If you can’t remember your PostgeSQL database account password you will need to disable authentication temporarily, login and reset the password.

Disable Authentication

1. Go into your PostgreSQL data directory. The data directory can be located in

Microsoft Windows - C:\Program Files\PostreSQL\8.3\data\

Ubuntu Linux - /var/lib/postgresql/data/

RHEL/Fedora - /var/lib/pgsql/data

2. Open pg_hba.conf in any text editor, and in the last 2 lines, replace "md5" with "trust"

# IPv4 local connections:
host    all         all         127.0.0.1/32          trust
# IPv6 local connections:
host    all         all         ::1/128               md5

3. Restart your PostgrSQL database service.

Reset Password

1. Log into PostgreSQL admin console,

Windows - Start → Program Files → PostgreSQL → PgQdmin III

Linux - Open "psql" in command prompt.

2. Choose "postgres" database and execute following SQL query -

Alter user <postgres  username> with password 'foobar';

3. Quit PostgreSQL admin console

Enable Authentication

1. Change the lines in pg_hba.conf from "trust" to "md5" .

2. Restart your PostgrSQL database service.

Try logging in and see if your change worked!