Quickzi: How To Change PostgreSQL Root Password
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at
6:15 am
Here is how to change the PostgreSQL root password from the Linux command line. Replace “root” with any user name to change any password. It is important to note that PostgreSQL does not have an actual “root” user name. The “postgres” user is the super-user for PostgreSQL.
# su postgres
# psql -d template1
template1=# ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD '${POSTGRESQL_POSTGRES_PASSWORD}';
You can replace “postgres” with any user name.
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Tagged with: HowTo • Linux • postgres • quickzi • tips
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This is not the cpmplete picture…. It will only work from the machine where Postgres is installed, and that too only if the pg_hba.conf is configured to ‘trust’ user from the localhost (127.0.0.1).
I have made it work with modifying pg_hba.conf file.
I need to find that superuser password for reset on my machine, but I am not a linux user.
Is there a way I could do it within windows, or by command line?
Andy
ps any explanation should be for a newbie
This solution works, but is not very secure, as the password can appear in psql command history, postmaster log, is visible on the screen and is sent cleartext over the network if you use psql with -h option from a remote computer and no SSL connection.
As psql’s man page says it has a built-in \password command to address those issues: gives a hidden prompt with confirmation and encrypts the password before sending it to the postmaster:
# su postgres -c psql
postgres=# \password
Enter password :
Confirm password :
postgres=#