Can't connect to TDOD or Group Job Processor with TDM (Test Data Manager) version 3.8 fresh install

Products

• CA Test Data Manager (Data Finder / Grid Tools)

Issue/Introduction

I can connect to our ORACLE Database with SQL Developer, Data Maker, and even through the TDM Web Portal.  However, when I try through the ODAC components on our new LOD server running TDM (Test Data Manager) version 3.8, I receive the following error:

016-10-14 12:58:29,116 [4] INFO GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Connection Details 
2016-10-14 12:58:29,163 [4] INFO GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Data Source=XE 
2016-10-14 12:58:29,163 [4] INFO GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - User ID=GTREP 
2016-10-14 12:58:29,163 [4] INFO GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Connection Lifetime=60 
2016-10-14 12:58:29,163 [4] INFO GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Min Pool Size=1 
2016-10-14 12:58:29,163 [4] INFO GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Incr Pool Size=3 
2016-10-14 12:58:29,163 [4] INFO GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Connection Provider: Oracle.DataAccess.Client 
2016-10-14 12:58:29,163 [4] INFO GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Validating database connection 
2016-10-14 12:58:47,397 [4] FATAL GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Exception occured while validating database connection 
2016-10-14 12:58:47,397 [4] FATAL GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Exception: ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified 
2016-10-14 12:58:47,397 [4] FATAL GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Exception occurred while opening service host connection 
2016-10-14 12:58:47,397 [4] FATAL GTWCFHost.GTWCFHost - Exception: ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified

Cause

Diagnostic phase:

After getting the error, I did the following to make sure the Database was healthy:

1. Connected with SQL Developer.
2. Connected with Data Maker.
3. Connected with TDM Web Portal.
4. Tested with tnsping command to make sure it works fine.

After assuring that the Database worked, I went and researched the internet for the reason for the ORACLE-12154 errors.

http://www.dba-oracle.com/t_ora_12154_tns_resolve_service_name.htm indicates that there is a tnsnames.ora issue.

https://community.oracle.com/thread/2488042 led me to the  error because the connector is loading the wrong Oracle client (oci.dll).

Environment

New LOD server with new TDM 3.8 installation using ORACLE 11.2.0 64bit server

Resolution

Modify the tnsnames.ora file with the correct connection strings and make sure you have the correct OCI.dll based on your setup and place the two files in the Grid-tools/GTDatamaker folder. Retry the scenario.