Hello List, Version 10.2.0.1.0 on Windows My global_name is <my db name>.REGRESS.RDBMS.DEV.US.ORACLE.COM I assume this is some default domain set up in the installation. I can change the global_name e.g. to <my db name>.WORLD, but I can't get rid the domain name completely. The statement .. Alter database rename global_name to <my db name>; .. preserves the former domain name. Metalink note Note:368701.1 suggests one can get rid of the domain this way, but it didn't worked for me. My problem: I suspect this is the cause of ora-12154 using a database link. The whole story: 1) I changed the global_name to <my db name>.world 2) in my (local) tnsnames I defined alias with <remote_db_name>.world 3) I defined db link with USING '<remote_db_name>' 4) select from dual@<link_name> returns ora-12154 alternative 3) I defined db link with USING '<remote_db_name>.world' 4) select from dual@<link_name> returns ora-12560 The funniest thing is, in the trace (trace_level_client=admin) I don't see the 12154 error. The only nserrors I see are ns=12630 and ns=12582; both of the internal. In other 10.2 database where the global_name is nice <db name> (without the domain suffix) I have no such problems. I guess the fix is to get rid of the domain name from the global_name. Is there an easier solution than new set up of the database? Thanks, Jaromir -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l