The netrc information

The netrc information is optional information that specifies identity data. A user who does not have authorization to access the database server or is not on a computer that is trusted by the database server can use this file to supply a name and password that are trusted. A user who has a different user account and password on a remote computer can also provide this information.

UNIX™: The netrc information is in the .netrc file in the user's home directory. Use any standard text editor to prepare the .netrc file. The format of a netrc entry is:

machine machine_name login user_name password user_password

Windows™: Use the Host Information tab of setnet32 to edit the netrc information.

If you do not explicitly provide the user password in an application for a remote server (that is, through the USER clause of the CONNECT statement or the user name and password prompts in DB-Access), the client application looks for the user name and password in the netrc information. If the user explicitly specified the password in the application, or if the database server is not remote, the netrc information is not consulted.

The database server uses the netrc information regardless of whether it uses the default authentication policy or a communications support module.

For information about the specific content of this file, see your operating system documentation.

Windows only: On Windows, a home directory is not automatically assigned when the Windows administrator creates a user identity. The administrator can add a home directory to a user's profile with the User Manager application