Ubuntu Manpage: GRANT - define access privileges

Provided by: postgresql-client-17_17.2-1_amd64

NAME

       GRANT - define access privileges

SYNOPSIS

       GRANT { { SELECT | INSERT | UPDATE | DELETE | TRUNCATE | REFERENCES | TRIGGER | MAINTAIN }
           [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON { [ TABLE ] table_name [, ...]
                | ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA schema_name [, ...] }
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { { SELECT | INSERT | UPDATE | REFERENCES } ( column_name [, ...] )
           [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] ( column_name [, ...] ) }
           ON [ TABLE ] table_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { { USAGE | SELECT | UPDATE }
           [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON { SEQUENCE sequence_name [, ...]
                | ALL SEQUENCES IN SCHEMA schema_name [, ...] }
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { { CREATE | CONNECT | TEMPORARY | TEMP } [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON DATABASE database_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON DOMAIN domain_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER fdw_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON FOREIGN SERVER server_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { EXECUTE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON { { FUNCTION | PROCEDURE | ROUTINE } routine_name [ ( [ [ argmode ] [ arg_name ] arg_type [, ...] ] ) ] [, ...]
                | ALL { FUNCTIONS | PROCEDURES | ROUTINES } IN SCHEMA schema_name [, ...] }
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON LANGUAGE lang_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { { SELECT | UPDATE } [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON LARGE OBJECT loid [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { { SET | ALTER SYSTEM } [, ... ] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON PARAMETER configuration_parameter [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { { CREATE | USAGE } [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON SCHEMA schema_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { CREATE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON TABLESPACE tablespace_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
           ON TYPE type_name [, ...]
           TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       GRANT role_name [, ...] TO role_specification [, ...]
           [ WITH { ADMIN | INHERIT | SET } { OPTION | TRUE | FALSE } ]
           [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

       where role_specification can be:

           [ GROUP ] role_name
         | PUBLIC
         | CURRENT_ROLE
         | CURRENT_USER
         | SESSION_USER

DESCRIPTION

The GRANT command has two basic variants: one that grants privileges on a database object
(table, column, view, foreign table, sequence, database, foreign-data wrapper, foreign
server, function, procedure, procedural language, large object, configuration parameter,
schema, tablespace, or type), and one that grants membership in a role. These variants are
similar in many ways, but they are different enough to be described separately.

GRANT on Database Objects
This variant of the GRANT command gives specific privileges on a database object to one or
more roles. These privileges are added to those already granted, if any.

The key word PUBLIC indicates that the privileges are to be granted to all roles,
including those that might be created later. PUBLIC can be thought of as an implicitly
defined group that always includes all roles. Any particular role will have the sum of
privileges granted directly to it, privileges granted to any role it is presently a member
of, and privileges granted to PUBLIC.

If WITH GRANT OPTION is specified, the recipient of the privilege can in turn grant it to
others. Without a grant option, the recipient cannot do that. Grant options cannot be
granted to PUBLIC.

If GRANTED BY is specified, the specified grantor must be the current user. This clause is
currently present in this form only for SQL compatibility.

There is no need to grant privileges to the owner of an object (usually the user that
created it), as the owner has all privileges by default. (The owner could, however, choose
to revoke some of their own privileges for safety.)

The right to drop an object, or to alter its definition in any way, is not treated as a
grantable privilege; it is inherent in the owner, and cannot be granted or revoked.
(However, a similar effect can be obtained by granting or revoking membership in the role
that owns the object; see below.) The owner implicitly has all grant options for the
object, too.

The possible privileges are:

SELECT
INSERT
UPDATE
DELETE
TRUNCATE
REFERENCES
TRIGGER
CREATE
CONNECT
TEMPORARY
EXECUTE
USAGE
SET
ALTER SYSTEM
MAINTAIN
Specific types of privileges, as defined in Section 5.8.

TEMP
Alternative spelling for TEMPORARY.

ALL PRIVILEGES
Grant all of the privileges available for the object's type. The PRIVILEGES key word
is optional in PostgreSQL, though it is required by strict SQL.

The FUNCTION syntax works for plain functions, aggregate functions, and window functions,
but not for procedures; use PROCEDURE for those. Alternatively, use ROUTINE to refer to a
function, aggregate function, window function, or procedure regardless of its precise
type.

There is also an option to grant privileges on all objects of the same type within one or
more schemas. This functionality is currently supported only for tables, sequences,
functions, and procedures. ALL TABLES also affects views and foreign tables, just like
the specific-object GRANT command. ALL FUNCTIONS also affects aggregate and window
functions, but not procedures, again just like the specific-object GRANT command. Use ALL
ROUTINES to include procedures.

GRANT on Roles
This variant of the GRANT command grants membership in a role to one or more other roles,
and the modification of membership options SET, INHERIT, and ADMIN; see Section 21.3 for
details. Membership in a role is significant because it potentially allows access to the
privileges granted to a role to each of its members, and potentially also the ability to
make changes to the role itself. However, the actual permissions conferred depend on the
options associated with the grant. To modify that options of an existing membership,
simply specify the membership with updated option values.

Each of the options described below can be set to either TRUE or FALSE. The keyword OPTION
is accepted as a synonym for TRUE, so that WITH ADMIN OPTION is a synonym for WITH ADMIN
TRUE. When altering an existing membership the omission of an option results in the
current value being retained.

The ADMIN option allows the member to in turn grant membership in the role to others, and
revoke membership in the role as well. Without the admin option, ordinary users cannot do
that. A role is not considered to hold WITH ADMIN OPTION on itself. Database superusers
can grant or revoke membership in any role to anyone. This option defaults to FALSE.

The INHERIT option controls the inheritance status of the new membership; see Section 21.3
for details on inheritance. If it is set to TRUE, it causes the new member to inherit from
the granted role. If set to FALSE, the new member does not inherit. If unspecified when
creating a new role membership, this defaults to the inheritance attribute of the new
member.

The SET option, if it is set to TRUE, allows the member to change to the granted role
using the SET ROLE command. If a role is an indirect member of another role, it can use
SET ROLE to change to that role only if there is a chain of grants each of which has SET
TRUE. This option defaults to TRUE.

To create an object owned by another role or give ownership of an existing object to
another role, you must have the ability to SET ROLE to that role; otherwise, commands such
as ALTER ... OWNER TO or CREATE DATABASE ... OWNER will fail. However, a user who inherits
the privileges of a role but does not have the ability to SET ROLE to that role may be
able to obtain full access to the role by manipulating existing objects owned by that role
(e.g. they could redefine an existing function to act as a Trojan horse). Therefore, if a
role's privileges are to be inherited but should not be accessible via SET ROLE, it should
not own any SQL objects.

If GRANTED BY is specified, the grant is recorded as having been done by the specified
role. A user can only attribute a grant to another role if they possess the privileges of
that role. The role recorded as the grantor must have ADMIN OPTION on the target role,
unless it is the bootstrap superuser. When a grant is recorded as having a grantor other
than the bootstrap superuser, it depends on the grantor continuing to possess ADMIN OPTION
on the role; so, if ADMIN OPTION is revoked, dependent grants must be revoked as well.

Unlike the case with privileges, membership in a role cannot be granted to PUBLIC. Note
also that this form of the command does not allow the noise word GROUP in
role_specification.

NOTES

The REVOKE command is used to revoke access privileges.

Since PostgreSQL 8.1, the concepts of users and groups have been unified into a single
kind of entity called a role. It is therefore no longer necessary to use the keyword GROUP
to identify whether a grantee is a user or a group. GROUP is still allowed in the
command, but it is a noise word.

A user may perform SELECT, INSERT, etc. on a column if they hold that privilege for either
the specific column or its whole table. Granting the privilege at the table level and then
revoking it for one column will not do what one might wish: the table-level grant is
unaffected by a column-level operation.

When a non-owner of an object attempts to GRANT privileges on the object, the command will
fail outright if the user has no privileges whatsoever on the object. As long as some
privilege is available, the command will proceed, but it will grant only those privileges
for which the user has grant options. The GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES forms will issue a warning
message if no grant options are held, while the other forms will issue a warning if grant
options for any of the privileges specifically named in the command are not held. (In
principle these statements apply to the object owner as well, but since the owner is
always treated as holding all grant options, the cases can never occur.)

It should be noted that database superusers can access all objects regardless of object
privilege settings. This is comparable to the rights of root in a Unix system. As with
root, it's unwise to operate as a superuser except when absolutely necessary.

If a superuser chooses to issue a GRANT or REVOKE command, the command is performed as
though it were issued by the owner of the affected object. In particular, privileges
granted via such a command will appear to have been granted by the object owner. (For role
membership, the membership appears to have been granted by the bootstrap superuser.)

GRANT and REVOKE can also be done by a role that is not the owner of the affected object,
but is a member of the role that owns the object, or is a member of a role that holds
privileges WITH GRANT OPTION on the object. In this case the privileges will be recorded
as having been granted by the role that actually owns the object or holds the privileges
WITH GRANT OPTION. For example, if table t1 is owned by role g1, of which role u1 is a
member, then u1 can grant privileges on t1 to u2, but those privileges will appear to have
been granted directly by g1. Any other member of role g1 could revoke them later.

If the role executing GRANT holds the required privileges indirectly via more than one
role membership path, it is unspecified which containing role will be recorded as having
done the grant. In such cases it is best practice to use SET ROLE to become the specific
role you want to do the GRANT as.

Granting permission on a table does not automatically extend permissions to any sequences
used by the table, including sequences tied to SERIAL columns. Permissions on sequences
must be set separately.

See Section 5.8 for more information about specific privilege types, as well as how to
inspect objects' privileges.

EXAMPLES

       Grant insert privilege to all users on table films:

           GRANT INSERT ON films TO PUBLIC;

       Grant all available privileges to user manuel on view kinds:

           GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON kinds TO manuel;

       Note that while the above will indeed grant all privileges if executed by a superuser or
       the owner of kinds, when executed by someone else it will only grant those permissions for
       which the someone else has grant options.

       Grant membership in role admins to user joe:

           GRANT admins TO joe;

COMPATIBILITY