How can I keep Oracle SQL Developer from closing the DB connection?

Question

Is there any way to keep Oracle SQL Developer from closing my DB connections, or to increase the timeout? Sometimes during a long-running query SQL Dev will just close the conne

Answer 1

Answer

It's most likely a firewall between SQL Developer and the database that breaks things. You can solve that from SQL Developer using the SQL Developer Keepalive plugin.

You can also fix this from the Database Server by using the answers by Thomas and David Mann.

Oracle Net can be configured with Dead Connection Detection (SQLNET.EXPIRE_TIME) to workaround this problem. Set EXPIRE_TIME on the database server to a value less than the firewall connection timeout so that DCD keeps the connection to the database alive. See Note 151972.1 "Dead Connection Detection (DCD) Explained"

Original answer

I don't have the answer for this, but I'm experiencing the same problem.

The firewall between my SQL Developer and the database automaticly closes "inactive" sessions. A long running query is according to the firewall an inactive session, so he closes it. I've not, yet, found how to make SQL Developer send packets over a connection with a long running query, so that the firewall doesn't close the connection. And I don't know if this is possible at all.

So I don't think it is a SQL Developer problem, but a firewall issue.

-- UPDATE

There is an extension for SQL Developer that allows you to keep the connections active: http://sites.google.com/site/keepaliveext/

It's not totally finished yet (for example the notification you get states the same timeout no matter what timeout you have specified) but it does the trick. I've not, yet, tested it against the latest SQL Developer pre-release, but it worked with SQL Developer 2.2.x

-- UPDATE

For SQL Developer 4+ you can use: http://scristalli.github.io/SQL-Developer-4-keepalive/