Re: [NOVICE] Authentication problems

the inquirer <listquestions(at)yahoo(dot)com> writes:
> $ psql -W -d database -U user
> Password:
> psql: FATAL: IDENT authentication failed for user "user"

It looks like you would rather use password authentication than the
default IDENT-based auth (it's default in Debian distro of postgres
anyway). IDENT will only let you in when you do *not* use -U, ie,
your postgres user name is the same as your Unix user name. Change
this in pg_hba.conf, and don't forget to SIGHUP or restart the
postmaster afterwards.

regards, tom lane