This authentication method uses SSL client certificates to perform authentication. It is therefore only available for SSL connections; see Section 17.9.2 for SSL configuration instructions. When using this authentication method, the server will require that the client provide a valid, trusted certificate. No password prompt will be sent to the client. The cn (Common Name) attribute of the certificate will be compared to the requested database user name, and if they match the login will be allowed. User name mapping can be used to allow cn to be different from the database user name.

The following configuration options are supported for SSL certificate authentication:

In a pg_hba.conf record specifying certificate authentication, the authentication option clientcert is assumed to be 1, and it cannot be turned off since a client certificate is necessary for this method. What the cert method adds to the basic clientcert certificate validity test is a check that the cn attribute matches the database user name.