1. Set up the Oracle Client software on the machine hitting oracle (server?)
2. Make sure the TnsNames.ora is set up correctly
3. Use OracleClient to access Oracle in your .NET code

--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP; MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA

************************************************
Think Outside the Box!
************************************************
"Chen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4A651731-77D4-4FA4-A462-(E-Mail Removed)...
> How do I connect to an Oracle database on Unix server which has been
configured to use operating system authentication? I can figure out what the
user's Unix username is from windows active directory, but what connection
string should I use to connect to Oracle since it is configured to take no
password when being accessed from Unix (OS authentication)?
>
> Currently, the oracle DBA set up two sets of username/password for the
same user. One for Unix (using OS authentication); One for connection from
PC, which takes username/password. With the company pushing for single sign
on, the PC set of username/password will be eliminated. Is there anyway to
get this task done using ADO.net?
>
> Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Chen

We are not using OS Authentication, so I have not run down this path. From
my understanding, this is not possible with the OracleClient objects. Here
are a couple of options I can think of:

ODP.NET - $FREE - download from otn.oracle.net (registration)
http://otn.oracle.com - go to downloads and then ODP.NET
Requires Java install, which may be a block to using it.

OraDirect $99 - $149
http://crlab.com/oranet/
Easy to use .NET objects (also COM version available for non ASP.NET apps)


--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP; MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA

************************************************
Think Outside the Box!
************************************************
"Chen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40CF944F-78D2-4C46-9555-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Cowboy,
>
> Thank you for your response.
>
> We do have Oracle client 8.1.7 on user's machine, and the TNSName.ora file
does contain the Oracle service name there. The problem is what will be the
connection string when I am using OracleClient to connect to Oracle DB?
Since the Oracle DB is set up for OS authentication on Unix which doesn't
need a password, while the connection string in ADO.net will require me to
provide both a username and a password.
>
> Can you show me a code snippet which will allow me to connect to Oracle
under this condition?
>
> Thanks,
> Chen