PostgreSQL 8.1.5 Documentation
Prev	Fast Backward		Fast Forward	Next

ALTER DATABASE

Name

ALTER DATABASE -- change a database

Synopsis

ALTER DATABASE 
name
 [ [ WITH ] 
option
 [ ... ] ]

where 
option
 can be:

    CONNECTION LIMIT 
connlimit


ALTER DATABASE 
name
 SET 
parameter
 { TO | = } { 
value
 | DEFAULT }
ALTER DATABASE 
name
 RESET 
parameter


ALTER DATABASE 
name
 RENAME TO 
newname


ALTER DATABASE 
name
 OWNER TO 
new_owner

Description

ALTER DATABASE changes the attributes of a database.

The first form changes certain per-database settings. (See below for details.) Only the database owner or a superuser can change these settings.

The second and third forms change the session default for a run-time configuration variable for a PostgreSQL database. Whenever a new session is subsequently started in that database, the specified value becomes the session default value. The database-specific default overrides whatever setting is present in postgresql.conf or has been received from the postmaster command line. Only the database owner or a superuser can change the session defaults for a database. Certain variables cannot be set this way, or can only be set by a superuser.

The fourth form changes the name of the database. Only the database owner or a superuser can rename a database; non-superuser owners must also have the CREATEDB privilege. The current database cannot be renamed. (Connect to a different database if you need to do that.)

The fifth form changes the owner of the database. To alter the owner, you must own the database and also be a direct or indirect member of the new owning role, and you must have the CREATEDB privilege. (Note that superusers have all these privileges automatically.)

Parameters

name

The name of the database whose attributes are to be altered.

connlimit

How many concurrent connections can be made to this database. -1 means no limit.

parameter value

Set this database's session default for the specified configuration parameter to the given value. If value is DEFAULT or, equivalently, RESET is used, the database-specific setting is removed, so the system-wide default setting will be inherited in new sessions. Use RESET ALL to clear all database-specific settings.

See SET and Chapter 17 for more information about allowed parameter names and values.

newname

The new name of the database.

new_owner

The new owner of the database.

Notes

It is also possible to tie a session default to a specific user rather than to a database; see ALTER USER . User-specific settings override database-specific ones if there is a conflict.

Examples

To disable index scans by default in the database test:

ALTER DATABASE test SET enable_indexscan TO off;

Compatibility

The ALTER DATABASE statement is a PostgreSQL extension.