ALTER ROLE
Name
ALTER ROLE -- change a database role
Synopsis
ALTER ROLE
name
[ [ WITH ]
option
[ ... ] ]
where
option
can be:
SUPERUSER | NOSUPERUSER
| CREATEDB | NOCREATEDB
| CREATEROLE | NOCREATEROLE
| CREATEUSER | NOCREATEUSER
| INHERIT | NOINHERIT
| LOGIN | NOLOGIN
| CONNECTION LIMIT
connlimit
| [ ENCRYPTED | UNENCRYPTED ] PASSWORD '
password
'
| VALID UNTIL '
timestamp
'
ALTER ROLE
name
RENAME TO
newname
ALTER ROLE
name
SET
parameter
{ TO | = } {
value
| DEFAULT }
ALTER ROLE
name
RESET
parameter
Description
ALTER ROLE changes the attributes of a PostgreSQL role.
The first variant of this command listed in the synopsis can change many of the role attributes that can be specified in
CREATE ROLE
, which see for details. (All the possible attributes are covered, except that there are no options for adding or removing memberships; use
GRANT
and
REVOKE
for that.) Attributes not mentioned in the command retain their previous settings. Database superusers can change any of these settings for any role. Roles having CREATEROLE privilege can change any of these settings, but only for non-superuser roles. Ordinary roles can only change their own password.
The second variant changes the name of the role. Database superusers can rename any role. Roles having CREATEROLE privilege can rename non-superuser roles. The current session user cannot be renamed. (Connect as a different user if you need to do that.) Because MD5-encrypted passwords use the role name as cryptographic salt, renaming a role clears its password if the password is MD5-encrypted.
The third and the fourth variant change a role's session default for a specified configuration variable. Whenever the role subsequently starts a new session, the specified value becomes the session default, overriding whatever setting is present in postgresql.conf or has been received from the postmaster command line. (For a role without LOGIN privilege, session defaults have no effect.) Ordinary roles can change their own session defaults. Superusers can change anyone's session defaults. Roles having CREATEROLE privilege can change defaults for non-superuser roles. Certain variables cannot be set this way, or can only be set if a superuser issues the command.
Parameters
-
name
-
The name of the role whose attributes are to be altered.
-
SUPERUSER
NOSUPERUSER
CREATEDB
NOCREATEDB
CREATEROLE
NOCREATEROLE
CREATEUSER
NOCREATEUSER
INHERIT
NOINHERIT
LOGIN
NOLOGIN
CONNECTION LIMIT
connlimit
PASSWORD
password
ENCRYPTED
UNENCRYPTED
VALID UNTIL '
timestamp
'
-
These clauses alter attributes originally set by
CREATE ROLE
, which see for more information.
-
newname
-
The new name of the role.
-
parameter
value
-
Set this role's session default for the specified configuration parameter to the given value. If
value
is DEFAULT or, equivalently, RESET is used, the role-specific variable setting is removed, so the role will inherit the system-wide default setting in new sessions. Use RESET ALL to clear all role-specific settings.
See
SET
and Chapter 17 for more information about allowed parameter names and values.
Notes
Use
CREATE ROLE
to add new roles, and
DROP ROLE
to remove a role.
ALTER ROLE cannot change a role's memberships. Use
GRANT
and
REVOKE
to do that.
It is also possible to tie a session default to a specific database rather than to a role; see
ALTER DATABASE
. Role-specific settings override database-specific ones if there is a conflict.
Examples
Change a role's password:
ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD 'hu8jmn3';
Change a password expiration date, specifying that the password should expire at midday on 4th May 2015 using the time zone which is one hour ahead of UTC:
ALTER ROLE chris VALID UNTIL 'May 4 12:00:00 2015 +1';
Make a password valid forever:
ALTER ROLE fred VALID UNTIL 'infinity';
Give a role the ability to create other roles and new databases:
ALTER ROLE miriam CREATEROLE CREATEDB;
Give a role a non-default setting of the maintenance_work_mem parameter:
ALTER ROLE worker_bee SET maintenance_work_mem = 100000;
Compatibility
The ALTER ROLE statement is a PostgreSQL extension.
