Alias Reference¶

Purpose: Complete reference for OraDBA shell aliases — SQL*Plus, RMAN, directory navigation, database operations, PDB management, and rlwrap integration.

Audience: All users who want to streamline database administration tasks.

Introduction¶

OraDBA provides 50+ shell aliases to streamline Oracle database administration tasks. Aliases are automatically loaded when you set your Oracle environment using oraenv.sh, giving you convenient shortcuts for common operations.

The alias system uses the Plugin System to detect product types and generates appropriate aliases. For Container Databases, it automatically queries v$pdbs and generates PDB-specific connection aliases. rlwrap-enabled aliases (sqh, rmanh, etc.) provide command history and optional password filtering when rlwrap is installed.

SQL*Plus and RMAN Aliases¶

SQL*Plus¶

Alias	Description	Command
`sq`	SQL*Plus as SYSDBA (basic)	`sqlplus / as sysdba`
`sqh`	SQL*Plus as SYSDBA (with rlwrap)	`rlwrap sqlplus / as sysdba`
`sqlplush`	SQL*Plus /nolog (with rlwrap)	`rlwrap sqlplus /nolog`
`sqoh`	SQL*Plus as SYSOPER (with rlwrap)	`rlwrap sqlplus / as sysoper`
`sessionsql`	SQL*Plus with dynamic terminal width	`sessionsql.sh`

SQL*Plus Aliases

sessionsql automatically detects your terminal width and configures SQL*Plus LINESIZE and PAGESIZE for optimal display. rlwrap-enabled aliases (sqh, sqoh, sqlplush) add command history (up/down arrows), tab completion, and line editing; see rlwrap Integration for password filtering.

# Connect as SYSDBA with command history
sqh

# Connect /nolog then authenticate at the prompt
sqlplush

RMAN¶

Alias	Description	Command
`rmanc`	RMAN with catalog/fallback	`rman target / [catalog ...]`
`rmanh`	RMAN with rlwrap (manual connect)	`rlwrap rman`
`rmanch`	RMAN with rlwrap + catalog	`rlwrap rman target / [catalog]`

RMAN Aliases

Note: The rman command itself is not aliased to avoid conflicts with Oracle's native binary.

Configure the catalog in oradba_customer.conf or sid.<SID>.conf:

# Global catalog
ORADBA_RMAN_CATALOG="rman_user/password@catdb"

# Per-database catalog (in sid.PRODDB.conf)
ORADBA_RMAN_CATALOG="rman_user@prodcat"

# RMAN with rlwrap — connect manually at prompt
rmanh
RMAN> connect target /
RMAN> connect catalog rman@catdb

Quick navigation to Oracle and OraDBA directories.

Oracle Directories¶

Alias	Description	Target Directory
`cdob`	Change to ORACLE_BASE	`$ORACLE_BASE`
`cdh`	Change to ORACLE_HOME	`$ORACLE_HOME`
`cdbn`	Change to bin directory	`$ORACLE_HOME/bin`
`cdn`	Change to network parent	`$TNS_ADMIN/..`
`cdt`	Change to TNS_ADMIN	`$TNS_ADMIN`
`cdl`	Change to local directory	`$ORADBA_LOCAL_BASE`

Oracle Directory Navigation Aliases

OraDBA Directories¶

Alias	Description	Target Directory
`cdb`	Change to OraDBA base	`$ORADBA_PREFIX`
`etc`	Change to OraDBA etc	`$ORADBA_ETC`
`cde`	Change to OraDBA etc	`$ORADBA_ETC`
`log`	Change to OraDBA log	`$ORADBA_LOG`
`cdlog`	Change to OraDBA log	`$ORADBA_LOG`
`cdtmp`	Change to temp directory	`$ORADBA_TMP`

SID-Specific Directories (Dynamic)¶

Generated dynamically based on the current ORACLE_SID:

Alias	Description	Target Directory
`cda`	Change to admin directory	`$ORACLE_BASE/admin/$ORACLE_SID`
`cdc`	Change to control file directory	`$ORACLE_BASE/oradata/$ORACLE_SID`
`cdd`	Change to diagnostic dest	`$ORADBA_ORA_DIAG_SID`
`cddt`	Change to trace directory	`diagnostic_dest/trace`
`cdda`	Change to alert directory	`diagnostic_dest/alert`

# Navigate to trace directory and ORACLE_HOME
cddt && pwd   # /u01/app/oracle/diag/rdbms/free/FREE/trace
cdh  && pwd   # /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0/dbhome_1

Convenience Variables¶

The same names also work as shell variables — useful in one-liners and scripts:

Variable	Description	Value
`$cdh`	ORACLE_HOME path	`$ORACLE_HOME`
`$cdob`	ORACLE_BASE path	`$ORACLE_BASE`
`$cda`	Admin directory path	`$ORADBA_ORA_ADMIN_SID`
`$cdd`	Diagnostic dest path	`$ORADBA_ORA_DIAG_SID`
`$etc`	OraDBA etc path	`$ORADBA_ETC`
`$log`	OraDBA log path	`$ORADBA_LOG`

ls -l $etc/*.conf
vi $cda/pfile/init${ORACLE_SID}.ora

Database Operations and Diagnostics¶

Status and Monitoring¶

Alias	Description	Command
`oraup` / `u`	Oracle environment overview	`oraup.sh`
`sta`	Database status	`dbstatus.sh`
`pmon`	Show running database processes	`ps -ef \\| grep pmon`

Database Status and Monitoring Aliases

oraup.sh displays all databases from oratab, their status (OPEN/MOUNTED/NOMOUNT/DOWN), listener status, Oracle Home paths, and startup flags.

Listener Commands¶

Alias	Description	Command
`lsnr`	Listener control	`lsnrctl`
`lsnrh`	Listener control (with rlwrap)	`rlwrap lsnrctl`
`lstat`	Listener status	`lsnrctl status`
`lstart`	Start listener	`lsnrctl start`
`lstop`	Stop listener	`lsnrctl stop`

Listener Control Aliases

Configuration Viewing¶

Alias	Description	Command
`oratab`	Display oratab file	`cat /etc/oratab`
`tns`	Display tnsnames.ora	`cat $TNS_ADMIN/tnsnames.ora`

File Editing¶

Oracle Configuration Files¶

Alias	Description	Target File
`vio`	Edit oratab	`/etc/oratab`
`vit`	Edit tnsnames.ora	`$TNS_ADMIN/tnsnames.ora`
`vil`	Edit listener.ora	`$TNS_ADMIN/listener.ora`
`visql`	Edit sqlnet.ora	`$TNS_ADMIN/sqlnet.ora`
`vildap`	Edit ldap.ora	`$TNS_ADMIN/ldap.ora`

Oracle Configuration File Editing Aliases

OraDBA Configuration Files¶

Alias	Description	Target File
`vis`	Edit standard config	`$ORADBA_ETC/oradba_standard.conf`
`vic`	Edit customer config	`$ORADBA_ETC/oradba_customer.conf`
`vii`	Edit SID config	`$ORADBA_ETC/sid.$ORACLE_SID.conf`

Alert Log and Diagnostics¶

Alias	Description	Command
`taa`	Tail alert log (follow)	`tail -f -n 50 $ORADBA_SID_ALERTLOG`
`vaa`	View alert log (less)	`less $ORADBA_SID_ALERTLOG`
`via`	Edit alert log (vi)	`vi $ORADBA_SID_ALERTLOG`
`adrcih`	ADRCI with rlwrap	`rlwrap adrci`

These aliases point to the standard text alert log (alert_$ORACLE_SID.log), not the XML version.

# Watch alert log in real-time
taa

# Interactive ADRCI with command history
adrcih
ADRCI> show alert -tail 50

Information Display¶

Alias	Description	Function
`sqa`	Show SQLPATH directories	`show_sqlpath`
`pth`	Show PATH directories	`show_path`
`cfg`	Show OraDBA config hierarchy	`show_config`

cfg displays the 5-level configuration hierarchy and load order, with [[OK] loaded], [[X] MISSING - REQUIRED], and [- not configured] indicators. Use these aliases to troubleshoot missing PATH/SQLPATH directories and configuration precedence issues.

Help and Utility Aliases¶

Alias	Description	Command
`alih`	Display alias help	`cat $ORADBA_PREFIX/doc/alias_help.txt`
`alig`	Search aliases	`alias \\| grep -i`
`version`	Show OraDBA version	`oradba_version.sh -i`
`c`	Clear screen	`clear`
`l`	List all (long format)	`ls -al`
`ll`	List all (detailed)	`ls -alb`
`lr`	List reverse time order	`ls -ltr`
`lsl`	List recent 20 files	`ls -lrt \\| tail -n 20`
`psg`	Search processes	`ps -ef \\| grep`
`save_cron`	Backup crontab	`crontab -l > ~/crontab.txt.$(date)`

PDB Aliases¶

OraDBA automatically generates aliases for Pluggable Databases (PDBs) in Oracle Multitenant environments, providing quick SYSDBA connections to each PDB without typing long SQL commands.

How It Works¶

When you source oraenv.sh for a CDB, OraDBA:

Checks if the database is a CDB (v$database.cdb = 'YES')
Queries v$pdbs for all PDBs (excluding PDB$SEED)
Creates two aliases for each PDB and exports ORADBA_PDBLIST

This happens automatically unless ORADBA_NO_PDB_ALIASES=true.

Generated Aliases¶

For each PDB (e.g., PDB1) two aliases are created:

# Simple alias — lowercase PDB name
alias pdb1="export ORADBA_PDB='PDB1'; sqlplus / as sysdba <<< 'ALTER SESSION SET CONTAINER=PDB1;'"

# Prefixed alias — same with 'pdb' prefix for clarity
alias pdbpdb1="export ORADBA_PDB='PDB1'; sqlplus / as sysdba <<< 'ALTER SESSION SET CONTAINER=PDB1;'"

Aliases are always lowercase regardless of PDB name case.

Key Variables¶

Variable	Description
`ORADBA_PDBLIST`	Space-separated list of PDBs in the CDB
`ORADBA_PDB`	Currently selected PDB (set by alias)
`ORADBA_NO_PDB_ALIASES`	Set `true` to disable alias generation

ORADBA_PDB is also used by the PS1 prompt customisation, which shows [CDB1.PDB1] after connecting to a PDB (requires ORADBA_CUSTOMIZE_PS1=true, the default).

Basic Usage¶

# Source CDB environment
source oraenv.sh CDB1

# Check available PDBs
echo $ORADBA_PDBLIST    # PDB1 PDB2 TESTPDB

# Connect to PDB1
pdb1
SQL> SHOW CON_NAME      # PDB1

# Switch to PDB2
pdb2
SQL> SHOW CON_NAME      # PDB2

Configuration (Enable / Disable)¶

PDB aliases are enabled by default. To disable:

# Globally — in oradba_customer.conf
export ORADBA_NO_PDB_ALIASES="true"

# Per CDB — in sid.CDB1.conf
export ORADBA_NO_PDB_ALIASES="true"

Re-enable by removing the setting or setting it to false, then re-sourcing oraenv.sh.

PDB aliases are generated at environment load time. After creating or dropping PDBs, reload:

source oraenv.sh CDB1
echo $ORADBA_PDBLIST    # updated list

Limitations¶

Requires database access to query v$pdbs (must be OPEN READ WRITE)
Requires SYSDBA privileges
Static — not updated dynamically; reload after PDB changes
Alias names conflict with existing aliases: existing alias takes precedence
Only works for CDB databases; non-CDB databases produce no PDB aliases

Security note: PDB aliases use OS authentication (/ as sysdba), which has full CDB privileges. In production environments consider disabling automatic PDB aliases (ORADBA_NO_PDB_ALIASES=true) and using proper connection strings with Oracle Wallet or dedicated PDB accounts.

rlwrap Integration¶

rlwrap (readline wrapper) adds command-line history, tab completion, and line editing to programs that do not natively support them. OraDBA automatically uses rlwrap with SQL*Plus, RMAN, lsnrctl, and ADRCI when it is installed.

Completion Files¶

OraDBA ships completion word lists for tool-specific tab completion:

File	Covers
`rlwrap_sqlplus_completions`	SQL commands, SET/SHOW parameters, views, privileges
`rlwrap_rman_completions`	Backup/restore commands and keywords
`rlwrap_lsnrctl_completions`	Listener commands and parameters
`rlwrap_adrci_completions`	Diagnostic commands

Installing rlwrap¶

# RHEL / Oracle Linux / CentOS
sudo yum install rlwrap

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt-get install rlwrap

# macOS
brew install rlwrap

When rlwrap is not installed the sqh, rmanh, rmanch, lsnrh, and adrcih aliases fall back gracefully (they simply invoke the underlying tool without rlwrap).

Password Filtering¶

Password filtering removes sensitive information from rlwrap history files, so plain-text passwords do not appear in ~/.sqlplus_history or ~/.rman_history.

Example — what gets saved in history:

-- Input:                            -- Saved as:
CONNECT scott/tiger@orcl          →  CONNECT scott/@orcl
CREATE USER u IDENTIFIED BY pass; →  CREATE USER u IDENTIFIED BY ***FILTERED***;
ALTER USER u IDENTIFIED BY pass;  →  ALTER USER u IDENTIFIED BY ***FILTERED***;

RMAN:

CONNECT TARGET user/password@db   →  CONNECT TARGET user/@db
CONNECT CATALOG rman/pass@cat     →  CONNECT CATALOG rman/@cat

Enable Password Filtering¶

Requirements: rlwrap installed + Perl RlwrapFilter module.

# Check Perl module
perl -MRlwrapFilter -e 'print "OK\n"'

# Install Perl module if missing
sudo cpan RlwrapFilter
# or on Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install libterm-readline-gnu-perl

Enable in oradba_customer.conf (global) or sid.<SID>.conf (per database):

export ORADBA_RLWRAP_FILTER="true"

Reload the environment and verify:

source oraenv.sh FREE
type sqh    # should include: -z ".../rlwrap_filter_oracle"

Affected aliases when ORADBA_RLWRAP_FILTER=true: sqh, sqlplush, sqoh, rmanh, rmanch, adrcih.

To disable filtering, set ORADBA_RLWRAP_FILTER="false" or unset the variable and reload. Aliases continue using rlwrap for history/completion — only the password filter is removed.

Security note: The filter catches common patterns but may miss edge cases. It does not retroactively clean existing history files. For production environments, Oracle Wallet or OS/Kerberos authentication are preferred over relying solely on password filtering.

Custom Aliases and Configuration¶

Custom Aliases¶

Add personal aliases and functions in oradba_customer.conf:

# Custom SQL*Plus connections
alias sqdev='sqlplus user/pass@devdb'
alias sqtest='sqlplus user/pass@testdb'

# Custom directory shortcuts
alias cdarch='cd /backup/oracle/archive'
alias cdbkp='cd /backup/oracle'

# Custom RMAN shortcuts
alias fullbackup='rman target / cmdfile=${ORADBA_PREFIX}/rcv/backup_full.rman'

# Custom shell function
backup_config() {
    local backup_dir="/backup/config/$(date +%Y%m%d)"
    mkdir -p "$backup_dir"
    cp ${ORADBA_ETC}/*.conf "$backup_dir/"
    echo "Configuration backed up to: $backup_dir"
}

Dynamic Alias Generation¶

When you source oraenv.sh, the generate_sid_aliases() function:

Queries the database for the diagnostic_dest parameter
Generates SID-specific aliases (taa, vaa, via, cda, cdd, cddt, cdda)
Falls back to convention-based paths if the database is unavailable

$ source oraenv.sh FREE
$ echo $ORADBA_SID_ALERTLOG
/u01/app/oracle/diag/rdbms/free/FREE/trace/alert_FREE.log
$ cddt && pwd
/u01/app/oracle/diag/rdbms/free/FREE/trace

Enable / Disable All Aliases¶

Control alias loading in oradba_core.conf (or override in oradba_customer.conf):

# Enable (default)
ORADBA_LOAD_ALIASES="true"

# Disable all aliases
ORADBA_LOAD_ALIASES="false"

To disable or redefine a specific alias, add to oradba_customer.conf:

unalias sq
# or redefine:
alias sq='echo "Use sqh instead"'

Best practices:

Learn the essentials first: sq/sqh, cdh, taa, oraup
Use rlwrap aliases (sqh, rmanh) for command history in interactive sessions
Customise in oradba_customer.conf — never edit the core alias file directly
Use type alias_name to inspect what an alias expands to
Comment your custom aliases so future you remembers why they exist

Troubleshooting¶

Aliases Not Loading¶

# Check if aliases are enabled
echo $ORADBA_LOAD_ALIASES      # should be: true

# Enable debug mode when sourcing
DEBUG=1 source oraenv.sh FREE

# Verify the alias library exists
ls -l ${ORADBA_PREFIX}/lib/oradba_aliases.sh

Dynamic / SID-Specific Aliases Not Generated¶

# Confirm ORACLE_SID is set
echo $ORACLE_SID

# Confirm database is accessible
sqlplus -S / as sysdba <<< "SELECT instance_name FROM v\$instance;"

# Check diagnostic_dest (needed for taa/vaa/cdd/cddt)
sqlplus -S / as sysdba <<< "SHOW PARAMETER diagnostic_dest"

PDB Aliases Missing¶

# Check whether generation is disabled
echo $ORADBA_NO_PDB_ALIASES    # must NOT be true

# Confirm CDB
sqlplus -s / as sysdba <<< "SELECT cdb FROM v\$database;"
# CDB must be YES

# Confirm database is open READ WRITE
sqlplus -s / as sysdba <<< "SELECT open_mode FROM v\$database;"

# Check for PDBs (excluding seed)
sqlplus -s / as sysdba <<< "SELECT name FROM v\$pdbs WHERE name != 'PDB\$SEED';"

# Reload environment after creating new PDBs
source oraenv.sh CDB1
echo $ORADBA_PDBLIST

PDB Alias Not Working¶

# Verify the alias was created
type pdb1

# Manual test — should succeed if PDB is accessible
sqlplus / as sysdba <<< "ALTER SESSION SET CONTAINER=PDB1;"

# Check PDB open mode
sqlplus -s / as sysdba <<< "SELECT name, open_mode FROM v\$pdbs WHERE name='PDB1';"

rlwrap Not Working¶

# Check installation
which rlwrap         # should show /usr/bin/rlwrap or similar

# Check current configuration
echo $RLWRAP_COMMAND
echo $RLWRAP_OPTS

# Test directly
rlwrap -i -c sqlplus / as sysdba

Password Filter Not Working¶

# Check filter is enabled
echo $ORADBA_RLWRAP_FILTER     # should be: true

# Verify alias includes filter option
type sqh   # should include: -z ".../rlwrap_filter_oracle"

# Check filter script exists and is executable
ls -l /opt/oradba/etc/rlwrap_filter_oracle

# Check Perl module
perl -MRlwrapFilter -e 'print "OK\n"'

If history still shows passwords:

Ensure ORADBA_RLWRAP_FILTER=true and reload the environment
Use sqh/rmanh, not sq/rman (unfiltered aliases bypass rlwrap entirely)
The filter does not retroactively clean existing history — back up and remove old files:

mv ~/.sqlplus_history ~/.sqlplus_history.bak
mv ~/.rman_history    ~/.rman_history.bak

For a quick alias reference card at any time, run alih.