Overview
Oracle Data Safe provides comprehensive security management for your Oracle Databases, helping organizations discover sensitive data, assess database security posture, monitor user activity, and support regulatory compliance.
While Oracle Data Safe provides rich security assessments and audit reports, customers often require a more streamlined approach to distributing these reports automatically to stakeholders. Currently, reports must be shared manually, which can introduce operational overhead and delays especially if it frequency is daily or higher.
This blog describes a secure, automated solution built using native OCI services to deliver Oracle Data Safe reports directly to recipients on a scheduled basis.
Why do we need this?
The Operational Challenge: Oracle Data Safe generates detailed assessment and audit reports, but it doesn’t natively email them or send them as attachments. As a result, DBAs and security teams must manually log in, generate, download, and distribute PDF reports – a repetitive process that adds overhead and delays critical insights.
The Automated Solution: We built a seamless, secure workflow using OCI’s native toolkit to automatically deliver Data Safe reports to your inbox. It fetches reports, stores them in Object Storage, creates secure links, and emails them on your schedule.
Core OCI Components:
- OCI CLI: Programmatically fetch Security Assessment, User Assessment, and Audit Reports.
- OCI Object Storage: Provides a secure, durable, and versioned repository for all reports.
- Pre-Authenticated Requests (PARs): Generate secure, time-limited URLs for each report, eliminating the need to email attachments.
- OCI Email Delivery: Reliably sends formatted emails containing the report links to designated users or distribution lists.
This enables organizations to receive daily, weekly, or custom-scheduled Data Safe reports directly in their inbox improving operational efficiency and compliance readiness.
Business Value and Use Cases:
Who Should Use This Solution?
- Security teams requiring continuous visibility into database risk posture
- Database administrators managing multiple Oracle databases
- Compliance and audit teams needing consistent, timely reports
Key Benefits
- Eliminates manual report generation and distribution.
- Enables automated scheduling using cron or OCI services.
- Centralizes report storage in OCI Object Storage.
- Ensures secure access using time-limited PAR URLs.
- Improves compliance readiness and operational agility.
Solution Architecture – Data Flow:
Supported Deployment Options: This automation is designed for flexibility and can be deployed in the following OCI-connected environments. For the quickest start with minimal configuration, OCI Cloud Shell is the recommended and tested option.
- OCI Cloud Shell (Recommended): Pre-configured and authenticated; the provided script is optimized for this environment.
- OCI Compute Instance: Any instance with the OCI CLI installed and configured.
- On-Premises Linux Machine: A server with a secure connection to your OCI tenancy and the OCI CLI setup.
High-Level Implementation Guide:
- Environment Setup: Ensure the OCI CLI is installed and configured in your chosen environment (Cloud Shell or Compute).
- Get the Script: Clone the Datasafe_Reports_Automation.sh script from the GitHub repository.
- Configure the Script: Edit the script to set your specific variables (e.g., compartment OCID, target bucket name, recipient email lists).
- Execute & Schedule: Run the script manually for testing, then schedule it for regular execution (e.g., via a cron job).
For the complete script, detailed instructions, and configuration guidance, please visit the GitHub repository: Oracle Data Safe Reports Automation
Conclusion:
By integrating Oracle Data Safe with OCI Object Storage and OCI Email Delivery, organizations can transform manual report distribution into a fully automated, secure, and scalable process.
This solution enhances security visibility, improves compliance readiness, and reduces operational overhead, allowing teams to focus on proactive risk management rather than administrative tasks.
This approach unlocks the full value of Oracle Data Safe in enterprise environments.
Reference Links:
https://www.oracle.com/in/security/database-security/data-safe