ORA-1017 Invalid username/password

Question

I Have an asp.net web service that uses an oracle database. It works when I run it locally but when I upload to the server it gives me ORA-1017. The project on the server is an identical copy of what I have on my local computer, so the password is the same. I tried to install Oracle client 11g r2 because I have been told that the other (don't know which one) oracle client converts the password to uppercase. I don't have much experience with oracle and don't know what is wrong. Any help is appreciated.

The server is Windows Server 2003 32bit, the oracle version is Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production . The oracle server is on another machine.

Update1:

It works now. I reinstalled the oracle client from here. I selected Administrator at the beginning, it seems it matters. There were also 2 clients installed on the server so probably that created problems also, I'm not sure. One client should be enough, it can connect to all oracle versions. This should also work with ODAC as suggested by Andy Arismendi. There is also an (confusing, at least for me) answer here about connecting to oracle that suggests oracle instant client (I think).

So the 3 packages are:

• Oracle Client (3rd download link from the top)
• ODAC
• Oracle Instant Client

You should install only one of these. I don't know the difference between them. It seems they contain similar components.

Answer 1

It works now. I reinstalled the oracle client from here. I selected Administrator at the beginning, it seems it matters. There were also 2 clients installed on the server so probably that created problems also, I'm not sure. One client should be enough, it can connect to all oracle versions. This should also work with ODAC as suggested by Andy Arismendi. There is also an (confusing, at least for me) answer here about connecting to oracle that suggests oracle instant client (I think).

So the 3 packages are (ordered by size descending ):

• Oracle Client (3rd download link from the top)
• ODAC
• Oracle Instant Client

You should install only one of these. I don't know the difference between them. It seems they contain similar components.

Answer 2

Passwords in versions prior to Oracle 11g were case-insensitive - 11g upwords supports case sensitive passwords. If the server was upgraded from 10g to 11g - the passwords remain case-insensitive till they are changed.

So I'd say try changing the password.

Answer 3

This doesn't directly address your question but have you looked at ODAC Oracle Data Access Components? This is a .NET library you can use to access the database.

This is a good walkthrough for how to use it. http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/dotnet/vs2010-oracle-dev-410461.html