Listerner listening on wrong host (localhost)

Question

I created a listener (using netca) called listener.

When I start the listener (using lsnrctl start) I have the following log.

LSNRCTL for Linux: Version 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on 24-JUN-2012 17:56:35

Copyright (c) 1991, 2009, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Starting /opt/oracle/eesrv/11.2.0/db1/bin/tnslsnr: please wait...

TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 11.2.0.1.0 - Production
System parameter file is /opt/oracle/network/listener.ora
Log messages written to /opt/oracle/diag/tnslsnr/sakura/listener/alert/log.xml
Listening on: (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=localhost.localdomain)(PORT=1521)))

Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=sakura)(PORT=1521)))
STATUS of the LISTENER
------------------------
Alias                     LISTENER
Version                   TNSLSNR for Linux: Version 11.2.0.1.0 - Production
Start Date                24-JUN-2012 17:56:35
Uptime                    0 days 0 hr. 0 min. 10 sec
Trace Level               off
Security                  ON: Local OS Authentication
SNMP                      OFF
Listener Parameter File   /opt/oracle/network/listener.ora
Listener Log File         /opt/oracle/diag/tnslsnr/sakura/listener/alert/log.xml
Listening Endpoints Summary...
  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=localhost.localdomain)(PORT=1521)))
The listener supports no services
The command completed successfully

Q. Why is the listener listening on localhost and not on sakura ?!?

Here is my listener.ora file (where I clearly specify to use sakura):

TRACE_DIRECTORY_PROD = /var/opt/oracle/otk/1.0/log/network/trace

SUBSCRIBE_FOR_NODE_DOWN_EVENT_PROD = OFF

LISTENER = (DESCRIPTION_LIST = (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = sakura)(PORT = 1521)) ) )

ADR_BASE_LISTENER = /opt/oracle

LOG_DIRECTORY_PROD = /var/opt/oracle/otk/1.0/log/network

Why did I do wrong ?

Thanks

Does changing (HOST = sakura)(PORT = 1521) to (HOST = <IP of sakura>)(PORT = 1521) enable you to connect? — dseibert
are you sure you are using the correct listener.ora file? t doesn't look like from looking at the value of the parameter log_directory_prod — steve
@steve - the*_PROD parameters apply to a listener called PROD; the listener called LISTENER looks like it will get defaults for everything except the listen address. As the lsnrctl messages show both localhost.localdomain and sakura, I sspect sakura is just resolving to 127.0.0.1 in /etc/hosts. Using an explicit external IP or FQDN may fix this. — Alex Poole
Yes the problem was the /etc/hosts file. I was using an explicit external IP for sakura but I was also defining 127.0.0.1 as sakura to fix an issue with boot time for sendmail. Now it listening on the right server (ie: sakura) but boot time for sendmail and sm-client takes forever :( I can live with it thought ... Thanks for the solution !!! — Bruno

Alex Poole Alex Poole · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-26T12:49:21

Expanded from comment

It appears that sakura is resolving to the same address as localhost.localdomain, i.e. 127.0.0.1. This suggests that there is an entry in the /etc/hosts that is mapping sakura to 127.0.0.1.

You can either:

remove that mapping;
change it to show an external IP address, if it doesn't resolve to one automatically;
change your listener.ora to use a fully-qualified domain name if you have one that resolves to the external IP, e.g. sakura.example.com;
or change your listener.ora to use the external IP address directly with no lookup.

The last option might be the simplest, unless you have a DHCP-assigned IP address; and os what @dseibert suggested.

Listerner listening on wrong host (localhost)

2 Answers