ALTER_DATABASE(7pg16)

💅 ALTER_DATABASE 💅

okay so this is the ALTER_DATABASE page from the PostgreSQL 16.15 docs, and it's literally the glow-up manual for your databases. iconic. we're changing database attributes, bestie — not the whole vibe of the cluster, just the database's little outfit. 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

ALTER_DATABASE — change a database. that's the whole name, no cap. 💖

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

here's the entire menu of forms, bestie — every single one, exactly as written:

ALTER DATABASE name [ [ WITH ] option [ ... ] ]

where option can be:

    ALLOW_CONNECTIONS allowconn
    CONNECTION LIMIT connlimit
    IS_TEMPLATE istemplate

ALTER DATABASE name RENAME TO new_name

ALTER DATABASE name OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }

ALTER DATABASE name SET TABLESPACE new_tablespace

ALTER DATABASE name REFRESH COLLATION VERSION

ALTER DATABASE name SET configuration_parameter { TO | = } { value | DEFAULT }
ALTER DATABASE name SET configuration_parameter FROM CURRENT
ALTER DATABASE name RESET configuration_parameter
ALTER DATABASE name RESET ALL

like… she has range. she contains multitudes. 💜

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

ALTER DATABASE changes the attributes of a database. that's the whole assignment. but there are different forms and they each do their own thing, so let's break it down like a group chat. 🫶

1st form — the per-database settings moment ⭐

The first form changes certain per-database settings. (See below for the deets, bestie.) Only the database owner or a superuser can change these settings.

2nd form — rename era 🦋

The second 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 — like, actually go over there. 🙈)

3rd form — new owner, who dis 👑

The third form changes the owner of the database. To alter the owner, you must be able to SET ROLE to the new owning role, and you must have the CREATEDB privilege. (Note that superusers have all these privileges automatically — main character energy, honestly.)

4th form — tablespace relocation 🎀

The fourth form changes the default tablespace of the database. Only the database owner or a superuser can do this; you must also have create privilege for the new tablespace. This command physically moves any tables or indexes in the database's old default tablespace to the new tablespace. the new default tablespace must be empty for this database, and no one can be connected to the database. Tables and indexes in non-default tablespaces are unaffected.

this one is giving "moving apartments" energy 😭 it's physical, it's committed, and you cannot have guests while it happens.

remaining forms — session default settings, periodt 💅

The remaining 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. iykyk.

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🍓 PARAMETERS 🍓

• name — the name of the database whose attributes are to be altered. like, whose little world are we editing? 🌈
• allowconn — if false then no one can connect to this database. nobody. not even your bestie. 💀
• connlimit — how many concurrent connections can be made to this database. -1 means no limit. so -1 is the "we're all just gonna pile in" setting. 🫶
• istemplate — if true, then this database can be cloned by any user with CREATEDB privileges; if false, then only superusers or the owner of the database can clone it. template database era ✨
• new_name — the new name of the database. pick something cute but, like, valid. 🎀
• new_owner — the new owner of the database. 👑
• new_tablespace — the new default tablespace of the database.

This form of the command cannot be executed inside a transaction block. no wrapping it up in a transaction, bestie. it said what it said. 😭

• REFRESH COLLATION VERSION — update the database collation version. See Notes for background. 🧚
• configuration_parameter, value — set this database's session default for the specified configuration parameter to the given value. If value is DEFAULT or, equivalently, RESET is used, the database-specific setting is removed, so the system-wide default setting will be inherited in new sessions. Use RESET ALL to clear all database-specific settings. SET FROM CURRENT saves the session's current value of the parameter as the database-specific value.

See SET(7) and Chapter 20 for more information about allowed parameter names and values. go read those too, bestie, they're literally right there. 📚

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🌈 NOTES 🌈

It is also possible to tie a session default to a specific role rather than to a database; see ALTER ROLE (ALTER_ROLE(7)). Role-specific settings override database-specific ones if there is a conflict. so if both are talking, role wins. periodt. 👑

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🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

To disable index scans by default in the database test:

ALTER DATABASE test SET enable_indexscan TO off;

that's it. that's the example. she's simple, she's effective, she ate. 💅

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⭐ COMPATIBILITY ⭐

The ALTER DATABASE statement is a PostgreSQL extension. so it's a PostgreSQL thing, not a standard-SQL thing. homegrown behavior, we love to see it. 🎀

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💖 SEE ALSO 💖

go read these too, bestie — they're all part of the same friend group:

• CREATE DATABASE (CREATE_DATABASE(7))
• DROP DATABASE (DROP_DATABASE(7))
• SET(7)
• CREATE TABLESPACE (CREATE_TABLESPACE(7))

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big kiss, this was the ALTER DATABASE(7) page from PostgreSQL 16.15, dated 2026, and that's the whole tea. ☕💖 no cap.