PostgreSQL 9 Administration Cookbook - Second Edition

Removing a user without dropping their data

When trying to drop a user who owns some tables or other database objects, you get the following error, and the user is not dropped:

testdb=# drop user bob;
ERROR:  role "bob" cannot be dropped because some objects depend on it
DETAIL:  owner of table bobstable
owner of sequence bobstable_id_seq

This recipe presents two solutions to this problem.

Getting ready

To modify users, you must either be a superuser or have the CREATEROLE privilege.

How to do it…

The easiest solution to this problem is to refrain from dropping the user, and use the trick from a previous recipe to prevent the user from connecting:

pguser=# alter user bob nologin;
ALTER ROLE

This has the added benefit of the original owner of the table ...