satellite-sync problem: "SYNC ERROR: unhandled exception occurred" and "ORA-03114: not connected to ORACLE"

Issue

• When trying to perform a satellite-sync on the Satellite server it complains that it can't connect to Oracle:

[root@satellite]# satellite-sync --iss-parent=satellite.example.com --ca-cert=/root/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT.1 -c rhel-i386-as-4 --debug-level=5  
04:19:41 Red Hat Network Satellite - live synchronization  
04:19:41 url: https://satellite.example.com
04:19:41 debug/output level: 5  
04:19:41 +++ Satellite synchronization tool checking in.  
04:19:41 +++ Entitled satellite validated.  
04:19:41 db: rhnsat/password@rhnsat  
04:19:41 Action list/commandline toggles: ['channels', 'download-errata', 'download-packages', 'blacklists', 'errata', 'packages', 'short', 'kickstarts', 'channel-families', 'download-kickstarts', 'arches', 'rpms']  
04:19:41  
[...]
04:54:18 Importing package metadata  
04:54:18 Importing \*relevant\* package metadata: rhel-i386-as-4 (8202)  
04:54:18 \* WARNING: this may be a slow process.  
Importing: +++ sending log as an email +++  

SYNC ERROR: unhandled exception occurred:  
(Check logs/email for potentially more detail)  
ORA-03114: not connected to ORACLE