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'\" t
.\"     Title: ALTER ROLE
.\"    Author: The PostgreSQL Global Development Group
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 2026
.\"    Manual: PostgreSQL 16.12 Documentation
.\"    Source: PostgreSQL 16.12
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "ALTER ROLE" "7" "2026" "PostgreSQL 16.12" "PostgreSQL 16.12 Documentation"
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.SH "NAME"
ALTER_ROLE \- change a database role
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.sp
.nf
ALTER ROLE \fIrole_specification\fR [ WITH ] \fIoption\fR [ \&.\&.\&. ]

where \fIoption\fR can be:

      SUPERUSER | NOSUPERUSER
    | CREATEDB | NOCREATEDB
    | CREATEROLE | NOCREATEROLE
    | INHERIT | NOINHERIT
    | LOGIN | NOLOGIN
    | REPLICATION | NOREPLICATION
    | BYPASSRLS | NOBYPASSRLS
    | CONNECTION LIMIT \fIconnlimit\fR
    | [ ENCRYPTED ] PASSWORD \*(Aq\fIpassword\fR\*(Aq | PASSWORD NULL
    | VALID UNTIL \*(Aq\fItimestamp\fR\*(Aq

ALTER ROLE \fIname\fR RENAME TO \fInew_name\fR

ALTER ROLE { \fIrole_specification\fR | ALL } [ IN DATABASE \fIdatabase_name\fR ] SET \fIconfiguration_parameter\fR { TO | = } { \fIvalue\fR | DEFAULT }
ALTER ROLE { \fIrole_specification\fR | ALL } [ IN DATABASE \fIdatabase_name\fR ] SET \fIconfiguration_parameter\fR FROM CURRENT
ALTER ROLE { \fIrole_specification\fR | ALL } [ IN DATABASE \fIdatabase_name\fR ] RESET \fIconfiguration_parameter\fR
ALTER ROLE { \fIrole_specification\fR | ALL } [ IN DATABASE \fIdatabase_name\fR ] RESET ALL

where \fIrole_specification\fR can be:

    \fIrole_name\fR
  | CURRENT_ROLE
  | CURRENT_USER
  | SESSION_USER
.fi
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
\fBALTER ROLE\fR
changes the attributes of a
PostgreSQL
role\&.
.PP
The first variant of this command listed in the synopsis can change many of the role attributes that can be specified in
\fBCREATE ROLE\fR\&. (All the possible attributes are covered, except that there are no options for adding or removing memberships; use
\fBGRANT\fR
and
\fBREVOKE\fR
for that\&.) Attributes not mentioned in the command retain their previous settings\&. Database superusers can change any of these settings for any role\&. Non\-superuser roles having
CREATEROLE
privilege can change most of these properties, but only for non\-superuser and non\-replication roles for which they have been granted
ADMIN OPTION\&. Non\-superusers cannot change the
SUPERUSER
property and can change the
CREATEDB,
REPLICATION, and
BYPASSRLS
properties only if they possess the corresponding property themselves\&. Ordinary roles can only change their own password\&.
.PP
The second variant changes the name of the role\&. Database superusers can rename any role\&. Roles having
CREATEROLE
privilege can rename non\-superuser roles for which they have been granted
ADMIN OPTION\&. 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\&.
.PP
The remaining variants change a role\*(Aqs 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 \&.\&.\&.\&.
.PP
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
\fBpostgres\fR
command line\&. This only happens at login time; executing
\fBSET ROLE\fR
or
\fBSET SESSION AUTHORIZATION\fR
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\&.
.PP
Superusers can change anyone\*(Aqs session defaults\&. Roles having
CREATEROLE
privilege can change defaults for non\-superuser roles for which they have been granted
ADMIN OPTION\&. 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\&.
.SH "PARAMETERS"
.PP
\fIname\fR
.RS 4
The name of the role whose attributes are to be altered\&.
.RE
.PP
CURRENT_ROLE
.br
CURRENT_USER
.RS 4
Alter the current user instead of an explicitly identified role\&.
.RE
.PP
SESSION_USER
.RS 4
Alter the current session user instead of an explicitly identified role\&.
.RE
.PP
SUPERUSER
.br
NOSUPERUSER
.br
CREATEDB
.br
NOCREATEDB
.br
CREATEROLE
.br
NOCREATEROLE
.br
INHERIT
.br
NOINHERIT
.br
LOGIN
.br
NOLOGIN
.br
REPLICATION
.br
NOREPLICATION
.br
BYPASSRLS
.br
NOBYPASSRLS
.br
CONNECTION LIMIT \fIconnlimit\fR
.br
[ ENCRYPTED ] PASSWORD \*(Aq\fIpassword\fR\*(Aq
.br
PASSWORD NULL
.br
VALID UNTIL \*(Aq\fItimestamp\fR\*(Aq
.RS 4
These clauses alter attributes originally set by
\fBCREATE ROLE\fR\&. For more information, see the
\fBCREATE ROLE\fR
reference page\&.
.RE
.PP
\fInew_name\fR
.RS 4
The new name of the role\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIdatabase_name\fR
.RS 4
The name of the database the configuration variable should be set in\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIconfiguration_parameter\fR
.br
\fIvalue\fR
.RS 4
Set this role\*(Aqs session default for the specified configuration parameter to the given value\&. If
\fIvalue\fR
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\*(Aqs 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\&.
.sp
Role\-specific variable settings take effect only at login;
\fBSET ROLE\fR
and
\fBSET SESSION AUTHORIZATION\fR
do not process role\-specific variable settings\&.
.sp
See
\fBSET\fR(7)
and
Chapter\ \&20
for more information about allowed parameter names and values\&.
.RE
.SH "NOTES"
.PP
Use
\fBCREATE ROLE\fR
to add new roles, and
\fBDROP ROLE\fR
to remove a role\&.
.PP
\fBALTER ROLE\fR
cannot change a role\*(Aqs memberships\&. Use
\fBGRANT\fR
and
\fBREVOKE\fR
to do that\&.
.PP
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\*(Aqs command history or the server log\&.
\fBpsql\fR(1)
contains a command
\fB\epassword\fR
that can be used to change a role\*(Aqs password without exposing the cleartext password\&.
.PP
It is also possible to tie a session default to a specific database rather than to a role; see
ALTER DATABASE (\fBALTER_DATABASE\fR(7))\&. If there is a conflict, database\-role\-specific settings override role\-specific ones, which in turn override database\-specific ones\&.
.SH "EXAMPLES"
.PP
Change a role\*(Aqs password:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD \*(Aqhu8jmn3\*(Aq;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Remove a role\*(Aqs password:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER ROLE davide WITH PASSWORD NULL;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
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:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER ROLE chris VALID UNTIL \*(AqMay 4 12:00:00 2015 +1\*(Aq;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Make a password valid forever:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER ROLE fred VALID UNTIL \*(Aqinfinity\*(Aq;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Give a role the ability to manage other roles and create new databases:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER ROLE miriam CREATEROLE CREATEDB;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Give a role a non\-default setting of the
maintenance_work_mem
parameter:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER ROLE worker_bee SET maintenance_work_mem = 100000;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Give a role a non\-default, database\-specific setting of the
client_min_messages
parameter:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
ALTER ROLE fred IN DATABASE devel SET client_min_messages = DEBUG;
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.SH "COMPATIBILITY"
.PP
The
\fBALTER ROLE\fR
statement is a
PostgreSQL
extension\&.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
CREATE ROLE (\fBCREATE_ROLE\fR(7)), DROP ROLE (\fBDROP_ROLE\fR(7)), ALTER DATABASE (\fBALTER_DATABASE\fR(7)), \fBSET\fR(7)
F1l3 Manager
