sp_addlinkedserver help

[darkwater23]

I'm trying to set up a linked server in SQL Server to an Oracle 10 server.

I've been reading and re-reading the MSDN doc on sp_addlinkedserver, but it's not clicking. I'm not using TNS, so I need to provide the server name in one of the variables there, but I can't tell where.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190479.aspx

[wwb_99]

I can't say I can ever make too much sense of the MSSQL BOL text descriptions. But scroll down to examples and it is pretty clear:

EXEC sp_addlinkedserver
@server = 'LONDON Mktg',
@srvproduct = 'Oracle',
@provider = 'MSDAORA',
@datasrc = 'MyServer'
GO

[darkwater23]

Unfortunately, it isn't clear. For instance, @server is not the name of the server to connect to, but it's just an arbitrary name that you see in the management studio. The @srvproduct is just a label.

The important information that the linked server needs is the host, the engine and maybe the database, but I can't tell where to pass those in at.

I read and re-read all those examples over and over, but I'm not seeing how to make this work.

[wwb_99]

I think you read past the @datasrc--that should be the server you are connecting to.

[darkwater23]

@datasrc = Is the name of the data source as interpreted by the OLE DB provider.

That doesn't sound like a server name. That sounds like a database/catalog name. But, the definition is really lacking.