Issue:
There is a problem with starting the Oracle database.
Log message:
ORA-01031: "insufficient privileges"
Troubleshoot:
Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME directory ($ cd $ORACLE_HOME). The $ORACLE_HOME/startup.log file displays the following message: The ORA-01031: “insufficient privileges”
Solution:
Make certain that dbstart script has execute permission (e.g. (770) in UNIX/Linux).
Navigate to the bin directory and check the permissions.
$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
$ ls -l dbstart
-rwxr-x+++ 1 oracle oinstall 13823 Jan 15 16:38 dbstart
$
$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
$ chmod 770 dbstart
You can also use “chmod +x file” to give execute permission, which gives execute permissions to the owner and the user, but not the group. Ensure that the oracle user is a member of the dba group (e.g. /etc/group). Catolog the group file. The group names are listed first, followed by the members of the groups.
$ cat /etc/group
~
dba::101:ossadmin,oracle
This is how you use the “usermod” utility to add an existing user to an existing group.
# usermod -a -G dba ossadmin