The PostgreSQL 9.0 Reference Manual - Volume 1B

The PostgreSQL 9.0 Reference Manual - Volume 1B - SQL Command Reference
by The PostgreSQL Global Development Group
Paperback (6"x9"), 488 pages
ISBN 9781906966058
RRP £14.95 ($19.95)

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PostgreSQL 9.0 Reference Manual
Volume 1B

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2.7 dropuser

Name

dropuser -- remove a PostgreSQL user account

Synopsis

dropuser [connection-option...] [option...] [username]

Description

dropuser removes an existing PostgreSQL user. Only superusers and users with the CREATEROLE privilege can remove PostgreSQL users. (To remove a superuser, you must yourself be a superuser.)

dropuser is a wrapper around the SQL command DROP ROLE. There is no effective difference between dropping users via this utility and via other methods for accessing the server.

Options

dropuser accepts the following command-line arguments:

username: Specifies the name of the PostgreSQL user to be removed. You will be prompted for a name if none is specified on the command line.
-e
--echo: Echo the commands that dropuser generates and sends to the server.
-i
--interactive: Prompt for confirmation before actually removing the user.
-V
--version: Print the dropuser version and exit.
-?
--help: Show help about dropuser command line arguments, and exit.

dropuser also accepts the following command-line arguments for connection parameters:

-h host
--host host: Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket.
-p port
--port port: Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections.
-U username
--username username: User name to connect as (not the user name to drop).
-w
--no-password: Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password authentication and a password is not available by other means such as a ‘.pgpass’ file, the connection attempt will fail. This option can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a password.
-W
--password: Force dropuser to prompt for a password before connecting to a database. This option is never essential, since dropuser will automatically prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication. However, dropuser will waste a connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt.

Environment

PGHOST
PGPORT
PGUSER: Default connection parameters

This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see Volume 2: Environment Variables).

Diagnostics

In case of difficulty, see DROP ROLE and psql for discussions of potential problems and error messages. The database server must be running at the targeted host. Also, any default connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq front-end library will apply.

Examples

To remove user joe from the default database server:

$ dropuser joe

To remove user joe using the server on host eden, port 5000, with verification and a peek at the underlying command:

$ dropuser -p 5000 -h eden -i -e joe
Role "joe" will be permanently removed.
Are you sure? (y/n) y
DROP ROLE joe;