My Oracle Support Banner

Remote or Local Connections to the Database Fail With: ORA-12162: TNS:net service name is incorrectly specified (Doc ID 312348.1)

Last updated on SEPTEMBER 17, 2023

Applies to:

Oracle Database - Enterprise Edition - Version 10.1.0.4 and later
Oracle Net Services - Version 10.1.0.4 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Affects any platform.
Mostly UNIX and Linux but not as frequent on Microsoft Windows (possibly due to differences in BEQ communication)



Symptoms

1. When trying to connect locally (BEQUEATH) to the database, you may get an error:
ORA-12162: TNS:net service name is incorrectly specified

This is unusual because a TNS:net service name is not being specified, nor is the environment variable TWO_TASK set (which will force TNS service names use).

2. This may also happen if you are trying to connect from a location other than the Local ORACLE_HOME.

Cause

To view full details, sign in with your My Oracle Support account.

Don't have a My Oracle Support account? Click to get started!

In this Document
Symptoms
Cause
Solution
References

My Oracle Support provides customers with access to over a million knowledge articles and a vibrant support community of peers and Oracle experts.