ORA-00130: invalid listener address...

The actual error was:

SQL>STARTUP;

ORA-00119: invalid specification for system parameter LOCAL_LISTENER
ORA-00130: invalid listener address '(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=oracle)(PORT=1521))

I had finally managed to create my 11gR2 instance when I got this. So what happened?

1. Started OEL 5.5 64 bit VM
2. Logged in as user oracle
3. Opened terminal and ran . oraenv
4. sqlplus / as sysdba
5. Issued the startup command.

ORA-00130 from the docs:

Cause: The listener address specification is not valid.
Action: Make sure that all fields in the listener address (protocol, port, host, key, ...) are correct.

So it has something to do with how I configured everything. What else did I change on the system?

After installing the database, I ran netca to set up the listener. I manually edited the file to change localhost.localdomain to just localhost. I also added an entry in the tnsnames.ora file to point to the listener.

From a system perspective, I decided I didn't like "new-host" showing up on my router configuration page. So I changed the hostname to oracle. I used the network GUI tool, not the CLI (still hazy on how exactly that is done).

I'm back to my sql prompt.

SQL>STARTUP;

ORA-00119: invalid specification for system parameter LOCAL_LISTENER
ORA-00130: invalid listener address '(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=oracle)(PORT=1521))

Come on!

I then asked The Google Machine for help. That led me to this thread on OTN. About 6 or 7 replies in, Hans Forbrich offers up some very helpful troubleshooting tips.

1. Check that your environment variables are set. Check.
2. Make sure the listener is started. Check.

There was a caveat for #2 though. If your listener blew up on start, check these other things. That's when I saw cat /etc/hosts and his output for that. I quickly checked mine and saw this:

[oracle@oracle bin]$ cat /etc/hosts
# Do not remove the following line, or various programs
# that require network functionality will fail.
127.0.0.1               localhost.localdomain localhost
::1             localhost6.localdomain6 localhost6

Ah...where's oracle? I tried pinging oracle, no response. I open up the file and add it in:

[oracle@oracle bin]$ cat /etc/hosts
# Do not remove the following line, or various programs
# that require network functionality will fail.
127.0.0.1               localhost.localdomain localhost oracle
::1             localhost6.localdomain6 localhost6

I ping oracle again, response!

Start and restart the listener. tnsping TESTING OK!

SQL> startup;
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1068937216 bytes
Fixed Size                  2220200 bytes
Variable Size             616566616 bytes
Database Buffers          444596224 bytes
Redo Buffers                5554176 bytes
Database mounted.
Database opened.
SQL> 

Awesome.

In my defense (or will this be my excuse?), I don't do this everyday, or ever week, or every month. It is a once a quarter, at best, exercise. I forget things. Next time, I won't forget. If I do, I'll have this helpful page to remind me what an ID10T I am.