doc/src/sgml/ref/alter_role.sgml

   1 <!--
   2 $PostgreSQL$
   3 PostgreSQL documentation
   4 -->
   5
   6 <refentry id="SQL-ALTERROLE">
   7  <refmeta>
   8   <refentrytitle id="sql-alterrole-title">ALTER ROLE</refentrytitle>
   9   <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
  10  </refmeta>
  11
  12  <refnamediv>
  13   <refname>ALTER ROLE</refname>
  14   <refpurpose>change a database role</refpurpose>
  15  </refnamediv>
  16
  17  <indexterm zone="sql-alterrole">
  18   <primary>ALTER ROLE</primary>
  19  </indexterm>
  20
  21  <refsynopsisdiv>
  22 <synopsis>
  23 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> [ [ WITH ] <replaceable class="PARAMETER">option</replaceable> [ ... ] ]
  24
  25 where <replaceable class="PARAMETER">option</replaceable> can be:
  26
  27       SUPERUSER | NOSUPERUSER
  28     | CREATEDB | NOCREATEDB
  29     | CREATEROLE | NOCREATEROLE
  30     | CREATEUSER | NOCREATEUSER
  31     | INHERIT | NOINHERIT
  32     | LOGIN | NOLOGIN
  33     | CONNECTION LIMIT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">connlimit</replaceable>
  34     | [ ENCRYPTED | UNENCRYPTED ] PASSWORD '<replaceable class="PARAMETER">password</replaceable>'
  35     | VALID UNTIL '<replaceable class="PARAMETER">timestamp</replaceable>'
  36
  37 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> RENAME TO <replaceable>newname</replaceable>
  38
  39 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> SET <replaceable>configuration_parameter</replaceable> { TO | = } { <replaceable>value</replaceable> | DEFAULT }
  40 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> SET <replaceable>configuration_parameter</replaceable> FROM CURRENT
  41 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> RESET <replaceable>configuration_parameter</replaceable>
  42 ALTER ROLE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> RESET ALL
  43 </synopsis>
  44  </refsynopsisdiv>
  45
  46  <refsect1>
  47   <title>Description</title>
  48
  49   <para>
  50    <command>ALTER ROLE</command> changes the attributes of a
  51    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> role.
  52   </para>
  53
  54   <para>
  55    The first variant of this command listed in the synopsis can change
  56    many of the role attributes that can be specified in
  57    <xref linkend="sql-createrole" endterm="sql-createrole-title">.
  58    (All the possible attributes are covered,
  59    except that there are no options for adding or removing memberships; use
  60    <xref linkend="SQL-GRANT" endterm="SQL-GRANT-title"> and
  61    <xref linkend="SQL-REVOKE" endterm="SQL-REVOKE-title"> for that.)
  62    Attributes not mentioned in the command retain their previous settings.
  63    Database superusers can change any of these settings for any role.
  64    Roles having <literal>CREATEROLE</> privilege can change any of these
  65    settings, but only for non-superuser roles.
  66    Ordinary roles can only change their own password.
  67   </para>
  68
  69   <para>
  70    The second variant changes the name of the role.
  71    Database superusers can rename any role.
  72    Roles having <literal>CREATEROLE</> privilege can rename non-superuser
  73    roles.
  74    The current session user cannot be renamed.
  75    (Connect as a different user if you need to do that.)
  76    Because <literal>MD5</>-encrypted passwords use the role name as
  77    cryptographic salt, renaming a role clears its password if the
  78    password is <literal>MD5</>-encrypted.
  79   </para>
  80
  81   <para>
  82    The remaining variants change a role's session default for
  83    a specified configuration variable.  Whenever the role subsequently
  84    starts a new session, the specified value becomes the session default,
  85    overriding whatever setting is present in <filename>postgresql.conf</>
  86    or has been received from the <command>postgres</command> command line.
  87    (For a role without <literal>LOGIN</> privilege, session defaults have
  88    no effect.)
  89    Ordinary roles can change their own session defaults.
  90    Superusers can change anyone's session defaults.
  91    Roles having <literal>CREATEROLE</> privilege can change defaults for
  92    non-superuser roles.
  93    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         See <xref linkend="sql-set" endterm="sql-set-title"> and <xref
 166         linkend="runtime-config"> for more information about allowed
 167         parameter names and values.
 168        </para>
 169       </listitem>
 170      </varlistentry>
 171     </variablelist>
 172  </refsect1>
 173
 174  <refsect1>
 175   <title>Notes</title>
 176
 177   <para>
 178    Use <xref linkend="SQL-CREATEROLE" endterm="SQL-CREATEROLE-title">
 179    to add new roles, and <xref linkend="SQL-DROPROLE"
 180    endterm="SQL-DROPROLE-title"> to remove a role.
 181   </para>
 182
 183   <para>
 184    <command>ALTER ROLE</command> cannot change a role's memberships.
 185    Use <xref linkend="SQL-GRANT" endterm="SQL-GRANT-title"> and
 186    <xref linkend="SQL-REVOKE" endterm="SQL-REVOKE-title">
 187    to do that.
 188   </para>
 189
 190   <para>
 191    Caution must be exercised when specifying an unencrypted password
 192    with this command.  The password will be transmitted to the server
 193    in cleartext, and it might also be logged in the client's command
 194    history or the server log.  <xref linkend="app-psql"
 195    endterm="app-psql-title"> contains a command
 196    <command>\password</command> that can be used to safely change a
 197    role's password.
 198   </para>
 199
 200   <para>
 201    It is also possible to tie a
 202    session default to a specific database rather than to a role; see
 203    <xref linkend="sql-alterdatabase" endterm="sql-alterdatabase-title">.
 204    Role-specific settings override database-specific
 205    ones if there is a conflict.
 206   </para>
 207  </refsect1>
 208
 209  <refsect1>
 210   <title>Examples</title>
 211
 212   <para>
 213    Change a role's password:
 214
 215 <programlisting>
 216 ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD 'hu8jmn3';
 217 </programlisting>
 218   </para>
 219
 220   <para>
 221    Remove a role's password:
 222
 223 <programlisting>
 224 ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD NULL;
 225 </programlisting>
 226   </para>
 227
 228   <para>
 229    Change a password expiration date, specifying that the password
 230    should expire at midday on 4th May 2015 using
 231    the time zone which is one hour ahead of <acronym>UTC</>:
 232 <programlisting>
 233 ALTER ROLE chris VALID UNTIL 'May 4 12:00:00 2015 +1';
 234 </programlisting>
 235   </para>
 236
 237   <para>
 238    Make a password valid forever:
 239 <programlisting>
 240 ALTER ROLE fred VALID UNTIL 'infinity';
 241 </programlisting>
 242   </para>
 243
 244   <para>
 245    Give a role the ability to create other roles and new databases:
 246
 247 <programlisting>
 248 ALTER ROLE miriam CREATEROLE CREATEDB;
 249 </programlisting>
 250   </para>
 251
 252   <para>
 253    Give a role a non-default setting of the
 254    <xref linkend="guc-maintenance-work-mem"> parameter:
 255
 256 <programlisting>
 257 ALTER ROLE worker_bee SET maintenance_work_mem = 100000;
 258 </programlisting>
 259   </para>
 260  </refsect1>
 261
 262  <refsect1>
 263   <title>Compatibility</title>
 264
 265   <para>
 266    The <command>ALTER ROLE</command> statement is a
 267    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extension.
 268   </para>
 269  </refsect1>
 270
 271  <refsect1>
 272   <title>See Also</title>
 273
 274   <simplelist type="inline">
 275    <member><xref linkend="sql-createrole" endterm="sql-createrole-title"></member>
 276    <member><xref linkend="sql-droprole" endterm="sql-droprole-title"></member>
 277    <member><xref linkend="sql-set" endterm="sql-set-title"></member>
 278   </simplelist>
 279  </refsect1>
 280 </refentry>