Script that works in 8.1.7 does not work in 9.2.0

Question

I have a generic hot backup script that runs well in our 8i environment where I source the username and password for SYS from a secured txt file. However I could not get the script to work in our recently installed 9.2.0 environment.
Below is an extract of the hot backup script:
# Set environment
. ${HOME}/BACKUP/${DBNAME}.env
CONNECT_STRING=`${HOME}/admin/Util/syspass.sh sys $DBNAME`
export CONNECT_STRING
#Define some commands and files
SQLPLUS="${ORACLE_HOME}/bin/sqlplus -s ${CONNECT_STRING}"
TIME_STAMP=`date +"%d-%b-%Y"`
# Test for duplicate filenames
$SQLPLUS <<-EOF
var numfiles number;
BEGIN
SELECT count(*) into :numfiles
FROM dba_data_files a, dba_data_files b
WHERE a.file_name != b.file_name
AND SUBSTR(a.file_NAME, INSTR(a.file_name, '/', -1) + 1)
= SUBSTR(b.file_NAME, INSTR(b.file_name, '/', -1) + 1);
END;
exit :numfiles
EOF
FILE_ERROR=$?
echo "Number of duplicate files $FILE_ERROR"
if [ $FILE_ERROR -gt 0 ]; then
echo "Aborting, ... $FILE_ERROR duplicate filenames"
exit
fi
As per the extract above,
in our 8.1.7 environment,
(1) the command CONNECT_STRING=`${HOME}/admin/Util/syspass.sh sys $DBNAME`
will result in CONNECT_STRING=sys/xxxxxx@<sid>
(2) the command SQLPLUS="${ORACLE_HOME}/bin/sqlplus -s ${CONNECT_STRING}"
will result in SQLPLUS=/usr/oracle/product/8.1.7/bin/sqlplus -s sys/xxxxxx@<sid>
(3) and when issue $SQLPLUS <<-EOF
it connects fine and execute the procedure successfully.
in Oracle 9.2.0,
(1) the command CONNECT_STRING=`${HOME}/admin/Util/syspass.sh sys $DBNAME`
works fine with result same as in 8.1.7 - CONNECT_STRING=sys/xxxxxx@<sid>
(2) the command SQLPLUS="${ORACLE_HOME}/bin/sqlplus -s ${CONNECT_STRING}"
works fine with result SQLPLUS=/usr/oracle/product/9.2.0/bin/sqlplus -s sys/xxxxxx@<sid>
(3) However, when issue $SQLPLUS <<-EOF returns an error:
ERROR:
ORA-28009: connection to sys should be as sysdba or sysoper
How can I fix that??
Is it because of the username/password structure (sys/xxxxxx@<sid>)??
I would like to keep such username/password format if possible.
I have also tried to hard coded the username/password for variable SQLPLUS as:
SQLPLUS="/usr/oracle/product/9.2.0/bin/sqlplus -S '/ as sysdba'"
But it still doesn't work when issue $SQLPLUS, it returns the following:
Usage: SQLPLUS [ [<option>] [<logon>] [<start>] ]
where <option> ::= -H | -V | [ [-L] [-M <o>] [-R <n>] [-S] ]
<logon> ::= <username>[<password>][@<connect_string>] | / | /NOLOG
<start> ::= @<URI>|<filename>[.<ext>] [<parameter> ...]
"-H" displays the SQL*Plus version banner and usage syntax
"-V" displays the SQL*Plus version banner
"-L" attempts log on just once
"-M <o>" uses HTML markup options <o>
"-R <n>" uses restricted mode <n>
"-S" uses silent mode
Any ideas as to how to have the script run in 9.2.0??
Your help is much appreciated.

Answer 1

My first comment is that even though you are using a secure encrypted text file, putting the SYS password on the command line can make the password available to anyone on the server who can perform a ps command:
shvec320 ECD2 /u01/home/oracle/cronscripts $ sqlplus mark/mark4s@dbnm
SQL*Plus: Release 8.1.7.0.0 - Production on Wed Mar 24 16:47:17 2004
(c) Copyright 2000 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Connected to:
Oracle8i Enterprise Edition Release 8.1.7.4.0 - Production
With the Partitioning option
JServer Release 8.1.7.4.0 - Production
SQL> !ps -ef | grep mark
oracle 25494 25078 0 16:47:17 pts/4 0:00 sqlplus mark/mark4s@dbnm
oracle 25497 25494 0 16:47:23 pts/4 0:00 grep mark
Consider putting the connect string in the SQL script:
sqlplus /nolog <<-EOF
connect ${CONNECT_STRING}
var numfiles number;
BEGIN
SELECT count(*) into :numfiles
FROM dba_data_files a, dba_data_files b
WHERE a.file_name != b.file_name
AND SUBSTR(a.file_NAME, INSTR(a.file_name, '/', -1) + 1)
= SUBSTR(b.file_NAME, INSTR(b.file_name, '/', -1) + 1);
END;
exit :numfiles
EOF
Starting in Oracle 9 (others will correct me if I am wrong) you cannot connect to the sys account without specifying as SYSDBA or SYSOPER.
My testing (9.2.0.3) resulted in your ORA-1013 using "sys/password@dbname as sysdba". Using "sys/password as sysdba" works just fine. I seem to remember if you want to use @dbname, you will need to use password file authentication instead of OS authentication.
My suggestion -if possible - is to use plain "connect / as sysdba" in your SQL Script and have ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID set correctly in your environment (do it in ${HOME}/BACKUP/${DBNAME}.env) :
sqlplus /nolog <<-EOF
connect / as sysdba;
var numfiles number;
BEGIN
SELECT count(*) into :numfiles
FROM dba_data_files a, dba_data_files b
WHERE a.file_name != b.file_name
AND SUBSTR(a.file_NAME, INSTR(a.file_name, '/', -1) + 1)
= SUBSTR(b.file_NAME, INSTR(b.file_name, '/', -1) + 1);
END;
exit :numfiles
EOF
HTH