Permissions required to alter a database file

Question

Totally at the beginning in administering a database.

Using EMS SQL Manager ... latest version. How do I over come below

ALTER DATABASE joneslocker2
MODIFY FILE (
    NAME = joneslocker2, 
    MAXSIZE = UNLIMITED )
GO

which results in an error:

User does not have permission to alter database 'joneslocker2', the database does not exist, or the database is not in a state that allows access checks.

I don't have a clue what to set next.

Answer 1

You need to GRANT ALTER DATABASE permission to the user.

GRANT ALTER ON DATABASE:: joneslocker2 TO username

Below script will help you to find what permissions are assigned at the database level :

SELECT prin.[name] [User], sec.state_desc + ' ' + sec.permission_name [Permission] 
FROM [sys].[database_permissions] sec 
  JOIN [sys].[database_principals] prin 
    ON sec.[grantee_principal_id] = prin.[principal_id] 
WHERE sec.class = 0 
ORDER BY [User], [Permission];

Check my answer here for an example on why you are getting the error.

Refer to : Database Engine Permission Basics

Answer 2

Granting just alter to the specific database does not allow for the rename.

You must also grant permissions at the server level and in master.

USE master;  
ALTER SERVER ROLE [dbcreator] ADD MEMBER [DOMAIN\User-Name]
GO

USE master;    
ALTER ROLE [db_datareader] ADD MEMBER [DOMAIN\User-Name];
ALTER ROLE [db_datawriter] ADD MEMBER [DOMAIN\User-Name];

USE [AdventureWorks]
ALTER ROLE [db_owner] ADD MEMBER [DOMAIN\User-Name];