DPA: What Oracle User can be Used to Connect to Oracle 12c Multitenant Databases

Summary: What Oracle user can be used to connect to an Oracle 12c Multitenant databases setup?

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Instructions

With the Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition, the Oracle Multitenant feature was introduced. This feature allows a container database to hold many pluggable databases. Oracle updated its user account structures so that now there are two types of user accounts. Those accounts are named Common Users and Local Users.

Oracle defines Common Users as the following:
A common user is a database user that has the same identity in the root and in every existing and future pluggable database (PDB). Every common user can connect to and perform operations within the root, and within any PDB in which it has privileges.
Oracle Common Users in a Container Database (CDB) This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies.

Whereas Oracle states the following for a Local User:
In a multitenant environment, a local user is a database user that exists only in a single PDB.

One of the requirements for monitoring Oracle 12c Real Application Clusters (RAC) Container Database with DPA is the use of a Common User account with SYSDBA role as outlined in the DPA documentation:
On Oracle database 12c RAC installation, to connect to the container database(CDB), you can use a common user that has the SYSDBA role when configuring the database for monitoring.

If it is not possible to use an account with the SYSDBA role, then a separate Common User account can be created with the prefix c## or C## as required by Oracle.
The name of every user-created common user must begin with the characters c## or C##.
Oracle Common Users in a CDB This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies.
 
Also, this Common User account must be explicitly granted permission on the following tables or grant create session followed by SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE privilege:
V_$INSTANCE

V_$PROCESS

V_$DATABASE

V_$PARAMETER

DBA_DATA_FILES

V_$SYSTEM_PARAMETER

V_$DATAFILE

V_$SESS_IO

V_$SESSION

DBA_FREE_SPACE

DBA_TABLESPACES

DBA_TEMP_FILES

DBA_EXTENTS

USER_EXTENTS

V$LOGFILE

V$LOG

AUDIT_ACTIONS

V$CONTROLFILE

A Common User that has the SYSDBA role configured for the database can be used to collect from a pluggable database (PDB). If this is not possible, then a PDB specific Local User can be created and explicitly grant permissions on those PDB tables or grant create session followed by SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE privilege of the PDB. The tables would be the same as the ones listed previously for the Common User.
Article Properties
Article Number: 000019703
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 02 Apr 2025
Version:  4
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