The error message “ORA-28017: The password file is in the legacy format” is related to Oracle database security. It indicates that the password file being used for authentication is in the older legacy format, which is not supported by the current version of Oracle.

Starting with Oracle Database 12c, Oracle introduced a new password file format called the “Oracle Database Vault”. This format provides enhanced security features and is the recommended format for password files. The legacy format refers to the older password file format used in earlier versions of Oracle.

Let us see how we can solve this error.

1. Let us try to change our sys user password

SQL> alter user sys identified by “Pasword_here”;
alter user sys identified by “Pasword_here”
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-28017: The password file is in the legacy format.

2. Let us check current password file.

[oracle@helios ~]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/dbs
[oracle@helios dbs]$ orapwd describe file=orapwTEST
Password file Description : format=LEGACY

We need to recreate our password file by using orapwd utulity.

[oracle@helios ~]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/dbs

orapwd file=orapwORCL entries=5 force=y password=test1 format=12

or

.You can upgrade the password file to the Oracle Database Vault format using the orapwd utility.

orapwd file=orapwTEST entries=5 force=y password=test1 format=12 input_file=orapwTEST

[oracle@helios dbs]$ orapwd describe file=orapwTEST
Password file Description : format=12

3. Retest to change sys user password again

SQL> alter user sys identified by “Pasword_here”;

User altered.