You configure the computer that hosts Oracle Connection Manager by setting parameters in the cman.ora file. The cman.ora file resides on the computer that hosts Oracle Connection Manager, and is located in the ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory. Oracle Connection Manager will not start if the cman.ora file does not exist. This file includes the following components:

• Listening endpoint

• Access control rule list

• Parameter list

Each Oracle Connection Manager configuration is encapsulated within a single name-value (NV) string, which consists of the preceding components.

One computer can host any number of Oracle Connection Managers, each with its own entry in the cman.ora file. When defining more than one Oracle Connection Manager in the file, you can assign a default by giving only one a fully qualified host name.

You can specify multiple rules for both client and Oracle Connection Manager Control utility (CMCTL) connections. The following guidelines apply when making changes:

• You must enter at least one rule for client connections and one rule for CMCTL connections. Omitting a rule results in the rejection of all connections for the rule type omitted.

• Oracle Connection Manager does not support wildcards for partial IP addresses. If you use a wildcard, then use it in place of a full IP address. The IP address of the client may be, for example, (SRV=*).

• Oracle Connection Manager supports only the /nn notation for subnet addresses. In Example 10-1, in the first rule, /24 represents a subnet mask that comprises 24 left-most bits. Only the first 24 bits in the client's IP address are compared with the IP address in the rule.

Example 10-1 shows a cman.ora file that contains a configuration entry for an Oracle Connection Manager called CMAN1.

CMAN1=
  (CONFIGURATION=
    (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=proxysvr)(PORT=1521))
    (RULE_LIST=
      (RULE=(SRC=192.0.2.32/24)(DST=sales-server)(SRV=*)(ACT=accept)
        (ACTION_LIST=(AUT=on)(MCT=120)(MIT=30)))
      (RULE=(SRC=192.0.2.32)(DST=proxysvr)(SRV=cmon)(ACT=accept)))
    (PARAMETER_LIST=
      (MAX_GATEWAY_PROCESSES=8)
      (MIN_GATEWAY_PROCESSSES=3)))
       

Example 10-1 shows the following rules:

• In the first rule in the example, the following parameters are set:

  • SRC=192.0.2.32/24 is for client connections. It designates the IP address of the client, or source.

  • DST=sales-server designates the destination host name. The ACT parameter specifies the action, that is, accept, reject, or drop. The ACTION_LIST parameter sets attributes for a connection if it is accepted, enabling you to override default parameter settings on a connection-by-connection basis.

• In the second rule, the following parameters are set:

  • SRC=192.0.2.32 and DST=proxysvr represent the same server, indicating that Oracle Connection Manager and CMCTL must reside on the same computer.

  See Also:

  "Enabling Access Control"

Table 10-1 describes the rule-level parameters in the cman.ora file.

You can define multiple rules in the RULE_LIST. The action (ACT) in the first matched RULE is applied to the connection request. If no rules are defined, then all connections are rejected.

In the following example, client computer client1-pc is denied access to the service sales.us.example.com, but client 192.0.2.45 is granted access to the service db1.

(RULE_LIST=
  (RULE=(SRC=client1-pc)(DST=sales-server)(SRV=sales.us.example.com)(ACT=reject))
  (RULE=(SRC=192.0.2.45)(DST=192.0.2.200)(SRV=db1)(ACT=accept)))

In order to configure Oracle Connection Manager you must configure the proxy server, database, and clients. The following tasks describe the general procedure:

Task 1   Configure the cman.ora file on the Oracle Connection Manager computer.

The cman.ora file specifies the listening endpoint for the server, access control rules, and Oracle Connection Manager performance parameters.

"Configuring the cman.ora file for the Oracle Connection Manager Host" explains how to perform this task.

Task 2   Configure the clients with the protocol address of the Oracle Connection Manager listener.

"Configuring Clients for Oracle Connection Manager" explains how to perform this task.

Task 3   Configure the database server for session multiplexing. This task is optional.

"Configuring the Oracle Database Server for Oracle Connection Manager" explains how to perform this task.

In some database connection environments, a client and database may use different versions of the IP protocol so that complete connectivity does not exist. In this case at least two hops in the connection use different versions of the IP protocol. For example, a request passes from an IPv4 source to an IPv6 destination, from an IPv6 source to an IPv4 destination, or from IPv6 to IPv6 through an IPv4 network.

You can use Oracle Connection Manager as a network bridge between IPv4 and IPv6. To serve as a bridge, Oracle Connection Manager must run on a dual-stack host configured with at least one IPv4 interface and at least one IPv6 interface.

Use the Oracle Connection Manager filtering feature to filter based on an IPv6 address. You can base rules on complete or partial IP addresses. Figure 10-1 shows the format of an IPv6 address.

Figure 10-1 IPv6 Address Format

Description of "Figure 10-1 IPv6 Address Format"

The numbers at the top of the diagram indicate the number of bits in the address. Each hexadecimal character in an IPv6 address represents 4 bits. Bits 4-16 are the Top-Level Aggregation Identifier (TLA ID) portion of the address. Bits 25-49 are the Next-Level Aggregation Identifiers (NLA ID).

For example, in the address 2001:0db8::203:BAFF:FE0F:C74B, the binary representation of the first four hexademical characters (2001) is as follows:

0010000000000001

Thus, the first 3 bits in the address are 001. The TLA ID portion of the address is 0000000000001.

The following procedure describes how to create a rules filter for IPv6 address:

1. Navigate to the cman.ora file located in the ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory.

2. Open the cman.ora file with a text editor.

3. Create a RULE in the RULE_LIST based on IPv6 address format.

   For example, assume that the source host is an IPv6-only host with address 2001:0db8::203:BAFF:FE0F:C74B, whereas the destination is an IPv4-only host named SALESL1593. You configure Oracle Connection Manager as an IPv6-to-IPv4 bridge by creating one of the following rules:

   Type of Rule	Description	Example
   Filter based on subnet ID	Filtering is based on the 64 bits up to and including the subnet ID	(RULE = (SRC = 2001:0db8::203:BAFF:FE0F:C74B/64) (DST = SALESL1593) (SRV = SALES) (ACT = ACCEPT) (ACTION_LIST = (AUT=ON)(MOCT=10)(MIT=30)(CONN_STATE=YES)) )
   Filter based on NLA ID	Filtering is based on the 48 bits up to and including the NLA ID	(RULE = (SRC = 2001:0db8::203:BAFF:FE0F:C74B/48) (DST = SALESL1593) (SRV = SALES) (ACT = ACCEPT) (ACTION_LIST = (AUT=ON)(MOCT=10)(MIT=30)(CONN_STATE=YES)) )
   Filter based on TLA ID	Filtering is based on the 16 bits up to and including the TLA ID	(RULE = (SRC = 2001:0db8::203:BAFF:FE0F:C74B/16) (DST = SALESL1593) (SRV = SALES) (ACT = ACCEPT) (ACTION_LIST = (AUT=ON)(MOCT=10)(MIT=30)(CONN_STATE=YES)) )
   Filter based on number of bits	Filtering is based on the first 60 bits of the address	(RULE = (SRC = 2001:0db8::203:BAFF:FE0F:C74B/60) (DST = SALESL1593) (SRV = SALES) (ACT = ACCEPT) (ACTION_LIST = (AUT=ON)(MOCT=10)(MIT=30)(CONN_STATE=YES)) )

The Oracle Connection Manager Control utility enables you to administer Oracle Connection Manager. When you issue commands from the operating system, the basic syntax for this utility is as follows:

cmctl [command] [argument1 . . . argumentN] [-c instance_name]

In the preceding command, -c specifies the Oracle Connection Manager instance. You are prompted for the password if one has been set.

For example, the following command starts the listener, Connection Manager Administration (CMADMIN), and gateway processes for an instance named cman1:

cmctl STARTUP -c cman1

You can also issue Oracle Connection Manager utility commands at the CMCTL prompt. To obtain the prompt, enter cmctl with no arguments at the operating system command line. The utility may prompt for a password if Oracle Connection Manager was installed with secure installation option. When you run CMCTL, the utility is started, and you can enter the necessary commands from the CMCTL prompt. The following is an example of the CMCTL prompt:

cmctl
CMCTL> STARTUP