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
postgres 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.)
Examples
To disable index scans by default in the database
test:
ALTER DATABASE test SET enable_indexscan TO off;