Oracle 12C – Password File in ASM

Prior to Oracle Database 12c, the password file was always located under $ORACLE_HOME/dbs file
structure, even for RAC instances and for RAC ASM cluster. For RAC the DBA had to managed to keep the
password file in sync on each node.
Now , in Oracle 12c, it is possible to store the password file on ASM. This means a shared password file for
Oracle RAC databases , it is shared for all instances in the cluster.
The command utility to create the password file is still the same: “orapwd”

Usage: orapwd file= entries= force= asm= dbuniquename=
            format= sysbackup= sysdg= syskm= delete= input_file=
Usage: orapwd describe file=
where:

• file – name of password file (required),
  password – password for SYS will be prompted if not specified at command line. Ignored, if input_file is specified,
• entries – maximum number of distinct DBA (optional),
• force – whether to overwrite existing file (optional),

 

• asm – indicates that the password to be stored in Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
  disk group is an ASM password. (optional). 
• dbuniquename – unique database name used to identify database password files residing in
  ASM diskgroup only. Ignored when asm option is specified (optional), 
• format – use format=12 for new 12c features like SYSBACKUP, SYSDG and SYSKM
  support, longer identifiers, etc. If not specified, format=12 is default (optional), delete –
  drops a password file. Must specify 'asm', 'dbuniquename' or 'file'. If 'file' is specified, the
  file must be located on an ASM diskgroup (optional), 
• sysbackup – create SYSBACKUP entry (optional and requires the 12 format). Ignored, if
  input_file is specified, 
• sysdg – create SYSDG entry (optional and requires the 12 format), Ignored, if input_file is
  specified, 
• syskm – create SYSKM entry (optional and requires the 12 format), Ignored, if input_file is
  specified,
• input_file – name of input password file, from where old user entries will be migrated
  (optional),
• describe – describes the properties of specified password file (required).