This page describes how Cloud SQL works with PostgreSQL users and roles. PostgreSQL roles enable you to control the access and capabilities of users who access a PostgreSQL instance.
For complete documentation about PostgreSQL roles, see the PostgreSQL documentation. For information about creating and managing Cloud SQL users, see Creating and Managing Users.
PostgreSQL roles and users
PostgreSQL roles can be a single role, or they can function as a group of roles.
A user is a role with the ability to login (the role has the LOGIN
attribute). Because all roles Cloud SQL creates have the LOGIN
attribute, Cloud SQL uses the terms "role" and "user" interchangeably.
However, if you create a role with the psql client, it does not necessarily
have the LOGIN attribute.
All PostgreSQL users must have a password. You cannot login with a user that does not have a password.
Superuser restrictions
Because Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL is a managed service, it restricts access to certain system procedures and tables that require advanced privileges. In Cloud SQL, customers cannot create or have access to users with superuser attributes.
Default PostgreSQL users
When you create a new Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instance, the default
postgres user is already created for you, though you must set its password.
The postgres user is part of the cloudsqlsuperuser role, and
has the following attributes (privileges): CREATEROLE,
CREATEDB, and LOGIN. It does not have the SUPERUSER or REPLICATION
attributes.
A default cloudsqlimportexport user is created with the minimal set of
privileges needed for CSV import/export operations. You have the option to
create your own users to perform these operations but if you don't, the default
cloudsqlimportexport user will be used. The cloudsqlimportexport user is
a system user and customers cannot directly use it.
Cloud SQL IAM users for IAM database authentication
IAM is integrated with Cloud SQL in a feature called IAM database authentication. When you create instances using this feature, IAM users can log in to the instance using their IAM username and password. The advantage to using IAM database authentication is that you can use a user's existing IAM credentials when granting them access to a database. When the user leaves the organization, their IAM account is suspended, automatically removing their access. To learn more about IAM database authentication, see the Overview of IAM database authentication.
Other PostgreSQL users
You can create other PostgreSQL users or roles. All users you
create using Cloud SQL are created as part of the cloudsqlsuperuser
role, and have the same set of attributes as the postgres user: CREATEROLE,
CREATEDB, and LOGIN. You can change the attributes of any user by using the
ALTER ROLE command.
If you create a new user with the psql client, you can choose
to associate it with a different role, or give it different attributes.
What's next
- Configure the postgres user for your instance.
- Create and manage users.
- Create and manage databases.
- See the PostgreSQL documentation about roles.
- Learn about options for connecting to your instance.