control client access to designated database servers in a TCP/IP environment. By entering filtering rules under this parameter, you can allow or restrict specific clients access to a database server.

To configure access control:

1. Manually create a cman.ora file, if one does not already exist.

2. Add the parameter RULE_LIST and its subparameters, using the following format:

   (RULE_LIST=
           (RULE=(SRC=source_host) 
                 (DST=destination_host) 
                 (SRV=service) 
                 (ACT=accept | reject | drop)))
   
   

3. Add the following parameters for each rule described in Table 11-2 as needed.

You can define multiple rules in the RULE_LIST. The action (ACT) in the first matched RULE is applied to the connection request. If no rules are defined, all connections are rejected.

In the following example, client computer client1-pc is denied access to the service sales.us.acme.com, but client 144.25.23.45 is granted access to the service db1.

(RULE_LIST=
  (RULE=(SRC=client1-pc)(DST=sales-server)(SRV=sales.us.acme.com)(ACT=reject))
  (RULE=(SRC=144.25.23.45)(DST=144.25.187.200)(SRV=db1)(ACT=accept)))