.. _role_dialog:

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The Login/Group Role Dialog
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Use the *Login/Group Role* dialog to define a role. A role may be an individual user (with or without login privileges) or a group of users. Note that roles defined at the cluster level are shared by all databases in the cluster.

The *Login/Group Role* dialog organizes the creation and management of roles through the following dialog tabs: *General*, *Definition*, *Privileges*, *Parameters*, and *Security*. The *SQL* tab displays the SQL code generated by dialog selections.

.. image:: images/role_general.png
    :alt: Role dialog general tab

Use the fields on the *General* tab to identify the role.

* Use the *Name* field to provide the name of the role. The name will be displayed in the tree control.
* Provide a note about the role in the *Comments* field.

Click the *Definition* tab to continue.

.. image:: images/role_definition.png
    :alt: Role dialog definition tab

Use the *Definition* tab to set a password and configure connection rules:

* Provide a password that will be associated with the role in the *Password* field.
* Provide an expiration date for the password in the *Account Expires* field (the role does not expire).  The expiration date is not enforced when a user logs in with a non-password-based authentication method.
* If the role is a login role, specify how many concurrent connections the role can make in the *Connection Limit* field. The default value (*-1*) allows unlimited connections.

Click the *Privileges* tab to continue.

.. image:: images/role_privileges.png
    :alt: Role dialog privileges tab

Use the *Privileges* tab to grant privileges to the role.

* Move the *Can login?* switch to the *Yes* position if the role has login privileges. The default value is *No*.
* Move the *Superuser* switch to the *Yes* position if the role is a superuser within the database. The default value is *No*.
* Move the *Create roles?* switch to the *Yes* position to specify whether a role is permitted to create roles. A role with this privilege can alter and drop roles. The default value is *No*.
* Move the *Create databases* switch to the *Yes* position to control whether a role can create databases. The default value is *No*.
* The *Update catalog?* switch is disabled until the role is given superuser privileges. Move the *Update catalogs?* switch to the *No* position to control whether a role can update catalogs. The default value is *Yes* when the *Superuser* switch is in the *Yes* position.
* Move the *Inherit rights from the parent roles?* switch to the *No* position if a role does not inherit privileges. The default value is *Yes*.
* Move the *Can initiate streaming replication and backups?* switch to the *Yes* position to control whether a role can initiate streaming replication or put the system in and out of backup mode. The default value is *No*.

.. image:: images/role_membership.png
    :alt: Role dialog membership tab

* Specify members of the role in the *Role Membership* field. Click inside the *Roles* field to select role names from a drop down list. Confirm each selection by checking the checkbox to the right of the role name; delete a selection by clicking the *x* to the left of the role name. Membership conveys the privileges granted to the specified role to each of its members.

Click the *Parameters* tab to continue.

.. image:: images/role_parameters.png
    :alt: Role dialog parameters tab

Use the fields on the *Parameters* tab to set session defaults for a selected configuration parameter when the role is connected to a specified database. This tab invokes the ALTER ROLE... SET configuration_parameter syntax. Click the *Add* icon (+) to assign a value for a parameter.

* Use the drop-down listbox in the *Name* field to select a parameter.
* Use the *Value* field to specify a value for the parameter.
* Use the drop-down listbox in the *Database* field to select a database.

Click the *Add* icon (+) to specify each additional parameter; to discard a parameter, click the trash icon to the left of the row and confirm the deletion in the *Delete Row* popup.

Click the *Security* tab to continue.

.. image:: images/role_security.png
    :alt: Role dialog security tab

Use the *Security* tab to define security labels applied to the role. Click the *Add* icon (+) to add each security label selection.

* Specify a security label provider in the *Provider* field. The named provider must be loaded and must consent to the proposed labeling operation.
* Specify a a security label in the *Security Label* field. The meaning of a given label is at the discretion of the label provider. PostgreSQL places no restrictions on whether or how a label provider must interpret security labels; it merely provides a mechanism for storing them.

To discard a security label, click the trash icon to the left of the row and confirm the deletion in the *Delete Row* popup.

Click the *SQL* tab to continue.

Your entries in the *Login/Group Role* dialog generate a SQL command (see an example below). Use the *SQL* tab for review; revisit or switch tabs to make any changes to the SQL command.

**Example**

The following is an example of the sql command generated by user selections in the *Login/Group Role* dialog:

.. image:: images/role_sql.png
    :alt: Role dialog sql tab

The example creates a login role named *alice* with *pem_user* privileges; the role can make unlimited connections to the server at any given time.

* Click the Info button (*i*) to access online SQL help.
* Click the Help button (*?*) to access the documentation for the dialog.
* Click the *Save* button to save work.
* Click the *Cancel* button to exit without saving work.
* Click the *Reset* button to restore configuration parameters.

