The utility database

The utility database is a phantom database with no physical representation. The utility database has no database file, and therefore it cannot contain data. This feature allows you to:

Execute database file administration statements such as CREATE DATABASE without first connecting to an existing physical database.
Retrieve values of connection properties and server properties using the utility database.
Connect to a running database server when it is not possible to connect to the database. For example, in a mirroring system, you can connect to the utility database to stop a mirroring server or force a database to become the primary server.

The utility database is named utility_db. If you attempt to create or start a database with this name, the operation fails.

The utility database has one user named DBA. The password for the DBA user is set using the -su database server option. You can use the -su database server option to set the utility database password for the DBA user, or to disable connections to the utility database. If the -su option is not specified when starting the utility database, then the user ID and password requirements are different for the personal server and the network server.

You can start the utility database on a database server by specifying utility_db as the database name when connecting to the server.

Allowed statements for the utility database

Only the following statements can be executed when connected to the utility database:

ALTER DATABASE dbfile ALTER TRANSACTION LOG.
ALTER DATABASE database-name FORCE START
CREATE DATABASE statement.
CREATE DECRYPTED DATABASE statement.
CREATE DECRYPTED FILE statement.
CREATE ENCRYPTED DATABASE statement.
CREATE ENCRYPTED FILE statement.
DROP DATABASE statement.
CREATE USER DBA IDENTIFIED BY new-password.
RESTORE DATABASE statement.
REVOKE CONNECT FROM DBA.
SET TEMPORARY OPTION progress_messages = [ OFF | RAW | FORMATTED ].
SELECT statement without a FROM or WHERE clause.
START DATABASE statement.
STOP DATABASE statement.
STOP SERVER statement.

Examples

Executing the following statement after connecting to the utility database creates a database named new.db in the directory c:\temp.

CREATE DATABASE DBA USER 'DBA' DBA PASSWORD 'sql' 'c:\\temp\\new.db';

Executing the following statement on the utility database returns the default collation sequence that is used when creating a database:

SELECT PROPERTY( 'DefaultCollation' );

The util_db.ini file and network database servers (deprecated)

Note

The util_db.ini file is deprecated. You should use the -su server option to specify the password for the utility database's DBA user. See -su database server option.

Using util_db.ini relies on the physical security of the computer hosting the database server since the util_db.ini file can be easily read using a text editor.

For the network server, by default you cannot connect to the utility database without specifying -su or using util_db.ini. If you use util_db.ini, the file holds the password and is located in the same directory as the database server executable and contains the text:

[UTILITY_DB]
PWD=password

To protect the contents of the util_db.ini file from casual direct access, you can add simple encryption to the file using the File Hiding utility (dbfhide). You can also use operating system features to limit access to the server file system.

For more information about obfuscating .INI files, see Hiding the contents of an .ini file.