Re: Oracle 817 crashes when i change sys password.

"T0GGLe" <jehova1_at_dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message news:5a657c10.0309110145.41167ac2_at_posting.google.com...
> Hi,
>
> can someone please explain to me why oracle crashes on my oracle817
> cluster server (W2k) system when i change tehh sys password? The first
> time this happened was when i changed it using dba studio.
> I thought that this might be a problem with that software however I've
> just tried changing the password at the command line (sqlplus) after
> having recreated the password file and hey presto the entire system
> has crashed and won't come back up again.
>
> Now I realise that the internal account is hard coded into the system
> and needs manually putting back in, in fail safe manager, but is there
> anywhere for the sys passwrod to go?
>
>
> I'm now on the phone to oracle support to try to get the system back
> up and running but this is doing my head in. For god's sake why didn't
> we use sql7 or above????????? That works!

Ah, that's always fun, isn't it? Right before my app went live, I figured I'd be smart and change the sys password one last time to make it ultra-secure.

First I knocked out the primary cluster node. As I tried to fix that, I completely took out both nodes; OFS had nothing to fail over to.

After some cursing, I finally figured it out...

You (and I) changed the password in the wrong place. See the OFS documentation (installed in your start/programs/oracle fail safe section), Concepts and Administration guide, page 7-30. We need to change the sysdba password from Oracle Fail Safe's property sheets! Choose the database from the "tree view" on the left, then choose the Authentication tab. This sets the password up for the cluster system. Changing the sys password from svrmgrl or sqlplus or dba studio is a no-no. So what basically happened was that we changed the password for one Oracle node, and left it unchanged for the other. A little more playing from us, and bingo, the cluster fails and won't come back.

Also, if you created another Win2k user just for the cluster service, it's password might have expired. If you change the password via active directory (for the cluster service user), make sure you use the utility called "Oracle Services for MSCS Account" (IIRC), under the Oracle - OraHome81 program group. The account name is also listed under start/programs/administrative tools/services, under the Oracle MSCS Service properties. This same password also goes into the start/programs/administrative tools/services/Oracle for MSCS service's properties.

And further; you might have the same scenario we did regarding the "internal" user. We were never asked for a password for internal on our secondary node because when that second node was set up with 8.1.7, it was configured to use NT Authentication (Net8 assistant, Local, Profile, Advanced Security, NTS was chosen). This allowed me to type -any- password for internal and get connected! It added to the confusion of "what the heck did I do to the Oracle password system?" Well, I turned off the o/s authentication (removed it in Net8 assistant), and was able to connect to the database. (Use connect internal, then the sys password.) Yep, the sys password is the same for internal. When o/s authentication (NTS) is enabled, you can type any password you want for internal, it'll connect. This is why my cluster kept coming up okay on the second node (before I started playing around), but failed over on the first node.

You might want to restore your password file (probably pwdworcl.ora) from your backup, too.

If all else fails, or if you'd like to try this first, try starting oracle without the cluster:

under 2000's services list, stop the ORCL service start/run/cmd.exe
svrmgrl
connect internal (password not needed if NTS authentication turned on) startup
(if needed, do startup pfile='j:\oracle\ora81\ ... \ initorcl.ora' if your pfile's on the shared storage unit and not in the original oracle home)

That'll "reassure you" that the Oracle is still functioning, and it's just the cluster that's acting up.

All the places (well, off the top of my head), that critical passwords hide in:

1. OFS database resource, sys (and therefore, internal) password
2. Win2k services, Oracle MSCS Services properties, Win2k cluster service account
3. Active Directory, both domain controllers, Win2k cluster service account
4. pwdorcl.ora

I suppose another solution might be to enable NDS authentication, that might let the cluster come back up, and then you could change the password in the correct spot under the OFS property sheets. Then, disable NDS authentication again, and try failing the cluster over.

Good luck; it's a great system when it works, but neglect the docs once and you're set up for hours of headaches.

Oh and I guess I assumed above that you're using Oracle Fail Safe with MSCS... -Thomas Received on Fri Sep 12 2003 - 16:54:14 CDT