Hi everyone,
I recently encountered a connectivity issue while using the Oracle DB 23ai Free VirtualBox Appliance. Specifically, I couldn’t connect from my host Windows machine to the Oracle Database running in the VM when using a NAT network configuration.
After some troubleshooting, I realized the problem stemmed from the default listener.ora configuration, which binds the listener to localhost. To resolve the issue, I modified the listener.ora file, replacing localhost with the generic IP address 0.0.0.0.
Here’s an example of the change:
# /opt/oracle/product/23ai/dbhomeFree/network/admin/listener.ora
DEFAULT_SERVICE_LISTENER = FREE
LISTENER =
(DESCRIPTION_LIST =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = 0.0.0.0)(PORT = 1521))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = EXTPROC1521))
)
)
Once I saved the changes and restarted the listener using the commands lsnrctl stop and lsnrctl start, the connectivity issue was resolved, and I was able to access the database from my host machine.
Important Disclaimer: This approach is not recommended for production environments, as binding the listener to 0.0.0.0 exposes it to all network interfaces, which may introduce security vulnerabilities. However, for a developer VM meant solely for testing and experimentation, I found this solution suitable.
I hope this helps anyone facing a similar challenge. If there’s a more secure or efficient way to address this issue, I’d greatly appreciate your insights!
Best regards,
Angelo