QlikView: ORA-12560:TNS:Protocol Adapter Error, When Trying To Connect Into Oracle Database Using ODBC or OLEDB

Daniel_Seo — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:38:55 GMT

Connecting the QlikView Directory Service connector using OLDBC or OLEDB shows the following error:

ORA-12560:TNS:protocol adapter error, Oracle classify this as a 'generic protocol adapter error

This indicates that Oracle client does not know what instance to connect to or what TNS alias to use.

Cause:

Oracle classify this as a 'generic protocol adapter error'. it indicates that Oracle client does not know what instance to connect to or what TNS alias to use.

Oracle client is not installed on Qlik product server
Oracle Listener or database is not up
TNSNAMES.ora has a problem
Connection between Oracle client and server has problem (TCP/IP or network side)
ORCL 2019.3: the SQLNET.ora has AUTHENTICATION set to TNS. Changing it to (NONE) may help with starting the Listener.

Resolution:

This error is being shown by Oracle and as of such, we recommend contacting the Oracle administrator.

Previous cases related to the issue have been resolved following these troubleshooting steps:

Check the listener status:

Go to a command prompt on the Oracle database server and run

C:\>  lsnrctl status

Verify that the tnsnames entry is correct:

Go to a command prompt on the Qlik Product server and run

C:\> tnsping INSTANCENAME

Check the connection between Oracle client and database server: