Name

Synopsis

ALTER ROLEname [ [ WITH ]option [ ... ] ]whereoption can be:      SUPERUSER | NOSUPERUSER    | CREATEDB | NOCREATEDB    | CREATEROLE | NOCREATEROLE    | CREATEUSER | NOCREATEUSER    | INHERIT | NOINHERIT    | LOGIN | NOLOGIN    | REPLICATION | NOREPLICATION    | CONNECTION LIMITconnlimit    | [ ENCRYPTED | UNENCRYPTED ] PASSWORD 'password'    | VALID UNTIL 'timestamp'ALTER ROLEname RENAME TOnew_nameALTER ROLEname [ IN DATABASEdatabase_name ] SETconfiguration_parameter { TO | = } {value | DEFAULT }ALTER ROLE {name | ALL } [ IN DATABASEdatabase_name ] SETconfiguration_parameter FROM CURRENTALTER ROLE {name | ALL } [ IN DATABASEdatabase_name ] RESETconfiguration_parameterALTER ROLE {name | ALL } [ IN DATABASEdatabase_name ] RESET ALL

Description

ALTER ROLE changes the attributes of aPostgreSQL role.

The first variant of this command listed in the synopsis can change many of the role attributes that can be specified inCREATE ROLE. (All the possible attributes are covered, except that there are no options for adding or removing memberships; useGRANT andREVOKE for that.) Attributes not mentioned in the command retain their previous settings. Database superusers can change any of these settings for any role. Roles havingCREATEROLE privilege can change any of these settings, but only for non-superuser and non-replication 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 havingCREATEROLE privilege can rename non-superuser roles. The current session user cannot be renamed. (Connect as a different user if you need to do that.) BecauseMD5-encrypted passwords use the role name as cryptographic salt, renaming a role clears its password if the password isMD5-encrypted.

The remaining variants change a role's session default for a configuration variable, either for all databases or, when theIN DATABASE clause is specified, only for sessions in the named database. IfALL is specified instead of a role name, this changes the setting for all roles. UsingALL withIN DATABASE is effectively the same as using the commandALTER DATABASE ... SET ....

Whenever the role subsequently starts a new session, the specified value becomes the session default, overriding whatever setting is present inpostgresql.conf or has been received from thepostgres command line. This only happens at login time; executingSET ROLE orSET SESSION AUTHORIZATION does not cause new configuration values to be set. Settings set for all databases are overridden by database-specific settings attached to a role. Settings for specific databases or specific roles override settings for all roles.

Superusers can change anyone's session defaults. Roles havingCREATEROLE privilege can change defaults for non-superuser roles. Ordinary roles can only set defaults for themselves. Certain configuration variables cannot be set this way, or can only be set if a superuser issues the command. Only superusers can change a setting for all roles in all databases.

Parameters

Notes

UseCREATE ROLE to add new roles, andDROP ROLE to remove a role.

ALTER ROLE cannot change a role's memberships. UseGRANT andREVOKE to do that.

Caution must be exercised when specifying an unencrypted password with this command. The password will be transmitted to the server in cleartext, and it might also be logged in the client's command history or the server log.psql contains a command\password that can be used to change a role's password without exposing the cleartext password.

It is also possible to tie a session default to a specific database rather than to a role; seeALTER DATABASE. If there is a conflict, database-role-specific settings override role-specific ones, which in turn override database-specific ones.

Examples

Change a role's password:

ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD 'hu8jmn3';

Remove a role's password:

ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD NULL;

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 ofUTC:

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 themaintenance_work_mem parameter:

ALTER ROLE worker_bee SET maintenance_work_mem = 100000;

Give a role a non-default, database-specific setting of theclient_min_messages parameter:

ALTER ROLE fred IN DATABASE devel SET client_min_messages = DEBUG;

Compatibility

TheALTER ROLE statement is aPostgreSQL extension.

See Also