t8y2/dbx · error

Failed to read Oracle TNS file

Error message

Failed to read Oracle TNS file %s: %w

What it means

readOracleTNSAliases opens the resolved absolute TNS file with os.Open; if that fails (file missing, permission denied, path is a directory), the OS error is wrapped in this message. This is the standard 'cannot read tnsnames.ora' failure for the Oracle driver.

Solutions

1. Verify the file exists at the reported absolutePath (ls -l <path>) and fix the TNS path configuration
2. Check read permissions for the agent's user; chown/chmod as needed
3. Confirm TNS_ADMIN environment variable or the tnsNamesPath option points to the correct directory
4. In containers, ensure the TNS file is mounted into the image/pod
5. Read the wrapped %w error to distinguish not-found vs permission-denied

Example fix

// before: wrong path configured
path := "/etc/oracle/tnsnames.ora.bak"

// after: validate before use
path := "/etc/oracle/tnsnames.ora"
if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("TNS file missing: %v", err)
}

func tnsFileReadable(path string) error {
    info, err := os.Stat(path)
    if err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("TNS file missing: %w", err)
    }
    if info.IsDir() {
        return fmt.Errorf("%s is a directory, not a file", path)
    }
    f, err := os.Open(path)
    if err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("TNS file unreadable: %w", err)
    }
    f.Close()
    return nil
}
// run before resolveOracleTNSAlias

aliases, err := resolveOracleTNSAlias(name)
if err != nil {
    var perr *fs.PathError
    if errors.As(err, &perr) && errors.Is(perr.Err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
        log.Printf("TNS file not found at %s; check TNS_ADMIN", perr.Path)
    } else if errors.As(err, &perr) && errors.Is(perr.Err, fs.ErrPermission) {
        log.Printf("Permission denied reading %s", perr.Path)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: resolveOracleTNSAlias pointed at a TNS file path that does not exist, has wrong permissions, or is a directory — os.Open fails and the error is wrapped at tns.go:117.

Common situations: TNS_ADMIN or tnsNamesPath config pointing at a stale/nonexistent path; file mounted read-only or owned by another user in containers; typo in the configured TNS file path; file deleted after path discovery.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to resolve Oracle TNS file path
• Oracle TNS_ADMIN directory is not accessible
• Oracle TNS_ADMIN must be a directory containing tnsnames.ora
• Oracle tnsnames.ora was not found in TNS_ADMIN directory
• Oracle TNS_ADMIN directory is required

AI-assisted analysis of t8y2/dbx@c0390bff16 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/995393911ed681ee. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at agents/drivers/oracle-go/tns.go:117

	return tnsNamesPath, nil
}

func readOracleTNSAliases(path string, visited map[string]bool, depth int) (map[string]string, error) {
	if depth > 8 {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Oracle TNS include depth exceeds 8 files")
	}
	absolutePath, err := filepath.Abs(path)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to resolve Oracle TNS file path: %w", err)
	}
	if visited[absolutePath] {
		return map[string]string{}, nil
	}
	visited[absolutePath] = true

	file, err := os.Open(absolutePath)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to read Oracle TNS file %s: %w", absolutePath, err)
	}
	defer file.Close()

	aliases := make(map[string]string)
	var currentAliases []string
	var description strings.Builder
	descriptionStarted := false
	parenthesisDepth := 0
	flush := func() {
		if len(currentAliases) == 0 {
			return
		}
		value := strings.Join(strings.Fields(description.String()), " ")
		if value != "" {
			for _, alias := range currentAliases {
				alias = strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(alias))
				if alias != "" {
					aliases[alias] = value

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