1DROPUSER(1) PostgreSQL 16.1 Documentation DROPUSER(1)
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6 dropuser - remove a PostgreSQL user account
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9 dropuser [connection-option...] [option...] [username]
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12 dropuser removes an existing PostgreSQL user. Superusers can use this
13 command to remove any role; otherwise, only non-superuser roles can be
14 removed, and only by a user who possesses the CREATEROLE privilege and
15 has been granted ADMIN OPTION on the target role.
16 dropuser is a wrapper around the SQL command DROP ROLE. There is no
18 effective difference between dropping users via this utility and via
19 other methods for accessing the server.
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22 dropuser accepts the following command-line arguments:
23 username
25 Specifies the name of the PostgreSQL user to be removed. You will
26 be prompted for a name if none is specified on the command line and
27 the -i/--interactive option is used.
28 -e
30 --echo
31 Echo the commands that dropuser generates and sends to the server.
32 -i
34 --interactive
35 Prompt for confirmation before actually removing the user, and
36 prompt for the user name if none is specified on the command line.
37 -V
39 --version
40 Print the dropuser version and exit.
41 --if-exists
43 Do not throw an error if the user does not exist. A notice is
44 issued in this case.
45 -?
47 --help
48 Show help about dropuser command line arguments, and exit.
49 dropuser also accepts the following command-line arguments for
51 connection parameters:
52 -h host
54 --host=host
55 Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is
56 running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the
57 directory for the Unix domain socket.
58 -p port
60 --port=port
61 Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension
62 on which the server is listening for connections.
63 -U username
65 --username=username
66 User name to connect as (not the user name to drop).
67 -w
69 --no-password
70 Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password
71 authentication and a password is not available by other means such
72 as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt will fail. This option
73 can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to
74 enter a password.
75 -W
77 --password
78 Force dropuser to prompt for a password before connecting to a
79 database.
80 This option is never essential, since dropuser will automatically
82 prompt for a password if the server demands password
83 authentication. However, dropuser will waste a connection attempt
84 finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is
85 worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt.
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88 PGHOST
89 PGPORT
90 PGUSER
91 Default connection parameters
92 PG_COLOR
94 Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible
95 values are always, auto and never.
96 This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the
98 environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 34.15).
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101 In case of difficulty, see DROP ROLE (DROP_ROLE(7)) and psql(1) for
102 discussions of potential problems and error messages. The database
103 server must be running at the targeted host. Also, any default
104 connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq
105 front-end library will apply.
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108 To remove user joe from the default database server:
109 $ dropuser joe
111 To remove user joe using the server on host eden, port 5000, with
113 verification and a peek at the underlying command:
114 $ dropuser -p 5000 -h eden -i -e joe
116 Role "joe" will be permanently removed.
117 Are you sure? (y/n) y
118 DROP ROLE joe;
119
121 createuser(1), DROP ROLE (DROP_ROLE(7))
122PostgreSQL 16.1 2023 DROPUSER(1)