DROPUSER(1)              PostgreSQL 16.2 Documentation             DROPUSER(1)

NAME
       dropuser - remove a PostgreSQL user account

SYNOPSIS
       dropuser [connection-option...] [option...] [username]

DESCRIPTION
       dropuser removes an existing PostgreSQL user. Superusers can use this
       command to remove any role; otherwise, only non-superuser roles can be
       removed, and only by a user who possesses the CREATEROLE privilege and
       has been granted ADMIN OPTION on the target role.

       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 (DROP_ROLE(7)) and psql(1) 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;

SEE ALSO
       createuser(1), DROP ROLE (DROP_ROLE(7))

PostgreSQL 16.2                      2024                          DROPUSER(1)