Oracle Created (Default) Database Users Overview

Overview

During database creation, Oracle creates several default database users or schemas. This article attempts to provide some insight and explain each of these default database users/schemas.

Oracle User Account Details

Default Users
Username	Default Password	Account Description
SYS	change_on_install	All of the base tables and views for the database's data dictionary are stored in the schema SYS. These base tables and views are critical for the operation of Oracle. To maintain the integrity of the data dictionary, tables in the SYS schema are manipulated only by Oracle; they should never be modified by any user or database administrator, and no one should create any tables in the schema of the user SYS. The DBA should change the password for SYS immediately after database creation!!!
SYSTEM	manager	The SYSTEM username creates additional tables and views that display administrative information, and internal tables and views used by Oracle tools. Never create in the SYSTEM schema tables of interest to individual users. SYSTEM is a little bit "weaker" user than SYS, for example, it has no access to so called X$ tables (the very internal structure tables of Oracle). Although in real life you may be in a situation when some product or whatever you want to create objects in above mentioned user's schemas. Be flexible, don't sacriface a product only because it will create some objects in SYS or SYSTEM schema The DBA should change the password for SYSTEM immediately after database creation!!!
DBSNMP	dbsnmp	Supports Oracle SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). The Oracle Intelligent Agent requires a database logon for each SID that it manages. By default this account is called "DBSNMP" and the password is "DBSNMP". The account name and/or password SHOULD be changed from the default but you will need to make a few additional modifications. In the examples below, you will need to replace any information with brackets < > with the information from your system. Remove all Jobs and Events currently registered against this database. Stop the Intelligent Agent Oracle7 - Oracle8i % lsnrctl dbsnmp_stop Oracle9i % agentctl stop Edit the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/snmp_rw.ora file. Add the following parameter: SNMP.CONNECT..NAME= SNMP.CONNECT..PASSWORD= The variable is the exact listing of the database name as it appears in the snmp_ro.ora file. If is the default (DBSNMP), there is no need to specify the user here. Only the password is required. On UNIX, set the following permission on the "SNMP_RW.ORA" file: % chmod 600 snmp_rw.ora Change the DBSNMP password on the database. You can use either Security Manager, Sqlplus, or Server Manager. If you use SQLPlus or Server Manager, you can issue the following command: SQL> alter user "dbsnmp" identified by ""; Stop and restart the Intelligent Agent.
OUTLN	outln	Oracle8i adds the OUTLN user schema to support Plan Stability. The OUTLN user acts as a place to centrally manage metadata associated with stored outlines. This user has DBA role. It is used for plan stability ie. to keep the same execution plans for the same queries even if your system configuration or statistics changes. Execution plans will be the same in different Oracle releases with different optimizers. The DBA should either lock the user account or change the password for the OUTLN user immediately after database creation!!!
MDSYS	mdsys	Supports Oracle Spatial. Oracle Spatial is an integrated set of functions and procedures that enables spatial data to be stored, accessed, and analyzed quickly and efficiently in an Oracle8i database. [..] The spatial attribute of a spatial feature is the geometric representation of its shape in some coordinate space. This is referred to as its geometry. The DBA should either lock the user account or change the password for the MDSYS user immediately after database creation!!!
ORDSYS	ordsys	Supports Oracle8i Time Series. Oracle8i Time Series (in previous releases called the Oracle8 Time Series Cartridge) is an extension to Oracle8i that provides storage and retrieval of timestamped data through object types. Oracle8i Time Series is a building block for applications rather than being an end-user application in itself. It consists of data types along with related functions for managing and processing time series data. The DBA should either lock the user account or change the password for the ORDSYS user immediately after database creation!!!
ORDPLUGINS	ordplugins	Supports Oracle interMedia. Oracle interMedia is a single product that enables Oracle8i to store, manage, and retrieve text, documents, geographic location information, images, audio, and video in an integrated fashion with other enterprise information. Oracle interMedia extends Oracle8i reliability, availability, and data management to text and multimedia content in Internet, electronic commerce, and media-rich applications as well as online Internet-based geocoding services for locator applications. The DBA should either lock the user account or change the password for the ORDPLUGINS user immediately after database creation!!!
CTXSYS	ctxsys	Supports Oracle ConText Cartridge. Oracle8 ConText Cartridge provides powerful search, retrieval, and viewing capabilities for text stored in an Oracle8 database. In addition, ConText provides advanced linguistic processing of English-language text. The DBA should either lock the user account or change the password for the CTXSYS user immediately after database creation!!!
DSSYS	dssys	Dynamic Services Secured Web Service. Dynamic Services Engine (DS Engine) allows creation, aggregation and deployment of services from a variety of content sources. At the moment, Dynamic Services supports content access from databases (SQL/PLSQL) as well as Internet applications (HTTP/HTTPS). DS Engine can interpret XML and HTML content along with the result sets returned from database access. DS Engine is integrated with Oracle Portal via a Web Provider mechanism. This integration allows all the services registered with DS Engine to be accessible as portlets. The DBA should either lock the user account or change the password for the DSSYS user immediately after database creation!!!
PERFSTAT	perfstat	Oracle Statistics Package (STATSPACK) user that supersedes UTLBSTAT/UTLESTAT. The PERFSTAT user will hold all of the tables and packages for the performance diagnostic tool STATSPACK. Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/spcusr.sql
WKPROXY	change_on_install	Used to support Oracle's Ultrasearch option. This feature (and user) was introduced in Oracle9i. The user account IS NOT locked by default is only assigned the "CREATE SESSION" privilege. None the less, this account is not locked by default and Oracle highly recommends that this default password be changed. Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/ultrasearch/admin/wk0csys.sql
WKSYS	change_on_install	Used to support Oracle's Ultrasearch option. This feature (and user) was introduced in Oracle9i. The user account IS NOT locked by default and as you can see below, is granted the highly privileged role of DBA. Given that this user is granted the DBA role and is not locked by default, Oracle highly recommends that this default password be changed. This support account is assigned the following privileges in Oracle9i: CONNECT RESOURCE DBA ALL PRIVILEGES CTXAPP CREATE PUBLIC SYNONYM DROP PUBLIC SYNONYM CREATE ANY VIEW DROP ANY VIEW CREATE ANY TABLE DROP ANY TABLE CREATE ANY INDEX DROP ANY INDEX CREATE ANY SEQUENCE DROP ANY SEQUENCE CREATE ANY TRIGGER DROP ANY TRIGGER JAVAUSERPRIV JAVASYSPRIV SELECT ON SYS.USER$ SELECT ON SYS.V_$PARAMETER SELECT ON SYS.GV_$INSTANCE SELECT ON SYS.V_$DATABASE SELECT ON SYS.DBA_CONSTRAINTS SELECT ON SYS.DBA_JOBS SELECT ON SYS.DBA_DB_LINKS SELECT ON SYS.DBA_ROLE_PRIVS SELECT ON SYS.DBA_LOCK SELECT ON SYS.DBMS_LOCK_ALLOCATED SELECT ON SYS.PROCEDURE$ SELECT ON SYS.DBA_TABLES SELECT ON SYS.DBA_VIEWS SELECT ON SYS.DBA_TAB_COLUMNS EXECUTE ON SYS.DBMS_LOCK EXECUTE ON SYS.DBMS_PIPE EXECUTE ON SYS.DBMS_REGISTRY The default tablespace for this user will be "DRSYS" while its temporary tablespace will be "TEMP". Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/ultrasearch/admin/wk0install.sql
WMSYS	wmsys	Used to store all the metadata information for Oracle Workspace Manager. This user was introduced in Oracle9i and (like most Oracle9i supporting accounts) is locked by default. The user account is locked because we want the password to be public but restrict access to the account to the SYS schema. So, to unlock the account, DBA privileges are required. Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/owmctab.plb
XDB	change_on_install	Used to support SQL XML management: XML DB. This user is granted two roles: "RESOURCE" and "JAVAUSERPRIV". Oracle recommends changing the password for this user after creation. This user is configured with a default tablespace of "XDB" and a temporary tablespace of "TEMP". Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/catqm.sql
ANONYMOUS	...IDENTIFIED BY VALUES 'anonymous'	Used to support SQL XML management: XML DB. Allows HTTP access to Oracle XML DB. This user should only be used for HTTP logins. The account is locked near the end of the catqm.sql script. Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/catqm.sql
ODM	odm	Used to support Oracle Data Mining. In Oracle9i, this user is granted the roles: "SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE", "HS_ADMIN_ROLE", "AQ_USER_ROLE". Oracle recommends changing the default password as the account IS NOT locked after creation. The default tablespace for this user is "ODM" with temporary tablespace "TEMP". The "ODM" tablespace is populated with segments from users ODM and ODM_MTR. Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/dm/admin/dmcrt.sql
ODM_MTR	mtrpw	Used to support Oracle Data Mining. In Oracle9i, this user is granted "SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE" and "HS_ADMIN_ROLE". Oracle recommends changing the default password as the account IS NOT locked after creation. The default tablespace for this user is "ODM" with temporary tablespace "TEMP". The "ODM" tablespace is populated with segments from users ODM and ODM_MTR. Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/dm/admin/dmcrt.sql
OLAPSYS	mtrpw	This user is create if OLAP option is installed and is used to create OLAP metadata structures. In Oracle9i, this user is granted "SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE" and "HS_ADMIN_ROLE". Oracle recommends changing the default password. The default tablespace for this user is "ODM" with temporary tablespace "TEMP". The "ODM" tablespace is populated with segments from users ODM and ODM_MTR. Created By: $ORACLE_HOME/dm/admin/dmcrt.sql
TRACESVR	trace	Oracle Trace server. Supports Oracle Trace for OEM in Oracle7. Oracle Trace is used to collect a wide variety of data, such as performance statistics, diagnostic data, system resource usage, and business transaction details. This user was last used in Oracle7 and can be dropped from databases using Oracle8 and higher.
REPADMIN	Managed by DBA when user is created.	Replication user. This user is manually created by the DBA using CREATE USER... This user is also created in the scripts: $ORACLE_HOME/ldap/admin/oidrsrms.sql and $ORACLE_HOME/ldap/admin/oidrsms.sql. Oracle recommends changing the default password if automatically created.