ALTER SERVER

Enterprise command reference.

Command Snapshot

Field	Value
Category	Federation (FDW)
Mutates Data	Yes/Depends
Scope	Cluster / Object
Privilege Model	Requires administrative privilege on foreign server, table, and mapping objects.

Purpose

Defines, changes, or removes schema and metadata objects.

Syntax

ALTER SERVER server_name OPTIONS ( option_name 'value' [, ...] )

Operational Notes

Use schema-qualified identifiers in automation and automation pipelines.
Validate behavior in staging for cluster-impacting or governance-impacting changes.
Confirm runtime effects through system tables and metrics before and after execution.

When to Use

Use to register and query external data systems through SQL federation.
Use when centralized query execution is preferred over external engine orchestration.

When Not to Use

Avoid expecting full pushdown for complex joins/aggregations unless explicitly supported.

Common Errors and Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely Cause	Action
Permission denied / unauthorized	Missing privilege on object or cluster scope	Re-run with required grants or elevated admin role.
Analysis/parse error	Syntax variant or object shape mismatch	Compare with canonical syntax and object definition.
Runtime failure under load	Resource limits, breaker pressure, or node state transitions	Check `sys.jobs`, `sys.operations`, `sys.checks`, and retry after mitigation.

Cross-References

Detailed Reference

The ALTER SERVER statement in MonkDB is used to modify the options of an existing foreign server. This is particularly useful when you need to update connection parameters or other settings associated with a foreign data wrapper.

SQL Statement

ALTER SERVER server_name OPTIONS ( option_name 'value' [, ...] )

Parameters

server_name: The name of the foreign server to be altered.
OPTIONS: A clause used to specify one or more options to be updated for the foreign server. Each option is provided as a key-value pair.

Modifiable Options

The options that can be modified depend on the foreign data wrapper associated with the server. For example, with the jdbc foreign data wrapper, you can modify:

url: The JDBC connection string for the foreign server.
schema_name: The schema to be used when accessing tables in the foreign system.
table_name: The table name to be used when accessing tables in the foreign system.

Yes Examples

Update the JDBC connection URL for a foreign server named my_postgresql:

ALTER SERVER my_postgresql OPTIONS (url 'jdbc:postgresql://newhost:5432/');

Change both schema and table name options for the same server:

ALTER SERVER my_postgresql OPTIONS (schema_name 'new_schema', table_name 'new_table');

Notes

Foreign Data Wrappers: The ALTER SERVER statement is used in conjunction with foreign data wrappers to manage connections to external data sources.
Option Validation: MonkDB does not validate the options set using ALTER SERVER. Ensure the options are compatible with the foreign data wrapper.
Restart Requirements: Some changes may require reconnecting or remapping the foreign tables to take effect.

Permissions

Ownership: You must own the server to execute ALTER SERVER.
Superuser: Some options may require superuser privileges depending on the wrapper and settings.

Summary

Command	Description	Requires Ownership	Requires Superuser
`ALTER SERVER server_name OPTIONS (...)`	Modify options of a foreign server	Yes	No (Yes for some)