Internal users (UNIX, Linux)

The DBSA can grant database access to users that do not authenticate on the OS of the host computer by mapping PAM-authenticated users to OS-level entities or by configuring the server to perform internal authentication.

Internally authenticated users can connect even if the user cannot be identified by the OS.

Removing the dependency on a local host OS account for database server-access can reduce administrative work. For internal users, the DBSA is not required to coordinate with the OS Administrator to ensure that every user that must have server access also has an OS account.

There are two different types of internal users: mapped users and internally authenticated users. A mapped user connects to a database after providing a password that is validated in an authentication layer outside the database server. An internally authenticated user must provide a password matching one stored on the server, where authentication is an internal process.