Connecting Locally using OS Authentication

When you install Oracle AI Database Free, the oracle user is granted SYSDBA privileges. You can use the following commands to connect to the database.

$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
$ ./sqlplus / as sysdba

These commands connect you to the root container CDB$ROOT of the multitenant database (CDB) as database user SYS. This method of connecting to the database works even if the Net Services listener is not running.

An output similar to the following confirms that you are now connected to the database.

SQL*Plus: Release 23.26.0.0.0 - Production on Wed Oct 08 03:27:05 2025
Version 23.26.0.0.0

Copyright (c) 1982, 2025, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connected to:
Oracle AI Database 26ai Free Release 23.26.0.0.0 - Develop, Learn, and Run for Free
Version 23.26.0.0.0

Type exit to quit SQL*Plus

SQL>EXIT