Unable to connect to PDB | ORA-12154

ORA-12518 | Oracle 12c

ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified | ORA-
12518: TNS:listener could not hand off client connection

ORA-12154 and ORA-12154 generating when you are having issues with database
connectivity whenever you try to login into your database. In my scenario, I was
trying to install and configure Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c on my local system for
pratice purposes and for that I had installed repository database named as EMCTLDB.
This is a 12c database where EMCTLDB is the CDB name and EMCTLPDB is the
PDB name. After the database was installed, I made the entries in the
LISTENER.ORA and TNSNAMES.ORA like this,

LISTENER.ORA

(SID_DESC =

      (GLOBAL_DBNAME = emctldb)

      (ORACLE_HOME = F:\app\parain\product\12.1.0\dbhome_1)

      (SID_NAME = emctldb)

  )

(SID_DESC =

      (GLOBAL_DBNAME = emctlpdb)

      (ORACLE_HOME = F:\app\parain\product\12.1.0\dbhome_1)

      (SID_NAME = emctlpdb)

  )
TNSNAMES.ORA

EMCTLDB =

  (DESCRIPTION =

    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)(PORT = 1527))

    (CONNECT_DATA =

      (SERVER = DEDICATED)

      (SERVICE_NAME = emctldb)

  )

 )

EMCTLPDB =

  (DESCRIPTION =

    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)(PORT = 1527))

    (CONNECT_DATA =

      (SERVER = DEDICATED)

      (SERVICE_NAME = emctlpdb)

  )

 )

and then I restarted the LISTENER and checked for the status

F:\app\parain\diag\rdbms\emctldb\emctldb\trace>lsnrctl status listener2

LSNRCTL for 64-bit Windows: Version 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on 28-AUG-2018 12:49:24

Copyright (c) 1991, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)
(HOST=PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)(PORT=1527)))

STATUS of the LISTENER

------------------------

Alias                     LISTENER2

Version                   TNSLSNR for 64-bit Windows: Version 12.1.0.2.0 - Production

Start Date                28-AUG-2018 10:57:22

Uptime                    0 days 1 hr. 52 min. 6 sec

Trace Level               off

Security                  ON: Local OS Authentication

SNMP                      OFF

Listener Parameter File   F:\app\parain\product\12.1.0\dbhome_1\network\admin\

listener.ora

Listener Log File         F:\app\parain\diag\tnslsnr\PARAIN0\listener2\alert\log.xml

Listening Endpoints Summary...

  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)
(PORT=1527)))

  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(PIPENAME=\\.\pipe\EXTPROC1527ipc)))

Services Summary...

Service "CLRExtProc" has 1 instance(s).

  Instance "CLRExtProc", status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

Service "emctldb" has 1 instance(s).

  Instance "emctldb", status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

Service "emctlpdb" has 1 instance(s).

  Instance "emctlpdb", status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

The command completed successfully

The status for both the EMCTLDB and EMCTLPDB Instances was showing
UNKNOWN. My main concern was with the PDB i.e. EMCTLPDB because I needed
the same to use as repository database for my Enterprise Manager Setup. So I tried to
use TNSPING to check for the connectivity and everything was good here,

C:\Users\parain>tnsping emctlpdb

TNS Ping Utility for 64-bit Windows: Version 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on 28-AUG-2018 11:56:45

Copyright (c) 1997, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:

F:\app\parain\product\12.1.0\dbhome_1\NETWORK\ADMIN\sqlnet.ora

Used TNSNAMES adapter to resolve the alias

Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST =

PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)(PORT = 1527)) (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVER = DEDICATED)
(SERVICE_NAME = emctlpdb)))

OK (0 msec)

C:\Users\parain>
But when I tried to login to the database, it failed with ORA-12154 and ORA-12518

C:\Users\parain>sqlplus system@emctlpdb

SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.2.0 Production on Tue Aug 28 11:40:17 2018

Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Enter password:

ERROR:

ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified

C:\Users\parain>sqlplus sys@emctlpdb as sysdba

SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.2.0 Production on Tue Aug 28 11:42:39 2018

Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Enter password:

ERROR:

ORA-12518: TNS:listener could not hand off client connection

Enter user-name: system@emctlpdb

Enter password:

ERROR:

ORA-12518: TNS:listener could not hand off client connection

After a lot of searching in GOOGLE I got the idea of dynamic registration with
LISTENER and since I was able to login to my CBD i.e. EMCTLDB, I did this

SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.2.0 Production on Tue Aug 28 12:54:46 2018

Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Enter password:

Connected to:

Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.1.0.2.0 - 64bit Production

With the Partitioning, OLAP, Advanced Analytics and Real Application Testing options

SQL> show parameter local_listener

NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE

------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------

local_listener                       string

SQL> alter system set local_listener='(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)

(HOST=PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)(PORT=1527))';
System altered.

SQL> quit

Disconnected from Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.1.0.2.0 - 64bit Production

With the Partitioning, OLAP, Advanced Analytics and Real Application Testing options

And then I reloaded my LISTENER again

F:\app\parain\diag\rdbms\emctldb\emctldb\trace>lsnrctl reload listener2

LSNRCTL for 64-bit Windows: Version 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on 28-AUG-2018 12:56:16

Copyright (c) 1991, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)
(HOST=PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)(PORT=1527)))

The command completed successfully

This time there were 2 instances for the services EMCTLDB and EMCTLPDB, one
with UNKNOWN state and other with READY. This might be because I used both
STATIC and DYNAMIC registration with LISTENER for the connectivity.

F:\app\parain\diag\rdbms\emctldb\emctldb\trace>lsnrctl status listener2

LSNRCTL for 64-bit Windows: Version 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on 28-AUG-2018 12:56:19

Copyright (c) 1991, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)
(HOST=PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)(PORT=1527)))

STATUS of the LISTENER

------------------------

Alias                     LISTENER2

Version                   TNSLSNR for 64-bit Windows: Version 12.1.0.2.0 - Production

Start Date                28-AUG-2018 10:57:22

Uptime                    0 days 1 hr. 59 min. 1 sec

Trace Level               off

Security                  ON: Local OS Authentication

SNMP                      OFF

Listener Parameter File   F:\app\parain\product\12.1.0\dbhome_1\network\admin\

listener.ora

Listener Log File         F:\app\parain\diag\tnslsnr\PARAIN0\listener2\alert\log.xml

Listening Endpoints Summary...

  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=PARAIN0.corpnet.ifsworld.com)
(PORT=1527)))

  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc)(PIPENAME=\\.\pipe\EXTPROC1527ipc)))

Services Summary...

Service "CLRExtProc" has 1 instance(s).

  Instance "CLRExtProc", status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

Service "emctldb" has 2 instance(s).

  Instance "emctldb", status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

  Instance "emctldb", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

Service "emctldbXDB" has 1 instance(s).

  Instance "emctldb", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

Service "emctlpdb" has 2 instance(s).

  Instance "emctldb", status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

  Instance "emctlpdb", status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service...

The command completed successfully

And YES, I was able to connect to my PDB this time.

F:\app\parain\diag\rdbms\emctldb\emctldb\trace>sqlplus sys@emctlpdb as sysdba

SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.2.0 Production on Tue Aug 28 12:56:35 2018

Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Enter password:

Connected to:

Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.1.0.2.0 - 64bit Production

With the Partitioning, OLAP, Advanced Analytics and Real Application Testing options

SQL>