diff --git a/doc/man/man5/cray.conf.5 b/doc/man/man5/cray.conf.5
index 93c769ffb3f2e87e69bf6f585307bd9b3008097d..94f06879edb068edac489156be37e8454e94bd28 100644
--- a/doc/man/man5/cray.conf.5
+++ b/doc/man/man5/cray.conf.5
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ cray.conf \- Slurm configuration file for the Cray\-specific information
 .SH "DESCRIPTION"
 \fB/etc/cray.conf\fP is an ASCII file which defines parameters used by 
 Slurm's select/cray plugin in support of Cray systems. The file will always
-be located in the same directory as the \fBslurm.conf\fP file.
+be located in the same directory as the \fBslurm.conf\fP file. The default
+configuration parameters will work properly in a typical installation and
+this file will not be required.
 .LP
 Parameter names are case insensitive.
 Any text following a "#" in the configuration file is treated
@@ -46,7 +48,7 @@ The default value is \fIsdb\fR.
 .TP
 \fBSDBpass\fR=<password>
 Password used to access the ALPS database.
-The default value is NULL.
+The default value is \fIbasic\fR.
 
 .TP
 \fBSDBport\fR=<port_number>
@@ -56,7 +58,7 @@ The default value is 0.
 .TP
 \fBSDBuser\fR=<user_name>
 Name of user used to access the ALPS database.
-The default value is NULL.
+The default value is \fIbasic\fR.
 
 .SH "EXAMPLE"
 .LP
diff --git a/src/plugins/select/cray/cray_config.h b/src/plugins/select/cray/cray_config.h
index 8f122150e5532ff9464a0c7c294450a116a0123d..a68c2dba1fcea443eb6c1862c2e79d624bb689f4 100644
--- a/src/plugins/select/cray/cray_config.h
+++ b/src/plugins/select/cray/cray_config.h
@@ -66,13 +66,13 @@ typedef struct {
 /* database name to use  */
 #define DEFAULT_CRAY_SDB_DB       "XTAdmin"
 /* DNS name of SDB host */
-#define DEFAULT_CRAY_SDB_HOST "sdb"
+#define DEFAULT_CRAY_SDB_HOST     "sdb"
 /* If NULL, use value from my.cnf */
-#define DEFAULT_CRAY_SDB_PASS     NULL
+#define DEFAULT_CRAY_SDB_PASS     "basic"
 /* If NULL, use value from my.cnf */
 #define DEFAULT_CRAY_SDB_PORT     0
 /* If NULL, use value from my.cnf */
-#define DEFAULT_CRAY_SDB_USER     NULL
+#define DEFAULT_CRAY_SDB_USER     "basic"
 
 extern cray_config_t *cray_conf;