hello,

i am not sure if this is the place for my question.
i am running oracle 11G on linux ent 5 and have an environment problem.

there are some options to start a database

1.
export ORACLE_SID=dbname
sqlplus / as sysdba
startup

2.
sqlplus /nolog
connct sys/admin@dbname as sysdba
startup

no mather which option i start the database when i try the oposite on i get connected to an idle instance even though the database is started.

i aprichiate any help i can get
thanks
Michael

Best place for you to start, would be to call Oracle support. You're in a supported environment, and are paying for support from both Oracle and RedHat, so I'd use those resources. Much quicker to solve a problem through them.

When does it give you the 'idle instance' notification? Is it following the connect but before you enter 'startup' into sqlplus?

From what I can gather, that would be normal as the database is not started at that point - the database server is, however the database instance is not.

Have you successfully created a database? did you create it yourself or was it created by the Oracle installer? is this the first time you are trying to connect to it or have you connected successfully before?

It is about 10 years since I last used Oracle and that was 8i, so I am not very familiar with it. The following may be useful http://www.orafaq.com/node/2015

TBOne, I don't think he is a paying Oracle customer, if he were working in an organization that could afford to pay for Oracle, they wouldn't give any who wasn't a qualified Oracle DBA access to it. More likely he is using one of their 'free for educational purposes' versions from the Oracle Technology Network (perhaps in the hope of becoming a qualified DBA). BTW, if you are just playing with Oracle for your own interest, you might do better to post in the general server forum rather than the enterprise Linux forum (take a look at the sticky at the top of the forum).

[oracle@linuxent51 log]$ export ORACLE_SID=michaels
[oracle@linuxent51 log]$ sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL*Plus: Release 11.2.0.1.0 Production on Tue Apr 6 21:37:56 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2009, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Connected to an idle instance.

SQL> exit
Disconnected
[oracle@linuxent51 log]$ sqlplus /nolog

SQL*Plus: Release 11.2.0.1.0 Production on Tue Apr 6 21:38:08 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2009, Oracle. All rights reserved.

SQL> conn sys/admin@michaels as sysdba
Connected.
SQL> select name from v$database;

NAME
---------
MICHAEL1

SQL>


you can see that the instance is up but when i try to connect / as sysdba it does not recognize that it is connected.

Sorry I thought you were getting "Connected to an idle instance" no matter what you tried. It's long while since I used Oracle and even then I was only playing with it really. I will have a think about your problem and hopefully someone who knows better will advise you in the meantime.

Hi -

Look here:
Also check your $ORACLE_SID: make sure all the characters match *exactly* (case-sensitive).

'Hope that helps .. PSM

1 members found this post helpful.

Thank you this solved my problem.
there was a problem with my variable definitions.

Michael