Security and Authentication (postgresql.conf)

authentication_timeout

Parameter description: Specifies the longest duration to wait before the client authentication times out. If a client is not authenticated by the server within the period, the server automatically disconnects from the client so that the client does not occupy connection resources.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 1 to 600. The smallest unit is s.

Default value: 1min

auth_iteration_count

Parameter description: Specifies the number of iterations during the generation of encryption information for authentication.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 2048 to 134217728

Default value: 10000

If the number of iterations is too small, the password storage security is reduced. If the number of iterations is too large, the performance deteriorates in scenarios involving password encryption, such as authentication and user creation. Set the number of iterations based on actual hardware conditions. You are advised to retain the default value.

session_authorization

Parameter description: Specifies the user ID of the current session.

This parameter is a USERSET parameter and can be set only using the SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION syntax.

Value range: a string

Default value: NULL

session_timeout

Parameter description: Specifies the longest duration allowed when no operations are performed on a client after it is connected to the server.

This parameter is a USERSET parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 86400. The smallest unit is s. 0 indicates that the timeout is disabled.

Default value: 1800

The gsql client of GaussDB has an automatic reconnection mechanism. For local connection of initialized users, the client reconnects to the server if the connection breaks after the timeout.

ssl

Parameter description: Specifies whether SSL connections are enabled.

This parameter is a POSTMASTER parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: Boolean

• on indicates that SSL connections are enabled.
• off indicates that SSL connections are not enabled.

GaussDB supports SSL when a client connects to a CN. You are advised to enable SSL connections only on CNs. The default value is off on DNs. To enable SSL connections, you also need to ensure that parameters such as ssl_cert_file, ssl_key_file, and ssl_ca_file are configured correctly. Incorrect configurations may cause startup failure of the cluster.

Default value: on (for CNs) or off (for DNs)

comm_ssl

Parameter description: Specifies whether to enable the SSL connection between primary DNs.

This parameter is a POSTMASTER parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: Boolean

• on indicates that the SSL connection is enabled between primary DNs.
• off indicates that the SSL connection is disabled between primary DNs.

• It is recommended that this parameter be enabled only on DNs. The default value on CNs is off.
• To enable SSL connections, you also need to ensure that parameters such as ssl_cert_file, ssl_key_file, and ssl_ca_file are configured correctly. Incorrect configurations may cause startup failure of the cluster.

Default value: off

require_ssl

Parameter description: Specifies whether the server requires SSL connections. This parameter is valid only when ssl is set to on.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: Boolean

• on indicates that the server requires SSL connections.
• off indicates that the server does not require SSL connections.

GaussDB supports SSL when a client connects to a CN. It is recommended that the SSL connection be enabled only on CNs.

Default value: off

ssl_ciphers

Parameter description: Specifies the list of encryption algorithms supported by SSL. Only the sysadmin user can access the list.

This parameter is a POSTMASTER parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: a string. Separate multiple encryption algorithms by semicolons (;).

If ssl_ciphers is set incorrectly, the cluster cannot be started properly.

Default value: ALL

ssl_renegotiation_limit

Parameter description: Specifies the allowed traffic volume over an SSL-encrypted channel before the session key is renegotiated. The renegotiation mechanism reduces the probability that attackers use the password analysis method to crack the key based on a huge amount of data but causes big performance losses. The traffic indicates the sum of transmitted and received traffic. The SSL renegotiation mechanism has been disabled because of potential risks. This parameter is reserved for version compatibility and does not take effect.

This parameter is a USERSET parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 2147483647. The unit is KB. 0 indicates that the renegotiation mechanism is disabled.

Default value: 0

ssl_cert_file

Parameter description: Specifies the name of the file that contains the SSL server certificate. The relative path is relative to the data directory.

This parameter is a POSTMASTER parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: a string

Default value: server.crt

ssl_key_file

Parameter description: Specifies the name of the file that contains the SSL private key. The relative path is relative to the data directory.

This parameter is a POSTMASTER parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: a string

Default value: server.key

ssl_ca_file

Parameter description: Specifies the name of the root certificate that contains CA information. Its path is relative to the data directory.

This parameter is a POSTMASTER parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: a string. If it is an empty string, no CA file is loaded and client certificate verification is not performed.

Default value: cacert.pem

ssl_crl_file

Parameter description: Specifies the certificate revocation list (CRL). If a client certificate is in the list, the certificate is invalid. The path is relative to the data directory.

This parameter is a POSTMASTER parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: a string. An empty string indicates that there is no CRL.

Default value: an empty string

ssl_cert_notify_time

Parameter description: Specifies the number of days prior to SSL server certificate expiration that a user will receive a reminder. When the SSL certificate is initialized during connection establishment, if the duration from the current time to the certificate expiration time is shorter than the specified value, an expiration notification is recorded in the log.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 7 to 180. The unit is day.

Default value: 90

krb_server_keyfile

Parameter description: Specifies the location of the main configuration file of the Kerberos service.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: a string

Default value: empty

krb_srvname

Parameter description: Specifies the Kerberos service name.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: a string

Default value: postgres

krb_caseins_users

Parameter description: Specifies whether the Kerberos username is case-sensitive.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: Boolean

• on indicates that the Kerberos username is case-insensitive.
• off indicates that the Kerberos username is case-sensitive.

Default value: off

modify_initial_password

Parameter description: After GaussDB is installed, there is only one initial user account (whose UID is 10) in the database. When a user logs in to the database using this initial account for the first time, this parameter determines whether the password of the initial account needs to be modified.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

If the initial user password is not specified during the installation, the initial user password is empty by default after the installation. Before performing other operations, you need to set the initial user password using the gsql client. This parameter no longer takes effect and is reserved only for compatibility with upgrade scenarios.

Value range: Boolean

• on indicates that the password of the initial account needs to be modified upon the first login.
• off indicates that the password of the initial account does not need to be modified.

Default value: off

password_policy

Parameter description: Specifies whether to check the password complexity when you run the CREATE ROLE/USER or ALTER ROLE/USER command to create or modify an account of GaussDB.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

For security purposes, do not disable the password complexity policy.

Value range: 0 and 1

• 0 indicates that no password complexity policy is enabled.
• 1 indicates that the default password complexity policy is enabled.

Default value: 1

password_reuse_time

Parameter description: Specifies whether to check the reuse interval of the new password when you run the ALTER USER or ALTER ROLE command to change a user password.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

When you change the password, the system checks the values of password_reuse_time and password_reuse_max.

• If the values of password_reuse_time and password_reuse_max are both positive numbers, an old password can be reused when it meets either of the reuse restrictions.
• If the value of password_reuse_time is 0, password reuse is restricted based on the number of reuse times, and not on the reuse interval.
• If the value of password_reuse_max is 0, password reuse is restricted based on the reuse interval, and not on the number of reuse times.
• If the values of both password_reuse_time and password_reuse_max are 0, password reuse is not restricted.

Value range: a floating point number ranging from 0 to 3650. The unit is day.

• 0 indicates that the password reuse interval is not checked.
• A positive number indicates that a new password cannot be chosen from passwords in history that are newer than the specified number of days.

password_reuse_max

Parameter description: Specifies whether to check the reuse times of the new password when you run the ALTER USER or ALTER ROLE command to change a user password. Only the sysadmin user can access the parameter.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

When you change the password, the system checks the values of password_reuse_time and password_reuse_max.

• If the values of password_reuse_time and password_reuse_max are both positive numbers, an old password can be reused when it meets either of the reuse restrictions.
• If the value of password_reuse_time is 0, password reuse is restricted based on the number of reuse times, and not on the reuse interval.
• If the value of password_reuse_max is 0, password reuse is restricted based on the reuse interval, and not on the number of reuse times.
• If the values of both password_reuse_time and password_reuse_max are 0, password reuse is not restricted.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 1000

• 0 indicates that the password reuse times are not checked.
• A positive number indicates that the new password cannot be the one whose reuse times exceed the specified number.

Default value: 0

password_lock_time

Parameter description: Specifies the duration before a locked account is automatically unlocked.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

The locking and unlocking functions take effect only when the values of password_lock_time and failed_login_attempts are positive numbers.

Value range: a floating point number ranging from 0 to 365. The unit is day. The integer part indicates the number of days, and the decimal part can be converted into hours, minutes, and seconds. For example, password_lock_time=1.5 indicates one day and 12 hours.

• 0 indicates that an account is not automatically locked if the password verification fails.
• A positive number indicates the duration after which a locked account is automatically unlocked.

Default value: 1

failed_login_attempts

Parameter description: Specifies the maximum number of incorrect password attempts before an account is locked. The account will be automatically unlocked after the time specified by password_lock_time. Only the sysadmin user can access the account. The automatic account locking policy applies in scenarios such as login and password modification using the ALTER USER command.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

The locking and unlocking functions take effect only when the values of failed_login_attempts and password_lock_time are positive numbers.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 1000

• 0 indicates that the automatic locking function does not take effect.
• A positive number indicates that an account is locked when the number of incorrect password attempts reaches the value of failed_login_attempts.

Default value: 10

password_encryption_type

Parameter description: Specifies the encryption type of a user password. Changing the value of this parameter does not change the password encryption type of existing users. The new encryption type is applied to passwords of new users or passwords modified after the parameter value is changed.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: 0, 1, 2, or 3

• 0 indicates that passwords are encrypted with MD5.
• 1 indicates that passwords are encrypted with SHA-256 and MD5.
• 2 indicates that passwords are encrypted with SHA-256.
• 3 indicates that the passwords are encrypted in sm3 mode.

The MD5 encryption algorithm is not recommended because it has lower security and poses security risks.

Default value: 2

password_min_length

Parameter description: Specifies the minimum length of an account password. Only the sysadmin user can access this parameter.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer. A password can contain 6 to 999 characters.

Default value: 8

password_max_length

Parameter description: Specifies the maximum length of an account password. Only the sysadmin user can access this parameter.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer. A password can contain 6 to 999 characters.

Default value: 32

password_min_uppercase

Parameter description: Specifies the minimum number of uppercase letters that an account password must contain. Only the sysadmin user can access this parameter.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 999

• 0 means no limit.
• A positive integer indicates the minimum number of uppercase letters required in a password when you create an account.

Default value: 0

password_min_lowercase

Parameter description: Specifies the minimum number of lowercase letters that an account password must contain. Only the sysadmin user can access this parameter.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 999

• 0 means no limit.
• A positive integer indicates the minimum number of lowercase letters in the password specified for creating an account.

Default value: 0

password_min_digital

Parameter description: Specifies the minimum number of digits that an account password must contain. Only the sysadmin user can access this parameter.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 999

• 0 means no limit.
• A positive integer indicates the minimum number of digits in the password specified for creating an account.

Default value: 0

password_min_special

Parameter description: Specifies the minimum number of special characters that an account password must contain. Only the sysadmin user can access this parameter.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 999

• 0 means no limit.
• A positive integer indicates the minimum number of special characters required in a password when you create an account.

Default value: 0

password_effect_time

Parameter description: Specifies the validity period of an account password.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: a floating point number ranging from 0 to 999. The unit is day.

• 0 indicates that the validity period restriction is disabled.
• A floating point number from 1 to 999 indicates the number of days for which an account password is valid. When the password is about to expire or has expired, the system prompts the user to change the password.

Default value: 0

password_notify_time

Parameter description: Specifies how many days in advance a user is notified before a password expires.

This parameter is a SIGHUP parameter. Set it based on instructions provided in Table 1.

Value range: an integer ranging from 0 to 999. The unit is day.

• 0 indicates that the reminder is disabled.
• A positive integer indicates the number of days prior to password expiration that a user will receive a reminder.

Default value: 7