What a pain – you have downloaded the Oracle database installation executable and simply want to install Oracle with a few clicks in a wizard. Half-way through the wizard tells you that your machine uses DHCP networking and instead needs to use a static IP address. What is this all about?
DHCP means that an IP address is dynamic – that is not what we want! An Oracle database installation on Windows expects a “stable” or “static” IP address for several reasons. For example, Enterprise Manager depends on a static ip address so end users can reliably access the web interface always with the same URL. So how do we fix this issue? In a nutshell, here are the basic steps:
1. Install a Microsoft loopback adapter in the Control Panel’s network center. No, this is not hardware – it is software which is already available – you just need to install it as a “network connection”.
Go to the Window Control Panel -> Add Hardware -> Advanced -> Network Adapters -> Microsoft Loopback Adapter -> Finish
2. Configure the loopback adapter’s network properties to use a static IP that you define. I typically set the IP address to 10.10.10.10 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.
From the Windows Control Panel, choose “Network and Sharing Center”. Choose “Manage Network Connections”.
Right-click on your newly created Microsoft Loopback Adapter and choose “Properties”.
Choose the TCP item and click on “Properties”.
In the dialog box, type a “static” IP address. “10.10.10.10” should be fine. Choose “255.255.255.0“ for the subnet address. Leave everything else at the default values and hit “OK”.
3. Edit the “hosts” file to associate the IP address with your server.
The “hosts” file is typically found at “c:windowssystem32driversetchosts”.
Add an entry on a separate line at the bottom of the file that contains the IP address and the machine name, which is typically “localhost” (or your machine name).
10.10.10.10 localhost
4. Oracle’s documentation states that you’ll need to reboot your machine for these new networking settings to take effect, but this is not always the case.
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