doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_role.sgml

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   2 $PostgreSQL$
   3 PostgreSQL documentation
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   5
   6 <refentry id="SQL-ALTERROLE">
   7  <refmeta>
   8   <refentrytitle id="sql-alterrole-title">ALTER ROLE</refentrytitle>
   9   <manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
  10   <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
  11  </refmeta>
  12
  13  <refnamediv>
  14   <refname>ALTER ROLE</refname>
  15   <refpurpose>change a database role</refpurpose>
  16  </refnamediv>
  17
  18  <indexterm zone="sql-alterrole">
  19   <primary>ALTER ROLE</primary>
  20  </indexterm>
  21
  22  <refsynopsisdiv>
  23 <synopsis>
  24 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> [ [ WITH ] <replaceable class="PARAMETER">option</replaceable> [ ... ] ]
  25
  26 where <replaceable class="PARAMETER">option</replaceable> can be:
  27
  28       SUPERUSER | NOSUPERUSER
  29     | CREATEDB | NOCREATEDB
  30     | CREATEROLE | NOCREATEROLE
  31     | CREATEUSER | NOCREATEUSER
  32     | INHERIT | NOINHERIT
  33     | LOGIN | NOLOGIN
  34     | CONNECTION LIMIT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">connlimit</replaceable>
  35     | [ ENCRYPTED | UNENCRYPTED ] PASSWORD '<replaceable class="PARAMETER">password</replaceable>'
  36     | VALID UNTIL '<replaceable class="PARAMETER">timestamp</replaceable>'
  37
  38 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> RENAME TO <replaceable>newname</replaceable>
  39
  40 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> SET <replaceable>configuration_parameter</replaceable> { TO | = } { <replaceable>value</replaceable> | DEFAULT }
  41 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> SET <replaceable>configuration_parameter</replaceable> FROM CURRENT
  42 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> RESET <replaceable>configuration_parameter</replaceable>
  43 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> RESET ALL
  44 </synopsis>
  45  </refsynopsisdiv>
  46
  47  <refsect1>
  48   <title>Description</title>
  49
  50   <para>
  51    <command>ALTER ROLE</command> changes the attributes of a
  52    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> role.
  53   </para>
  54
  55   <para>
  56    The first variant of this command listed in the synopsis can change
  57    many of the role attributes that can be specified in
  58    <xref linkend="sql-createrole" endterm="sql-createrole-title">.
  59    (All the possible attributes are covered,
  60    except that there are no options for adding or removing memberships; use
  61    <xref linkend="SQL-GRANT" endterm="SQL-GRANT-title"> and
  62    <xref linkend="SQL-REVOKE" endterm="SQL-REVOKE-title"> for that.)
  63    Attributes not mentioned in the command retain their previous settings.
  64    Database superusers can change any of these settings for any role.
  65    Roles having <literal>CREATEROLE</> privilege can change any of these
  66    settings, but only for non-superuser roles.
  67    Ordinary roles can only change their own password.
  68   </para>
  69
  70   <para>
  71    The second variant changes the name of the role.
  72    Database superusers can rename any role.
  73    Roles having <literal>CREATEROLE</> privilege can rename non-superuser
  74    roles.
  75    The current session user cannot be renamed.
  76    (Connect as a different user if you need to do that.)
  77    Because <literal>MD5</>-encrypted passwords use the role name as
  78    cryptographic salt, renaming a role clears its password if the
  79    password is <literal>MD5</>-encrypted.
  80   </para>
  81
  82   <para>
  83    The remaining variants change a role's session default for a
  84    specified configuration variable. Whenever the role subsequently
  85    starts a new session, the specified value becomes the session
  86    default, overriding whatever setting is present in
  87    <filename>postgresql.conf</> or has been received from the postgres
  88    command line. This only happens at login time, so configuration
  89    settings associated with a role to which you've <xref
  90    linkend="sql-set-role" endterm="sql-set-role-title"> will be ignored.
  91    Superusers can change anyone's session defaults. Roles having
  92    <literal>CREATEROLE</> privilege can change defaults for non-superuser
  93    roles. Certain variables cannot be set this way, or can only be
  94    set if a superuser issues the command.
  95   </para>
  96  </refsect1>
  97
  98  <refsect1>
  99   <title>Parameters</title>
 100
 101     <variablelist>
 102      <varlistentry>
 103       <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable></term>
 104       <listitem>
 105        <para>
 106         The name of the role whose attributes are to be altered.
 107        </para>
 108       </listitem>
 109      </varlistentry>
 110
 111      <varlistentry>
 112       <term><literal>SUPERUSER</literal></term>
 113       <term><literal>NOSUPERUSER</literal></term>
 114       <term><literal>CREATEDB</></term>
 115       <term><literal>NOCREATEDB</></term>
 116       <term><literal>CREATEROLE</literal></term>
 117       <term><literal>NOCREATEROLE</literal></term>
 118       <term><literal>CREATEUSER</literal></term>
 119       <term><literal>NOCREATEUSER</literal></term>
 120       <term><literal>INHERIT</literal></term>
 121       <term><literal>NOINHERIT</literal></term>
 122       <term><literal>LOGIN</literal></term>
 123       <term><literal>NOLOGIN</literal></term>
 124       <term><literal>CONNECTION LIMIT</literal> <replaceable class="parameter">connlimit</replaceable></term>
 125       <term><literal>PASSWORD</> <replaceable class="parameter">password</replaceable></term>
 126       <term><literal>ENCRYPTED</></term>
 127       <term><literal>UNENCRYPTED</></term>
 128       <term><literal>VALID UNTIL</literal> '<replaceable class="parameter">timestamp</replaceable>'</term>
 129       <listitem>
 130        <para>
 131         These clauses alter attributes originally set by
 132         <xref linkend="SQL-CREATEROLE"
 133         endterm="SQL-CREATEROLE-title">. For more information, see the
 134         <command>CREATE ROLE</command> reference page.
 135        </para>
 136       </listitem>
 137      </varlistentry>
 138
 139      <varlistentry>
 140       <term><replaceable>newname</replaceable></term>
 141       <listitem>
 142        <para>
 143         The new name of the role.
 144        </para>
 145       </listitem>
 146      </varlistentry>
 147
 148      <varlistentry>
 149       <term><replaceable>configuration_parameter</replaceable></term>
 150       <term><replaceable>value</replaceable></term>
 151       <listitem>
 152        <para>
 153         Set this role's session default for the specified configuration
 154         parameter to the given value.  If
 155         <replaceable>value</replaceable> is <literal>DEFAULT</literal>
 156         or, equivalently, <literal>RESET</literal> is used, the
 157         role-specific variable setting is removed, so the role will
 158         inherit the system-wide default setting in new sessions.  Use
 159         <literal>RESET ALL</literal> to clear all role-specific settings.
 160         <literal>SET FROM CURRENT</> saves the session's current value of
 161         the parameter as the role-specific value.
 162        </para>
 163
 164        <para>
 165         Role-specific variable setting take effect only at login;
 166         <xref linkend="sql-set-role" endterm="sql-set-role-title">
 167         does not process role-specific variable settings.
 168        </para>
 169
 170        <para>
 171         See <xref linkend="sql-set" endterm="sql-set-title"> and <xref
 172         linkend="runtime-config"> for more information about allowed
 173         parameter names and values.
 174        </para>
 175       </listitem>
 176      </varlistentry>
 177     </variablelist>
 178  </refsect1>
 179
 180  <refsect1>
 181   <title>Notes</title>
 182
 183   <para>
 184    Use <xref linkend="SQL-CREATEROLE" endterm="SQL-CREATEROLE-title">
 185    to add new roles, and <xref linkend="SQL-DROPROLE"
 186    endterm="SQL-DROPROLE-title"> to remove a role.
 187   </para>
 188
 189   <para>
 190    <command>ALTER ROLE</command> cannot change a role's memberships.
 191    Use <xref linkend="SQL-GRANT" endterm="SQL-GRANT-title"> and
 192    <xref linkend="SQL-REVOKE" endterm="SQL-REVOKE-title">
 193    to do that.
 194   </para>
 195
 196   <para>
 197    Caution must be exercised when specifying an unencrypted password
 198    with this command.  The password will be transmitted to the server
 199    in cleartext, and it might also be logged in the client's command
 200    history or the server log.  <xref linkend="app-psql"
 201    endterm="app-psql-title"> contains a command
 202    <command>\password</command> that can be used to safely change a
 203    role's password.
 204   </para>
 205
 206   <para>
 207    It is also possible to tie a
 208    session default to a specific database rather than to a role; see
 209    <xref linkend="sql-alterdatabase" endterm="sql-alterdatabase-title">.
 210    Role-specific settings override database-specific
 211    ones if there is a conflict.
 212   </para>
 213  </refsect1>
 214
 215  <refsect1>
 216   <title>Examples</title>
 217
 218   <para>
 219    Change a role's password:
 220
 221 <programlisting>
 222 ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD 'hu8jmn3';
 223 </programlisting>
 224   </para>
 225
 226   <para>
 227    Remove a role's password:
 228
 229 <programlisting>
 230 ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD NULL;
 231 </programlisting>
 232   </para>
 233
 234   <para>
 235    Change a password expiration date, specifying that the password
 236    should expire at midday on 4th May 2015 using
 237    the time zone which is one hour ahead of <acronym>UTC</>:
 238 <programlisting>
 239 ALTER ROLE chris VALID UNTIL 'May 4 12:00:00 2015 +1';
 240 </programlisting>
 241   </para>
 242
 243   <para>
 244    Make a password valid forever:
 245 <programlisting>
 246 ALTER ROLE fred VALID UNTIL 'infinity';
 247 </programlisting>
 248   </para>
 249
 250   <para>
 251    Give a role the ability to create other roles and new databases:
 252
 253 <programlisting>
 254 ALTER ROLE miriam CREATEROLE CREATEDB;
 255 </programlisting>
 256   </para>
 257
 258   <para>
 259    Give a role a non-default setting of the
 260    <xref linkend="guc-maintenance-work-mem"> parameter:
 261
 262 <programlisting>
 263 ALTER ROLE worker_bee SET maintenance_work_mem = 100000;
 264 </programlisting>
 265   </para>
 266  </refsect1>
 267
 268  <refsect1>
 269   <title>Compatibility</title>
 270
 271   <para>
 272    The <command>ALTER ROLE</command> statement is a
 273    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extension.
 274   </para>
 275  </refsect1>
 276
 277  <refsect1>
 278   <title>See Also</title>
 279
 280   <simplelist type="inline">
 281    <member><xref linkend="sql-createrole" endterm="sql-createrole-title"></member>
 282    <member><xref linkend="sql-droprole" endterm="sql-droprole-title"></member>
 283    <member><xref linkend="sql-set" endterm="sql-set-title"></member>
 284   </simplelist>
 285  </refsect1>
 286 </refentry>