db.login(1)

📦
version 8.4.2 · 9 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 db.login — the GRASS GIS bestie guide 💖

okay so you found the db.login(1) page in the GRASS GIS User's Manual and honestly? iconic of you. this little guy handles your database login glow-up: user, password, and all the connection settings. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

db.login — sets user/password for DB driver/database. that's it, that's the whole job. lowkey essential 💅

🏷️ KEYWORDS 🏷️

database, connection settings

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

db.login
db.login --help
db.login [-p] driver=name database=name  [user=string]
[password=string]   [host=string]   [port=string]   [--overwrite]
[--help]  [--verbose]  [--quiet]  [--ui]

🎀 Flags 🎀

  • -p — print the connection settings and then dip. that's it, that's all it does ✨
  • --overwrite — allow output files to overwrite existing files
  • --help — print the usage summary
  • --verbose — verbose module output (she's chatty)
  • --quiet — quiet module output (she's mysterious)
  • --ui — force launching the GUI dialog

🦋 Parameters 🦋

  • driver=name [required] — the name of your database driver.
    • Options: dbf, mesql, mysql, odbc, ogr, pg, sqlite
    • Default: sqlite
  • database=name [required] — the name of your database.
    • Default: $GISDBASE/$LOCATION_NAME/$MAPSET/sqlite/sqlite.db
  • user=string — your username
  • password=string — your password
  • host=string — the hostname. relevant only for the pg and mysql drivers, no cap
  • port=string — the port. also only relevant for pg and mysql

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so like, db.login sets login parameters — things like your user name, and optionally a password, a hostname, or a port — for connecting to the database you picked, through that DB driver. it's basically setting up your lil connection fit before you go out 🌈

🚨 NOTE 🚨

the host and port options are related to only SQL database backends, like PostgreSQL, MySQL or ODBC. so if you're not on one of those, don't stress about them bestie.

⚠️ okay this part matters, listen up: the passwords are stored in a hidden, unencrypted file in the user account. unencrypted. not encrypted. we're saying it twice because it's important. specifically it lives: - in the 'home' directory, i.e. $HOME/.grass8/dblogin on Unix-like systems - %APPDATA%\Roaming\GRASS8\dblogin on MS-Windows only the file owner can access this file. 💀 but still. unencrypted. you've been warned.

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

only username specified (this is assuming a locally accessible PostgreSQL DB with no password):

db.login driver=pg database=mydb

username, password and hostname all specified — and heads up, the command lines history will store the password this way:

db.login driver=pg database=mydb user=bacava password=secret host=db.example.com

username with an empty password specified:

db.login driver=pg database=mydb user=bacava password=""

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

db.connect, db.test, db.tables

SQL support in GRASS GIS

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Radim Blazek

Support for hostname and port by Martin Landa, OSGeoREL, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic (GRASS 7.1) — slay 🫶

🧚 SOURCE CODE 🧚

Available at: db.login source code (history)

Accessed: Saturday Jan 17 05:40:33 2026

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and that's the whole page bestie, you ate 💅✨ mwah 💖

this was GRASS 8.4.2, the db.login(1) page from the GRASS GIS 8.4.2 Reference Manual, © 2003-2025 GRASS Development Team — go forth and connect responsibly 🌸🦋

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