The Oracle ORA-01017: Invalid Username/Password; Logon Denied is an error that comes up pretty frequently it can be caused by several things, though most of the time it’s simply just the wrong password being used.

One thing that we should check if we’re pretty sure we have the right password is the ORACLE_SID variable to make sure we are attempting to connect to the right container/pluggable database.
To check this we can simply echo $ORACLE_SID on Linux or echo %ORACLE_SID% on windows. If the result is what we expected we are all set, if not we need to set the parameter to the proper container/pluggable database.

Another thing is the SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON parameter. If this is set it could change the way the case sensitivity of a username/password is handled.
Something else to consider if special characters are being used in the password. If you are, make sure you’re wrapping the password in double quotes.

Finally, if all else fails, have someone change your password for you to something else entirely and see if that fixes the problem.

I hope this helps someone resolve their ORA-01017 error quicker. I know sometimes we all need a reminder from time to time for even the small things. If you would like some more help with your Oracle database get in touch with us today!

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