dropuser

dropuser
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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 and the -i/--interactive option + is used. +
-e --echo: + Echo the commands that dropuser generates + and sends to the server. +
-i --interactive: + Prompt for confirmation before actually removing the user, and prompt + for the user name if none is specified on the command line. +
-V --version: + Print the dropuser version and exit. +
--if-exists: + Do not throw an error if the user does not exist. A notice is + issued in this case. +
-? --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 +
PG_COLOR: + Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values + are always, auto and + never. +

+ This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, + also uses the environment variables supported by libpq + (see Section 34.15). +

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;
+