I am using several machines running Ubuntu, with instant client on them.
That is the only supported version of the oracle client on that OS and
there was a problem of tnsping, a utility that is missing from the
instant client. However, there is a utility called "nc", short for
"netcat". The command "nc -z -w3 host port" has the same effect as
tnsping. It checks for the listener. If the listener is up and running,
the port will be open. OK, Ubuntu has just become slightly more usable.



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