Re: Possibility to disable `ALTER SYSTEM`

Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com>

From: Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com>
To: Isaac Morland <isaac.morland@gmail.com>
Cc: Greg Sabino Mullane <htamfids@gmail.com>, Jelte Fennema-Nio <postgres@jeltef.nl>, Andrew Dunstan <andrew@dunslane.net>, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>, Heikki Linnakangas <hlinnaka@iki.fi>, PostgreSQL Hackers <pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org>, Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se>, Joel Jacobson <joel@compiler.org>, Gabriele Bartolini <gabriele.bartolini@enterprisedb.com>, Magnus Hagander <magnus.hagander@redpill-linpro.com>, Maciek Sakrejda <m.sakrejda@gmail.com>
Date: 2024-03-27T18:46:01Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers

Commits

Same data as JSON: GET /api/v1/messages/:b64id/commits the thread's linked commits as JSON, with link sources. API reference →
  1. Add allow_alter_system GUC.

  2. Rename COMPAT_OPTIONS_CLIENT to COMPAT_OPTIONS_OTHER.

  3. Remove support for version-0 calling conventions.

On Wed, Mar 27, 2024 at 1:12 PM Isaac Morland <isaac.morland@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 27 Mar 2024 at 13:05, Greg Sabino Mullane <htamfids@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> The purpose of the setting is to prevent <emphasis>accidental</emphasis> modifications via <literal>ALTER SYSTEM</literal> in environments where
>> The emphasis on 'accidental' seems a bit heavy here, and odd. Surely, just "to prevent modifications via ALTER SYSTEM in environments where..." is enough?
> Not necessarily disagreeing, but it's very important nobody ever mistake this for a security feature. I don't know if the extra word "accidental" is necessary, but I think that's the motivation.

I think the emphasis is entirely warranted in this case.

-- 
Robert Haas
EDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com