You can set credentials to establish a secure connection to the Managed Database and use Database Management Diagnostics & Management features.

In Database Management, you can create or set the following types of credentials:

• Preferred credentials: Preferred credentials are preconfigured and can be used to provide default connectivity to a Managed Database based on user roles and the tasks to be performed. Preferred credentials allow the separation of duties for different user groups and provide an additional layer of security.
• Named credentials: Named credentials are resources that contain user authentication information, namely, the database user name and the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Vault service secret that contains the database user password. As an administrator, you can create a named credential and securely store the user name and password, update it centrally, if required, and automatically populate it when using Diagnostics & Management features.

In Database Management, you can associate and use the preferred and named credentials in conjunction to obtain the benefits of the two types of credentials. Here are the main tasks you can perform in the Credentials section for a Managed Database.

• Set preferred credentials to connect to the Managed Database and perform specific tasks.
• Create and use a named credential to connect to a Managed Database.
• Edit and update named credentials.
• Set a session credential.

On setting credentials in Database Management, you can use them to securely access your Managed Database and perform monitoring and management tasks.