Thanks for the reply.  So to test it out, I made a very simple script that simply echo "password"  My plan was to verify that the scripting mechanism works and then I can worry about making the script more secure.   I called -- /opt/cloudera/cm/schema/scm_prepare_database.sh mysql scm scm --scm-password-script /root/password.s and received a message the setup was properly completed.   In reviewing the db.properties file, I see the following: # Auto-generated by scm_prepare_database.sh on Thu Mar 14 13:58:43 KST 2019 # # For information describing how to configure the Cloudera Manager Server # to connect to databases, see the "Cloudera Manager Installation Guide." # com.cloudera.cmf.db.type=mysql com.cloudera.cmf.db.host=localhost com.cloudera.cmf.db.name=scm com.cloudera.cmf.db.user=scm com.cloudera.cmf.db.setupType=EXTERNAL com.cloudera.cmf.db.password_script=/root/password.sh   Next, I proceeded with starting cloudera-scm-server and received the following error message: 2019-03-14 14:02:39,360 ERROR main:com.cloudera.server.cmf.Main: Server failed. org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'com.cloudera.server.cmf.TrialState': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'entityManagerFactoryBean' while setting constructor argument; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'entityManagerFactoryBean': FactoryBean threw exception on object creation; nested exception is java.lang.RuntimeException: Could not find or parse database configuration file: 'db.properties'. at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:359) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveValueIfNecessary(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:108) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.resolveConstructorArguments(ConstructorResolver.java:634) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.autowireConstructor(ConstructorResolver.java:145) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.autowireConstructor(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1198) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1100) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:511) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:481) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:312) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:230) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:308) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:197) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:761) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:867) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:543) at com.cloudera.server.cmf.Main.bootstrapSpringContext(Main.java:415) at com.cloudera.server.cmf.Main.<init>(Main.java:258) at com.cloudera.server.cmf.Main.main(Main.java:231) Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'entityManagerFactoryBean': FactoryBean threw exception on object creation; nested exception is java.lang.RuntimeException: Could not find or parse database configuration file: 'db.properties'. at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.FactoryBeanRegistrySupport.doGetObjectFromFactoryBean(FactoryBeanRegistrySupport.java:185) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.FactoryBeanRegistrySupport.getObjectFromFactoryBean(FactoryBeanRegistrySupport.java:103) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getObjectForBeanInstance(AbstractBeanFactory.java:1640) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:254) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:197) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionValueResolver.resolveReference(BeanDefinitionValueResolver.java:351) ... 17 more Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Could not find or parse database configuration file: 'db.properties'. at com.cloudera.enterprise.CommonMain.setupHibernate(CommonMain.java:175) at com.cloudera.server.cmf.bootstrap.EntityManagerFactoryBean.getObject(EntityManagerFactoryBean.java:158) at com.cloudera.server.cmf.bootstrap.EntityManagerFactoryBean.getObject(EntityManagerFactoryBean.java:75) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.FactoryBeanRegistrySupport.doGetObjectFromFactoryBean(FactoryBeanRegistrySupport.java:178) ... 22 more Caused by: java.io.IOException: Password script "/root/password.sh" failed with return value 126. Stdout: Stderr: bash: /root/password.sh: Permission denied at com.cloudera.enterprise.ORMProperties.execPassScript(ORMProperties.java:108) at com.cloudera.enterprise.ORMProperties.<init>(ORMProperties.java:73) at com.cloudera.enterprise.CommonMain.setupHibernate(CommonMain.java:119)     ... View more