Computer Science
ALTER_USER(l) ALTER_USER(l)
NAME
ALTER USER - Modifies user account information
SYNOPSIS
ALTER USER username [ WITH PASSWORD password ]
[ CREATEDB | NOCREATEDB ] [ CREATEUSER | NOCREATEUSER ]
[ IN GROUP groupname [, ...] ]
[ VALID UNTIL 'abstime' ]
INPUTS
Refer to CREATE USER for a detailed description of each
clause.
username
The Postgres account name of the user whose details
are to be altered.
password
The new password to be used for this account.
groupname
The name of an access group into which this account
is to be put.
abstime
The date (and, optionally, the time) at which this
user's access is to be terminated.
OUTPUTS
ALTER USER
Message returned if the alteration was successful.
ERROR: alterUser: user "username" does not exist
Error message returned if the specified user is not
known to the database.
DESCRIPTION
ALTER USER is used to change the attributes of a user's
Postgres account. Please note that it is not possible to
alter a user's "usesysid" via the alter user statement.
Also, it is only possible for the Postgres user or any
user with read and modify permissions on pg_shadow to
alter user passwords.
If any of the clauses of the alter user statement are
omitted, the corresponding value in the pg_shadow table is
left unchanged.
NOTES
ALTER USER is a Postgres language extension.
Refer to CREATE/DROP USER to create or remove a user
account.
In the current release (v6.5), the IN GROUP clause is
parsed but has no affect. When it is fully implemented, it
is intended to modify the pg_group relation.
USAGE
Change a user password:
ALTER USER davide WITH PASSWORD hu8jmn3;
Change a user's valid until date
ALTER USER manuel VALID UNTIL 'Jan 31 2030';
Change a user's valid until date, specifying that his
authorisation should expire at midday on 4th May 1998
using the time zone which is one hour ahead of UTC
ALTER USER chris VALID UNTIL 'May 4 12:00:00 1998 +1';
Give a user the ability to create other users and new
databases.
ALTER USER miriam CREATEUSER CREATEDB;
Place a user in two groups
ALTER USER miriam IN GROUP sales, payroll;
COMPATIBILITY
SQL92
There is no ALTER USER statement in SQL92. The standard
leaves the definition of users to the implementation.
SQL - Language Statements 15 August 1999 1
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