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I just created an RDS Postgres instance, the user postgres (and it's master password), and connected via psql as user postgres.

Then I ran the script generated from the current system using pg_dumpall --schema-only, and it immediately failed on the ALTER ROLE commands:

ERROR:  must be superuser to alter superusers

Ok, but how do I grant superuser to postgres? All of the documentation I've found "conveniently" skips that part...

EDIT: Here are the exact commands and error message:

postgres=> CREATE ROLE "READONLY";
CREATE ROLE
postgres=> ALTER ROLE "READONLY" WITH NOSUPERUSER INHERIT NOCREATEROLE NOCREATEDB LOGIN NOREPLICATION NOBYPASSRLS PASSWORD 'mdXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX';
ERROR:  must be superuser to alter superusers
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  • If you are using RDS, then you don't. Is it necessary? Are there follow-on errors?
    – jjanes
    Commented Feb 2, 2021 at 19:18
  • @jjanes you don't alter roles in RDS (only create them)???? The AWS docs show ALTER ROLE commands being successfully executed.
    – RonJohn
    Commented Feb 2, 2021 at 19:32
  • You don't grant superuser to postgres. You can alter roles, just not in that way.
    – jjanes
    Commented Feb 2, 2021 at 21:21

1 Answer 1

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Your RDS master user is not a superuser.

ALTER ROLE changes the attributes of a PostgreSQL role. [...]

Roles having CREATEROLE privilege can change any of these settings except SUPERUSER, REPLICATION, and BYPASSRLS...

Omit incompatible settings from your ALTER ROLE command.

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  • postgres can't alter what it doesn't have privs to alter (which makes perfect sense), even if what it's doing is saying "you can't do what I don't have permission to grant you!" Am I interpreting that correctly?
    – RonJohn
    Commented Feb 2, 2021 at 19:53
  • 1
    Interpert it as "U Can't Touch This". Cue in MC Hammer at will.
    – mustaccio
    Commented Feb 2, 2021 at 19:58
  • @RonJohn That is the case, although it does seem to go against with the most straightforward interpretation of the docs and ERROR message. Perhaps this could be improved.
    – jjanes
    Commented Feb 2, 2021 at 22:02

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