Modify the default administrator password

Change the PostgreSQL password

You can modify the PostgreSQL password using the following command at the shell prompt:

$ psql -U postgres postgres=# alter user postgres with password 'NEW_PASSWORD'; postgresl=# \q 

Reset the PostgreSQL password

If you don’t remember your PostgreSQL database password, you can follow the steps below to reset it to a new value:

  • Change the authentication method in the PostgreSQL configuration file pg_hba.conf from md5 to trust and reload the configuration.

     $ sudo sed -ibak 's/^\([^#]*\)md5/\1trust/g' /opt/bitnami/postgresql/conf/pg_hba.conf $ sudo -u postgres pg_ctl reload 
  • Connect to the PostgreSQL database and set the password to a new value:

     $ psql -U postgres postgres=# alter user postgres with password 'NEW_PASSWORD'; postgresl=# \q 
  • Finally, change the authentication method back to md5 and reload the old PostgreSQL configuration:

     $ sudo sed -i 's/^\([^#]*\)trust/\1md5/g' /opt/bitnami/postgresql/conf/pg_hba.conf $ sudo -u postgres pg_ctl reload 

You should now be able to connect to PostgreSQL with the new password.

Last modification September 2, 2025