SQL> alter user sys identified by iossS1Qwmk_kKfGHqs0UVu93xxswQ;
alter user sys identified by iossS1Qwmk_kKfGHqs0UVu93xxswQ
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-28017: The password file is in the legacy format.
Cause:
#oerr ora 28017
28017, 00000, "The password file is in the legacy format."
// *Cause: There are multiple possibilities for the cause of the error:
//
// * An attempt was made to grant SYSBACKUP, SYSDG or SYSKM.
// * These administrative privileges could not be granted unless
// the password file used a newer format ("12" or higher).
// * An attempt was made to grant a privilege to a user who
// has a large password hash which cannot be stored in
// the password file unless the password file uses a newer
// format ("12" or higher).
// * An attempt was made to grant or revoke a common administrative
// privilege in a CDB
// *Action: Regenerate the password file in the newer format ("12" or higher).
// Use the newer password file format ("12" or higher) if you need to
// grant a user the SYSBACKUP, SYSDG or SYSKM administrative
// privileges, or if you need to grant a privilege to a user
// who has a large password hash value.
Cause: the password file is of the wrong format. You typically see this error after a migration from 11g to 12c.
Solution: regenerate the password file.
First, check the users that are affected by the change:
SQL> select * from v$pwfile_users;
USERNAME SYSDB SYSOP SYSAS SYSBA SYSDG SYSKM CON_ID
------------------------------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----------
SYS TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE 0
DBAMON TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE 0
In my case, two users are affected: SYS and DBAMON.
Regenerate the password file:
# orapwd file=$ORACLE_HOME/dbs/orapwproddb01 entries=5 force=y
Enter password for SYS:
Check the password file users again. SYS was added as a result of the recreation of the password file:
SQL> select * from v$pwfile_users;
USERNAME SYSDB SYSOP SYSAS SYSBA SYSDG SYSKM CON_ID
------------------------------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----------
SYS TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE 0
To add DBAMON as a sysdba user, grant the SYSDBA privilege to the account:
SQL> grant sysdba to DBAMON;
Grant succeeded.
Check again, and DBAMON is now registered as a privileged user in the password file:
SQL> select * from v$pwfile_users;
USERNAME SYSDB SYSOP SYSAS SYSBA SYSDG SYSKM CON_ID
------------------------------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----------
SYS TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE 0
DBAMON TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE 0
