I don't think this is the problem as I can do the CONNECT / AS SYSDBA from the system console when logged in as the oracle owner account Rick Weiss Oracle Database Administrator Student Assistance Foundation P.O.Box 203101 2500 Broadway Helena, MT 59620-3101 rweiss@xxxxxxxxx (406) 495-7356 >>> "Allen, Brandon" <Brandon.Allen@xxxxxxxxxxx> 6/30/2006 9:38 AM >>> Sounds like a problem with your password file or remote_login_passwordfile parameter? From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rick Weiss Environment: 9.2.0.5 on Red Hat Linux ES3 I was checking backups from last night with the following oddity. The job failed with "User Authentication Failed."