Synopsis

Values:Any valid string

Default:OPS$

Specifies the prefix concatenated to the beginning of every user’s operating system username to allow authentication of the operating system account name and password for users connecting to the server. Oracle compares the value of this prefixed username with the Oracle usernames in the database when a connection request is attempted. For example, if an Oracle account is created with username OPS$DAVE IDENTIFIED EXTERNALLY, and a user with an operating system username DAVE then attempts to log into Oracle, the prefix OPS$ will be appended; thus, the operating system name OPS$DAVE matches the Oracle username OPS$DAVE, and Oracle allows DAVE to log in.

The default value of this parameter is OPS$ to allow backward compatibility with previous versions. Note that this mechanism has no effect on Oracle accounts that are not IDENTIFIED EXTERNALLY. (See the description of the CREATE USER and ALTER USER commands in Chapter 13.)