Thread

1. psql and passwords

   Michael Devogelaere <michael@mind.be> — 2002-04-15T16:41:19Z

   Hi,
   
   I've recently installed a beta-release of RedHat which ships PostgreSQL
   7.2.1 and have troubles with using psql in non-interactive scripts.
   
   With the previous version, i passed the password with
    'echo pass | psql -d db -U user -h server -c "..."' 
   but that doesn't seem to work anymore (because it reads the password now
   from /dev/tty instead of stdin i guess).
   
   Is this a RedHat-specific issue or is it more general ? And of course:
   what's the solution ? ;)
   
   
   Kind regards,
   Michael Devogelaere.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

2. Re: psql and passwords

   Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2002-04-15T18:52:25Z

   Michael Devogelaere <michael@mind.be> writes:
   > With the previous version, i passed the password with
   >  'echo pass | psql -d db -U user -h server -c "..."' 
   > but that doesn't seem to work anymore (because it reads the password now
   > from /dev/tty instead of stdin i guess).
   
   This was a deliberate change (some of us had misgivings about it but
   were voted down).
   
   I'd suggest seeing if you can't avoid needing passwords anymore,
   instead.  "ident" auth works over local connections now (at least
   on some platforms, including recent Linuxen).
   
   			regards, tom lane
   
   

3. Re: psql and passwords

   Nigel J. Andrews <nandrews@investsystems.co.uk> — 2002-04-15T19:09:10Z

   On Mon, 15 Apr 2002, Tom Lane wrote:
   
   > Michael Devogelaere <michael@mind.be> writes:
   > > With the previous version, i passed the password with
   > >  'echo pass | psql -d db -U user -h server -c "..."' 
   > > but that doesn't seem to work anymore (because it reads the password now
   > > from /dev/tty instead of stdin i guess).
   > 
   > This was a deliberate change (some of us had misgivings about it but
   > were voted down).
   > 
   > I'd suggest seeing if you can't avoid needing passwords anymore,
   > instead.  "ident" auth works over local connections now (at least
   > on some platforms, including recent Linuxen).
   > 
   
   I don't know when the change was made but it never worked for me, and I'm sure
   that included 7.0.2 if not 6.5.1
   
   Anyway, the solution is to set PGPASSWORD in the evironment. Once I remembered
   about that it all became so much easier.
   
   
   -- 
   Nigel J. Andrews
   Director
   
   ---
   Logictree Systems Limited
   Computer Consultants
   
   
   

4. Re: psql and passwords

   Doug McNaught <doug@wireboard.com> — 2002-04-15T19:23:22Z

   "Nigel J. Andrews" <nandrews@investsystems.co.uk> writes:
   
   > I don't know when the change was made but it never worked for me,
   > and I'm sure that included 7.0.2 if not 6.5.1
   > 
   > Anyway, the solution is to set PGPASSWORD in the evironment. Once I
   > remembered about that it all became so much easier.
   
   Note that this is potentially insecure as some systems expose your
   environment to other users.
   
   -Doug
   -- 
   Doug McNaught       Wireboard Industries      http://www.wireboard.com/
   
         Custom software development, systems and network consulting.
         Java PostgreSQL Enhydra Python Zope Perl Apache Linux BSD...
   
   

5. Re: psql and passwords

   Curt Sampson <cjs@cynic.net> — 2002-04-16T03:32:43Z

   On 15 Apr 2002, Doug McNaught wrote:
   
   > "Nigel J. Andrews" <nandrews@investsystems.co.uk> writes:
   >
   > > Anyway, the solution is to set PGPASSWORD in the evironment. Once I
   > > remembered about that it all became so much easier.
   >
   > Note that this is potentially insecure as some systems expose your
   > environment to other users.
   
   Indeed. What about adding an option whose argument is the name of
   a file containing the password?
   
   cjs
   -- 
   Curt Sampson  <cjs@cynic.net>   +81 90 7737 2974   http://www.netbsd.org
       Don't you know, in this new Dark Age, we're all light.  --XTC
   
   
   

6. Re: psql and passwords

   Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> — 2002-04-16T03:34:43Z

   Curt Sampson wrote:
   > On 15 Apr 2002, Doug McNaught wrote:
   > 
   > > "Nigel J. Andrews" <nandrews@investsystems.co.uk> writes:
   > >
   > > > Anyway, the solution is to set PGPASSWORD in the evironment. Once I
   > > > remembered about that it all became so much easier.
   > >
   > > Note that this is potentially insecure as some systems expose your
   > > environment to other users.
   > 
   > Indeed. What about adding an option whose argument is the name of
   > a file containing the password?
   
   Already on TODO and I hope it is done for 7.3:
   
   * Add PGPASSWORDFILE environment variable or ~/.pgpass to store
     user/host/password combinations
   
   We even have:
   
   * Remove PGPASSWORD because it is insecure on some OS's
   
   -- 
     Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
     pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
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