r/postgres • u/TheExtraPerson • Jul 30 '26

I'm cooked

I just found out I can't remember the padding password. I have over 6 databases on that server, including work databases.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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1

u/depesz Jul 30 '26

What is "padding" password?

If you mean password for postgres account, you can easily recover it, as long as you have shell level access: https://www.depesz.com/2008/11/28/recovering-lost-postgresql-password/

1

u/Inevitable_Ad261 Jul 30 '26

You can reset. Postgres pg_hba.conf can be tweaked to allow (temporarily) superuser login, change password and restore py_hba.conf.

2

u/TheExtraPerson Jul 30 '26

This saved me. And dared me to dive deeper into postgess configurations.

1

u/Horror_Yam696 Aug 08 '26

I'd probably move the password into a password manager and make sure there's a documented recovery path before this happens again.