<term><option>--username=<replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
User name to connect as (not the user name to drop).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-w</option></term>
<term><option>--no-password</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires
password authentication and a password is not available by
other means such as a <filename>.pgpass</filename> file, the
connection attempt will fail. This option can be useful in
batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a
password.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-W</option></term>
<term><option>--password</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Force <application>dropuser</application> to prompt for a
password before connecting to a database.
</para>
<para>
This option is never essential, since
<application>dropuser</application> will automatically prompt
for a password if the server demands password authentication.
However, <application>dropuser</application> will waste a
connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password.
In some cases it is worth typing <option>-W</option> to avoid the extra
connection attempt.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Environment</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><envar>PGHOST</envar></term>
<term><envar>PGPORT</envar></term>
<term><envar>PGUSER</envar></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Default connection parameters
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><envar>PG_COLOR</envar></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values
are <literal>always</literal>, <literal>auto</literal> and
<literal>never</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>
This utility, like most other <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> utilities,
also uses the environment variables supported by <application>libpq</application>
(see <xref linkend="libpq-envars"/>).
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Diagnostics</title>
<para>
In case of difficulty, see <xref linkend="sql-droprole"/>
and <xref linkend="app-psql"/> for
discussions of potential problems and error messages.
The database server must be running at the
targeted host. Also, any default connection settings and environment
variables used by the <application>libpq</application> front-end
library will apply.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Examples</title>
<para>
To remove user <literal>joe</literal> from the default database
server:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>dropuser joe</userinput>
</screen>
</para>
<para>
To remove user <literal>joe</literal> using the server on host
<literal>eden</literal>, port 5000, with verification and a peek at the underlying
command:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>dropuser -p 5000 -h eden -i -e joe</userinput>
<computeroutput>Role "joe" will be permanently removed.
Are you sure? (y/n) </computeroutput><userinput>y</userinput>
<computeroutput>DROP ROLE joe;</computeroutput>
</screen></para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>See Also</title>
<simplelist type="inline">
<member><xref linkend="app-createuser"/></member>
<member><xref linkend="sql-droprole"/></member>
</simplelist>
</refsect1>
</refentry>