Hi all,

What is the reason for having a *. in front of spfile parameters? E.g.

*.db_name = 'dba01'
*.db_domain = 'world'

Will it work without the *. ?

Hi,

the *. infront of the parameter means the this parameter is applied to all instances.

If you have a RAC installation you can have multible instances. The Instances can share the spfile. Then you have one spfile and 2 or more instances. Parameters like db_name have the same value for all instances.

*.db_name = xyz

Parameters like instance_number must have different values for each insance.

inst1.instance_number = 1
inst2.instance_number = 2

In this way you can have one spfile (or pfile) for all instances.

regards jf

That explains it. Thank you. :-)