Oracle discovery - potential problems with listener.ora files

[#1]

Summary

The Oracle listener.ora file, used when setting up Oracle discovery, has two possible syntax issues

Synopsis

Existence of any of the following issues in a listener.ora file may result in the Oracle discovery failing to work as expected.

Discussion

Comments

Comments need to be placed on their own line, not appended to the end of a configuration.

Good

# Comment 1
LISTENER_NAME1=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN3))))
# Comment 2
LISTENER_NAME2=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN2))))

Bad

LISTENER_NAME1=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN3))))   # comment 1

LISTENER_NAME2=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN2))))   # comment 2

Incorrect Bracketing Syntax

The number of brackets needs to be correct for the file to be handled correctly.

One too many brackets

LISTENER_NAME1=
   (DESCRIPTION=
      (ADDRESS_LIST=
         (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN3))
      )
   ))

Two too many brackets

LISTENER_NAME2=
   (DESCRIPTION=
      (ADDRESS_LIST=
         (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN3))
      )
   )))

One too few brackets

LISTENER_NAME3=
   (DESCRIPTION=
      (ADDRESS_LIST=
         (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN3))
      )
   )

or

LISTENER_NAME1=
   (DESCRIPTION=
      (ADDRESS_LIST=
         (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN3))
      )
LISTENER_NAME2=
   (DESCRIPTION=
      (ADDRESS_LIST=
         (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=IPC)(KEY=LISTENER_SCAN3))
      )
   )