2. From a command prompt, sqlplus / as sysdba, then enter startup. Are there error messages?
3. In the last instance I had to troubleshoot, the client had entered non-functional values into the Oracle config. This meant the spfile was toast. To recover from this:
- sqlplus / as sysdba
- create pfile='c:\temp\initorcl.ora' from spfile;
- exit
- Use notepad or your preferred text editor and clean up the bad values in the pfile you just created. Save the file.
- sqlplus / as sysdba
- startup pfile='c:\temp\initorcl.ora'
- create spfile from pfile='c:\temp\initorcl.ora';
- shutdown immediate
- startup
4. To restart your database without rebooting the server, you have several options.
- Restart the Oracle service. You only need to restart the one for the instance. Assuming your SID is named orcl, you just need to restart the OracleServiceORCL.
- My preferred way is to do this from the command prompt. It's a lot easier to catch any problems this way.
- sqlplus / as sysdba
- shutdown immediate;
- startup;
5. I also had a client with listener issues. Again, the command prompt is your friend.
- lsnrctl status - shows the status of the listener.
- lsnrctl services - shows what services the listener knows about.
- lsnrctl stop - yep, stops it.
- lsnrctl start - you guessed it, starts it.
