PostgreSQL 9.2.3 Documentation
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# 45.8. `pg_authid`

The catalog `pg_authid` contains information about database authorization identifiers (roles). A role subsumes the concepts of "users" and "groups". A user is essentially just a role with the `rolcanlogin` flag set. Any role (with or without `rolcanlogin`) can have other roles as members; see `pg_auth_members`.

Since this catalog contains passwords, it must not be publicly readable. `pg_roles` is a publicly readable view on `pg_authid` that blanks out the password field.

Chapter 20 contains detailed information about user and privilege management.

Because user identities are cluster-wide, `pg_authid` is shared across all databases of a cluster: there is only one copy of `pg_authid` per cluster, not one per database.

Table 45-8. `pg_authid` Columns

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
`rolname` | `name` | Role name
`rolsuper` | `bool` | Role has superuser privileges
`rolinherit` | `bool` | Role automatically inherits privileges of roles it is a member of
`rolcreaterole` | `bool` | Role can create more roles
`rolcreatedb` | `bool` | Role can create databases
`rolcatupdate` | `bool` | Role can update system catalogs directly. (Even a superuser cannot do this unless this column is true)
`rolcanlogin` | `bool` | Role can log in. That is, this role can be given as the initial session authorization identifier
`rolreplication` | `bool` | Role is a replication role. That is, this role can initiate streaming replication (see Section 25.2.5) and set/unset the system backup mode using `pg_start_backup` and `pg_stop_backup`
`rolconnlimit` | `int4` | For roles that can log in, this sets maximum number of concurrent connections this role can make. -1 means no limit.
`rolpassword` | `text` | Password (possibly encrypted); null if none. If the password is encrypted, this column will begin with the string `md5` followed by a 32-character hexadecimal MD5 hash. The MD5 hash will be of the user's password concatenated to their user name. For example, if user `joe` has password `xyzzy`, PostgreSQL will store the md5 hash of `xyzzyjoe`. A password that does not follow that format is assumed to be unencrypted.
`rolvaliduntil` | `timestamptz` | Password expiry time (only used for password authentication); null if no expiration

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