Ora-29257 UTL_INADDR.get_host_address

Ora-29257 When Trying to Use UTL_INADDR to Get IP Address or Host Name of a Server

Problem Description

When using either the get_host_address() or get_host_name() function of the UTL_INADDR package to get host information, an ORA-29257 error is returned like below:

ORA-29257: host notebook unknown

ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_INADDR", line 19

ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_INADDR", line 40

For example while installation Audit Vault Agent it fails with following error:

Error1: SQL Error: ORA-29257: host notebook unknown

ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_INADDR", line 19

ORA-06512: at "SYS.UTL_INADDR", line 40

ORA-06512: at "AVSYS.DBMS_AUDIT_VAULT_AGENT_INSTALL" line 55

ORA-06512: at line 1

Cause of the Problem

The functions in the UTL_INADDR package are essentially using the 'nslookup' command behind the scenes and the nslookup command uses the specified dns server to get the information. If you test the nslookup command and it fails then there is a configuration issue on the host machine and it has nothing to do with the the Oracle Database server. On unix machines, the /etc/resolv.conf identifies the DNS server to be used.

Solution of the Problem

Modify the /etc/resolv.conf to configure the DNS server resolution and once nslookup works, so will the UTL_INADDR package. Note that you must have DNS server in this case and the corresponding hostname must resolve DNS.

If you don't have DNS server you can use /etc/hosts file and add the entry of the host and IP address which is unknown.