There are a number of ways to log into your newly created Oracle database. Programmers will use things like ODBC, JDBC and OCI to connect to your database from their application. You, the DBA, have a number of tools available to you that allow you to connect to and manage your database including SQL*Plus and Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM). Also a number of third party tools are available for you to use that can help you manage your Oracle database

Connecting to the Database with the SQL*Plus Client

In this section, we are interested in the principle DBA interface into Oracle, SQL*Plus.  There are two versions of SQL*Plus readily available. The first is the SQL*Plus client version which can be installed on any Windows based PC.

To start the SQL*Plus client from Windows click on start->Your_oracle_home_location->application development-> SQL Plus. When you do, you will see the SQL*Plus login screen as seen here:

We just created our database in DBCA, and assigned a password to the DBA management account SYS. Now we want to log in as SYS. To do so, we enter the connection below:

In this case, we are connecting to the SYS account of the database we just created. The SYS account is an all powerful account in Oracle, and it should never be used lightly.

Notice the host string setting. Here we put in our database name (booktest), and we added the syntax as sysdba. Most non-DBA’s will never use the as sysdba command, for it implies special privileges are granted to the person logging in. In your case, you are a DBA, so you need the special privileges that as sysdba provides. 

At this point, you will be logged into Oracle, and SQL*Plus will be ready to accept your commands.  FYI, there is another version of SQL*Plus out there, called iSQL*Plus, with an Internet interface.

This screen print shows you what the SQL*Plus client looks like once it comes up:

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