Well I quickly found out 2 things:
1. You can copy the md5 over and have it work
2. The same password can have different md5’s
After I copied the md5 over I played around a bit and found the for the process user. I then used the alter user sql statement and rechecked the md5. It was different, but I could still use the same password to log in. Needless to say, I am a bit confused by that, but it works and that’s what I need.
From: pgsql-sql-owner@postgresql.org [mailto:pgsql-sql-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Edward W. Rouse
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 4:21 PM
To: pgsql-sql@postgresql.org
Subject: [SQL] lost password
I have a database that has a “process” user. I need to move the database to an additional server. When I restore it gave me a “user not found” error. So I am trying to recreate this user, but no one knows what the password is supposed to be. The processes connecting to it have encrypted versions of the password. And what I can find in the database uses md5. Is there some way to find out or copy over the users password? Trying to find every process that uses this login will be very time consuming and we are guaranteed to miss some and generate a lot of frustration and confusion as processes that always worked cease. Not to mention that some stuff may be failing for a while before someone catches it.
I was thinking of just taking the md5 from pg_authid:rolpassword and using it to update the new server. Will this work? Or is there another way to retrieve a forgotten password?
Edward W. Rouse
Comsquared System, Inc.
770-734-5301