ALTER PROFILE

Purpose

Use the ALTER PROFILE statement to add, modify, or remove a resource limit or password management parameter in a profile.

Changes made to a profile with an ALTER PROFILE statement affect users only in their subsequent sessions, not in their current sessions.

Prerequisites

You must have ALTER PROFILE system privilege.

Syntax

alter_profile::=

(resource_parameters::=, password_parameters::=)

resource_parameters::=

(size_clause::=)

password_parameters::=

Semantics

The keywords, parameters, and clauses in the ALTER PROFILE statement all have the same meaning as in the CREATE PROFILE statement.

You cannot remove a limit from the DEFAULT profile.

Refer to CREATE PROFILE and to the examples in the next section for more information.

Examples

Making a Password Unavailable: Example The following statement makes the password of the new_profile profile (created in "Creating a Profile: Example") unavailable for reuse for 90 days:

ALTER PROFILE new_profile 
   LIMIT PASSWORD_REUSE_TIME 90 
   PASSWORD_REUSE_MAX UNLIMITED;

Setting Default Password Values: Example The following statement defaults the PASSWORD_REUSE_TIME value of the app_user profile (created in "Setting Profile Resource Limits: Example") to its defined value in the DEFAULT profile:

ALTER PROFILE app_user 
   LIMIT PASSWORD_REUSE_TIME DEFAULT
   PASSWORD_REUSE_MAX UNLIMITED;

Limiting Login Attempts and Password Lock Time: Example The following statement alters profile app_user with FAILED_LOGIN_ATTEMPTS set to 5 and PASSWORD_LOCK_TIME set to 1:

ALTER PROFILE app_user LIMIT
   FAILED_LOGIN_ATTEMPTS 5
   PASSWORD_LOCK_TIME 1;

This statement causes the app_user account to become locked for one day after five unsuccessful login attempts.

Changing Password Lifetime and Grace Period: Example The following statement modifies the profile app_user2 PASSWORD_LIFE_TIME to 90 days and PASSWORD_GRACE_TIME to 5 days:

ALTER PROFILE app_user2 LIMIT
   PASSWORD_LIFE_TIME 90
   PASSWORD_GRACE_TIME 5;

Limiting Concurrent Sessions: Example This statement defines a new limit of 5 concurrent sessions for the app_user profile:

ALTER PROFILE app_user LIMIT SESSIONS_PER_USER 5; 

If the app_user profile does not currently define a limit for SESSIONS_PER_USER, then the preceding statement adds the limit of 5 to the profile. If the profile already defines a limit, then the preceding statement redefines it to 5. Any user assigned the app_user profile is subsequently limited to 5 concurrent sessions.

Removing Profile Limits: Example This statement removes the IDLE_TIME limit from the app_user profile:

ALTER PROFILE app_user LIMIT IDLE_TIME DEFAULT;

Any user assigned the app_user profile is subject in their subsequent sessions to the IDLE_TIME limit defined in the DEFAULT profile.

Limiting Profile Idle Time: Example This statement defines a limit of 2 minutes of idle time for the DEFAULT profile:

ALTER PROFILE default LIMIT IDLE_TIME  2; 

This IDLE_TIME limit applies to these users:

• Users who are not explicitly assigned any profile

• Users who are explicitly assigned a profile that does not define an IDLE_TIME limit

This statement defines unlimited idle time for the app_user2 profile:

ALTER PROFILE app_user2 LIMIT IDLE_TIME UNLIMITED; 

Any user assigned the app_user2 profile is subsequently permitted unlimited idle time.