PostgreSQL 9 Administration Cookbook - Second Edition

The PostgreSQL superuser

In this recipe, you will learn how to turn a user into an all-powerful superuser and back to an ordinary user.

A PostgreSQL superuser is a user that can do anything in the database regardless of what privileges it has been granted.

How to do it…

A user becomes a superuser when it is created with the SUPERUSER attribute set:

CREATE USER username SUPERUSER;

A user can be deprived of its superuser status by removing the SUPERUSER attribute, using this command:

ALTER USER username NOSUPERUSER;

A user can be restored to superuser status later, using the following command:

ALTER USER username SUPERUSER;

When neither SUPERUSER nor NOSUPERUSER is given in the CREATE USER command, then the default is to create a user who is not a ...