PG_PASSWD(1) PostgreSQL Server Applications PG_PASSWD(1)NAMEpg_passwd - Manipulate a text password file
SYNOPSISpg_passwd filename
DESCRIPTIONpg_passwd is a tool to manipulate a flat text password file for the
purpose of using that file to control client authentication of the
PostgreSQL server. More information about setting up this authentica‐
tion mechanism can be found in the Administrator's Guide.
The form of a text password file is one entry per line; the fields of
each entry are separated by colons. The first field is the user name,
the second field is the encrypted password. Other fields are ignored
(to allow password files to be shared between applications that use
similar formats). The functionality of the pg_passwd utility is to
enable a user to interactively add entries to such a file, to alter
passwords of existing entries, and to take care of encrypting the pass‐
words.
Supply the name of the password file as argument to the pg_passwd com‐
mand. To be of use for client authentication the file needs to be
located in the server's data directory, and the base name of the file
needs to be specified in the pg_hba.conf access control file.
$ pg_passwd /usr/local/pgsql/data/passwords
File "/usr/local/pgsql/data/passwords" does not exist. Create? (y/n): y
Username: guest
Password:
Re-enter password:
where the Password: and Re-enter password: prompts require the same
password input which is not displayed on the terminal. Note that the
password is limited to eight useful characters by restrictions of the
standard crypt(3) library routine.
The original password file is renamed to passwords.bk.
To make use of this password file, put a line like the following in
pg_hba.conf:
host mydb 133.65.96.250 255.255.255.255 password passwords
which would allow access to database mydb from host 133.65.96.250 using
the passwords listed in the passwords file (and only to the users
listed in that file).
Note: It is also useful to have entries in a password file with
an empty password field. (This is different from an empty pass‐
word.) These entries cannot be managed by pg_passwd, but it is
always possible to edit password files manually.
SEE ALSO
PostgreSQL Administrator's Guide
Application 2000-11-18 PG_PASSWD(1)
