How to Resolve Redshift Access Denied in PostgreSQL

Galaxy Glossary

How do I fix the Amazon Redshift ‘access denied’ error?

Fix the “access denied” error in Amazon Redshift by granting the right privileges or roles to users.

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Description

Example H2

Example H3

Why does Amazon Redshift say “access denied”?

Redshift returns the error when the current user or role lacks the required privilege on the target object (table, schema, database, or function).The default PUBLIC role has very few rights, so new users often hit this wall.

How do I find missing privileges quickly?

Query system tables.
SELECT * FROM pg_table_def WHERE schemaname='public' AND tablename='orders';
No rows or null privilege columns signal missing grants.

Which GRANT syntax fixes common issues?

Use GRANT on the specific object, not the whole database, for least-privilege security.Always qualify the schema name.

Grant table access

GRANT SELECT ON TABLE public.orders TO analyst_role;

Grant schema usage + table rights

GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA public TO analyst_role;GRANT SELECT,INSERT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO analyst_role;

How to verify the fix?

Reconnect as the user or SET ROLE and rerun the original query.If it succeeds, the privilege set is correct.

Best practices to prevent future “access denied” errors

• Create roles for job functions (analyst, loader, app).
• Grant rights to roles, not individual users.
• Re-run ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES after creating new schemas or tables.

Can I audit who still lacks access?

Yes.Combine pg_user and pg_has_role functions to list users without expected privileges and remediate in bulk.

What about granting permissions during data loads?

Add ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES to deployment scripts so new tables inherit correct rights, removing manual steps.

Why How to Resolve Redshift Access Denied in PostgreSQL is important

How to Resolve Redshift Access Denied in PostgreSQL Example Usage


-- Give analysts read/write on Orders but read-only on others
GRANT SELECT,INSERT,UPDATE ON TABLE public.orders TO analyst_role;
GRANT SELECT ON TABLE public.customers, public.products, public.orderitems TO analyst_role;

-- Verify as analyst
SET ROLE analyst_role;
SELECT total_amount FROM public.orders WHERE order_date > current_date - INTERVAL '30 days';

How to Resolve Redshift Access Denied in PostgreSQL Syntax


GRANT { ALL | SELECT | INSERT | UPDATE | DELETE | REFERENCES }
ON { TABLE | ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA } schema.object
TO { user_name | role_name } [ WITH GRANT OPTION ];

REVOKE { ALL | privilege [, ...] }
ON { TABLE | ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA } schema.object
FROM { user_name | role_name };

-- Example ecommerce grants
GRANT SELECT ON TABLE public.customers  TO analyst_role;
GRANT SELECT,INSERT ON TABLE public.orders TO analyst_role;
GRANT SELECT ON TABLE public.products TO analyst_role;
GRANT SELECT ON TABLE public.orderitems TO analyst_role;

Common Mistakes

Granting privileges to individual users instead of roles. This leads to maintenance headaches when users change jobs. Always create roles for job functions and grant to the role.
Running GRANT on the database but forgetting USAGE on the schema. Without USAGE the user still cannot access tables. Grant USAGE on the schema first.