ALTER ROLE

ALTER ROLE

7

SQL - Language Statements

ALTER ROLE

change a database role

ALTER ROLE

role\_specification

\[ WITH \]

option

\[ \... \]

where

option

can be:

SUPERUSER \| NOSUPERUSER \| CREATEDB \| NOCREATEDB \| CREATEROLE \|
NOCREATEROLE \| INHERIT \| NOINHERIT \| LOGIN \| NOLOGIN \| REPLICATION
\| NOREPLICATION \| BYPASSRLS \| NOBYPASSRLS \| CONNECTION LIMIT

connlimit

\| \[ ENCRYPTED \] PASSWORD \'

password

\' \| PASSWORD NULL \| VALID UNTIL \'

timestamp

\' ALTER ROLE

name

RENAME TO

new\_name

ALTER ROLE {

role\_specification

\| ALL } \[ IN DATABASE

database\_name

\] SET

configuration\_parameter

{ TO \| = } {

value

\| DEFAULT } ALTER ROLE {

role\_specification

\| ALL } \[ IN DATABASE

database\_name

\] SET

configuration\_parameter

FROM CURRENT ALTER ROLE {

role\_specification

\| ALL } \[ IN DATABASE

database\_name

\] RESET

configuration\_parameter

ALTER ROLE {

role\_specification

\| ALL } \[ IN DATABASE

database\_name

\] RESET ALL

where

role\_specification

can be:

role\_name

\| CURRENT\_ROLE \| CURRENT\_USER \| SESSION\_USER

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`](#sql-createrole). (All the possible attributes are
covered, except that there are no options for adding or removing
memberships; use [`GRANT`](#sql-grant) and [`REVOKE`](#sql-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 except `SUPERUSER`, `REPLICATION`, and `BYPASSRLS`; 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 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 remaining variants change a role\'s session default for a
configuration variable, either for all databases or, when the `IN
   DATABASE` clause is specified, only for sessions in the named
database. If `ALL` is specified instead of a role name, this changes the
setting for all roles. Using `ALL` with `IN DATABASE` is effectively the
same as using the command `ALTER DATABASE ... SET ...`.

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 `postgres` command line.
This only happens at login time; executing [`SET ROLE`](#sql-set-role)
or [`SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION`](#sql-set-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 having
`CREATEROLE` 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
==========

name

:   The name of the role whose attributes are to be altered.

`CURRENT_ROLE`; `CURRENT_USER`

:   Alter the current user instead of an explicitly identified role.

`SESSION_USER`

:   Alter the current session user instead of an explicitly identified
    role.

`SUPERUSER`; `NOSUPERUSER`; `CREATEDB`; `NOCREATEDB`; `CREATEROLE`; `NOCREATEROLE`; `INHERIT`; `NOINHERIT`; `LOGIN`; `NOLOGIN`; `REPLICATION`; `NOREPLICATION`; `BYPASSRLS`; `NOBYPASSRLS`; `CONNECTION LIMIT` connlimit; \[ `ENCRYPTED` \] `PASSWORD` \'password\'; `PASSWORD NULL`; `VALID UNTIL` \'timestamp\'

:   These clauses alter attributes originally set by
    [`CREATE ROLE`](#sql-createrole). For more information, see the
    `CREATE ROLE` reference page.

new\_name

:   The new name of the role.

database\_name

:   The name of the database the configuration variable should be set
    in.

configuration\_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.
    `SET FROM CURRENT` saves the session\'s current value of the
    parameter as the role-specific value. If `IN DATABASE` is specified,
    the configuration parameter is set or removed for the given role and
    database only.

    Role-specific variable settings take effect only at login;
    [`SET ROLE`](#sql-set-role) and
    [`SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION`](#sql-set-session-authorization) do not
    process role-specific variable settings.

    See [???](#sql-set) and [???](#runtime-config) for more information
    about allowed parameter names and values.

Notes
=====

Use [`CREATE ROLE`](#sql-createrole) to add new roles, and
[`DROP ROLE`](#sql-droprole) to remove a role.

`ALTER ROLE` cannot change a role\'s memberships. Use
[`GRANT`](#sql-grant) and [`REVOKE`](#sql-revoke) 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. [???](#app-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; see [???](#sql-alterdatabase). 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 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
[???](#guc-maintenance-work-mem) parameter:

    ALTER ROLE worker_bee SET maintenance_work_mem = 100000;

Give a role a non-default, database-specific setting of the
[???](#guc-client-min-messages) parameter:

    ALTER ROLE fred IN DATABASE devel SET client_min_messages = DEBUG;

Compatibility
=============

The `ALTER ROLE` statement is a PostgreSQL extension.

See Also
========
