Options: 1) Every DBA has their own .bash_profile created as a copy of Oracle's. This is what I started with thinking it was simple but after one week I've found 2 examples where DBAs didn't bother to follow this rule. I can't control them and have no authority to force them to do anything other than the bare minimum of their job. 2) Open permissions on /user/oracle (710) and /user/oracle/.bash_profile (750) so that each EM Job could issue at the start: ". ~oracle/.bash_profile". So whether daveh or markb or timg have their credentials set for the target, all can execute Oracle's .bash_profile and we're fine. Everything else I've come up with is a variation on the above 2 options, either modifying DBA .bash_profiles in some way or something within Oracle's home directory that requires permissions to be relaxed a bit. Does this make sense? Am I making this overly complex? Anyone else in a similar situation and have a better solution? Dave Herring -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l