Understanding the Sign-In Options

This topic describes sign in options available to you when you sign up for an Oracle Cloud account.

About the Sign In Options

If you signed up for Oracle Cloud before identity domains were available, Oracle created a user for you in two different identity systems, giving you two options to sign in to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

Username and password are created in IDCS and OCI IAM service

When you want to use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, you can select which identity provider to sign in through:

Signing in Using Oracle Identity Cloud Service

Many Oracle Cloud services, including Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, are integrated with Oracle Identity Cloud Service. When you sign up for an Oracle Cloud account, a user is created for you in Oracle Identity Cloud Service with the username and password you selected at sign up. You can use this single sign-on option to sign in to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and then navigate to other Oracle Cloud services without reauthenticating. This user has administrator privileges for all the Oracle Cloud services included with your account.

Signing in Using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure includes its own identity service, called the Identity and Access Management service, or IAM, for short. When you sign up for an Oracle Cloud account, this service is included. A second, separate user is created for you in the IAM service with the username and password you selected at sign up. You are granted administrator privileges in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure so you can get started right away with all Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services.

Important

Although the credentials are identical in both systems when your account is created, the users are in separate identity management systems, and you manage them separately. If you change your password in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure IAM, your password in Oracle Identity Cloud Service is not changed, and conversely.

Signing in Using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure with Identity Domains

Many Oracle Cloud services, including Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, are integrated with identity domains. If your tenancy is using identity domains, when you sign up for an Oracle Cloud account, a user is created for you in an identity domain with the username and password you selected at sign up. You can use this single sign-on option to sign in to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and then navigate to other Oracle Cloud services without reauthenticating.

Signing in Using Traditional Cloud Accounts

Traditional Cloud Accounts don't use the Oracle Identity Cloud Service to manage users and roles. Instead, they use traditional Identity and Access Management software. This means that Traditional Cloud Accounts have sign-in credentials and procedures for creating and managing users that are different from Oracle Cloud Accounts with Identity Cloud Service.

There are three scenarios where you might be using a Traditional Cloud Account:

If you sign up for a free credit promotion or a paid Oracle Cloud Account, you get a Traditional Cloud Account automatically. This is because some of the services in your account do not yet support Oracle Identity Cloud Service. To view those services, you can select your traditional cloud account from the Identity Domain drop-down menu in the Infrastructure Classic Console or Applications Console.

To create services and manage users for those services, you must also sign in to the account using the Traditional Cloud Account URL, which is available in the email you received when your services were provisioned and on the My Admin Accounts tab of the Account Management page in the Infrastructure Classic Console or Applications Console.
If you ordered your Oracle Cloud subscription before Universal Credits subscriptions were available, it's likely you are using a Traditional Cloud Account. For example, if you have a classic metered or non-metered subscription, the credentials you use and users you created in the account are managed by traditional Identity and Access Management software.
If you are using any of the Oracle Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings, you are also likely to be using a Traditional Cloud Account. Most of the Oracle Applications available on Oracle Cloud use traditional Identity and Access Management software.

When to Use Each Sign-In Option

If you plan to use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services exclusively, it makes sense for you to use your direct sign-in credentials to the IAM service.

If you want to use other Oracle Cloud services that are managed through Oracle Identity Cloud Service, then sign in with your single sign-on credentials.