Re: scram and \password

Joe Conway <mail(at)joeconway(dot)com> writes:
> On 03/14/2017 03:15 AM, Heikki Linnakangas wrote:
>> If the server isn't set up to do SCRAM authentication, i.e. there are no
>> "scram" entries in pg_hba.conf, and you set yourself a SCRAM verifier,
>> you have just locked yourself out of the system. I think that's a
>> non-starter. There needs to be some more intelligence in the decision.

> Yes, this was exactly my concern.

This seems like a serious usability fail.

>> It would be a lot more sensible, if there was a way to specify in
>> pg_hba.conf, "scram-or-md5". We punted on that for PostgreSQL 10, but
>> perhaps we should try to cram that in, after all.

> I was also thinking about that. Basically a primary method and a
> fallback. If that were the case, a gradual transition could happen, and
> if we want \password to enforce best practice it would be ok.

Why exactly would anyone want "md5 only"? I should think that "scram
only" is a sensible pg_hba setting, if the DBA feels that md5 is too
insecure, but I do not see the point of "md5 only" in 2017. I think
we should just start interpreting that as "md5 or better".

regards, tom lane