1CREATEUSER(1) PostgreSQL 16.1 Documentation CREATEUSER(1)
2
6 createuser - define a new PostgreSQL user account
7
9 createuser [connection-option...] [option...] [username]
10
12 createuser creates a new PostgreSQL user (or more precisely, a role).
13 Only superusers and users with CREATEROLE privilege can create new
14 users, so createuser must be invoked by someone who can connect as a
15 superuser or a user with CREATEROLE privilege.
16 If you wish to create a role with the SUPERUSER, REPLICATION, or
18 BYPASSRLS privilege, you must connect as a superuser, not merely with
19 CREATEROLE privilege. Being a superuser implies the ability to bypass
20 all access permission checks within the database, so superuser access
21 should not be granted lightly. CREATEROLE also conveys very extensive
22 privileges.
23 createuser is a wrapper around the SQL command CREATE ROLE. There is no
25 effective difference between creating users via this utility and via
26 other methods for accessing the server.
27
29 createuser accepts the following command-line arguments:
30 username
32 Specifies the name of the PostgreSQL user to be created. This name
33 must be different from all existing roles in this PostgreSQL
34 installation.
35 -a role
37 --with-admin=role
38 Specifies an existing role that will be automatically added as a
39 member of the new role with admin option, giving it the right to
40 grant membership in the new role to others. Multiple existing roles
41 can be specified by writing multiple -a switches.
42 -c number
44 --connection-limit=number
45 Set a maximum number of connections for the new user. The default
46 is to set no limit.
47 -d
49 --createdb
50 The new user will be allowed to create databases.
51 -D
53 --no-createdb
54 The new user will not be allowed to create databases. This is the
55 default.
56 -e
58 --echo
59 Echo the commands that createuser generates and sends to the
60 server.
61 -E
63 --encrypted
64 This option is obsolete but still accepted for backward
65 compatibility.
66 -g role
68 --member-of=role
69 --role=role (deprecated)
70 Specifies the new role should be automatically added as a member of
71 the specified existing role. Multiple existing roles can be
72 specified by writing multiple -g switches.
73 -i
75 --inherit
76 The new role will automatically inherit privileges of roles it is a
77 member of. This is the default.
78 -I
80 --no-inherit
81 The new role will not automatically inherit privileges of roles it
82 is a member of.
83 --interactive
85 Prompt for the user name if none is specified on the command line,
86 and also prompt for whichever of the options -d/-D, -r/-R, -s/-S is
87 not specified on the command line. (This was the default behavior
88 up to PostgreSQL 9.1.)
89 -l
91 --login
92 The new user will be allowed to log in (that is, the user name can
93 be used as the initial session user identifier). This is the
94 default.
95 -L
97 --no-login
98 The new user will not be allowed to log in. (A role without login
99 privilege is still useful as a means of managing database
100 permissions.)
101 -m role
103 --with-member=role
104 Specifies an existing role that will be automatically added as a
105 member of the new role. Multiple existing roles can be specified by
106 writing multiple -m switches.
107 -P
109 --pwprompt
110 If given, createuser will issue a prompt for the password of the
111 new user. This is not necessary if you do not plan on using
112 password authentication.
113 -r
115 --createrole
116 The new user will be allowed to create, alter, drop, comment on,
117 change the security label for other roles; that is, this user will
118 have CREATEROLE privilege. See role creation for more details about
119 what capabilities are conferred by this privilege.
120 -R
122 --no-createrole
123 The new user will not be allowed to create new roles. This is the
124 default.
125 -s
127 --superuser
128 The new user will be a superuser.
129 -S
131 --no-superuser
132 The new user will not be a superuser. This is the default.
133 -v timestamp
135 --valid-until=timestamp
136 Set a date and time after which the role's password is no longer
137 valid. The default is to set no password expiry date.
138 -V
140 --version
141 Print the createuser version and exit.
142 --bypassrls
144 The new user will bypass every row-level security (RLS) policy.
145 --no-bypassrls
147 The new user will not bypass row-level security (RLS) policies.
148 This is the default.
149 --replication
151 The new user will have the REPLICATION privilege, which is
152 described more fully in the documentation for CREATE ROLE
153 (CREATE_ROLE(7)).
154 --no-replication
156 The new user will not have the REPLICATION privilege, which is
157 described more fully in the documentation for CREATE ROLE
158 (CREATE_ROLE(7)). This is the default.
159 -?
161 --help
162 Show help about createuser command line arguments, and exit.
163 createuser also accepts the following command-line arguments for
165 connection parameters:
166 -h host
168 --host=host
169 Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is
170 running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the
171 directory for the Unix domain socket.
172 -p port
174 --port=port
175 Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension
176 on which the server is listening for connections.
177 -U username
179 --username=username
180 User name to connect as (not the user name to create).
181 -w
183 --no-password
184 Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password
185 authentication and a password is not available by other means such
186 as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt will fail. This option
187 can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to
188 enter a password.
189 -W
191 --password
192 Force createuser to prompt for a password (for connecting to the
193 server, not for the password of the new user).
194 This option is never essential, since createuser will automatically
196 prompt for a password if the server demands password
197 authentication. However, createuser will waste a connection attempt
198 finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is
199 worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt.
200
202 PGHOST
203 PGPORT
204 PGUSER
205 Default connection parameters
206 PG_COLOR
208 Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible
209 values are always, auto and never.
210 This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the
212 environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 34.15).
213
215 In case of difficulty, see CREATE ROLE (CREATE_ROLE(7)) and psql(1) for
216 discussions of potential problems and error messages. The database
217 server must be running at the targeted host. Also, any default
218 connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq
219 front-end library will apply.
220
222 To create a user joe on the default database server:
223 $ createuser joe
225 To create a user joe on the default database server with prompting for
227 some additional attributes:
228 $ createuser --interactive joe
230 Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) n
231 Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n) n
232 Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/n) n
233 To create the same user joe using the server on host eden, port 5000,
235 with attributes explicitly specified, taking a look at the underlying
236 command:
237 $ createuser -h eden -p 5000 -S -D -R -e joe
239 CREATE ROLE joe NOSUPERUSER NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;
240 To create the user joe as a superuser, and assign a password
242 immediately:
243 $ createuser -P -s -e joe
245 Enter password for new role: xyzzy
246 Enter it again: xyzzy
247 CREATE ROLE joe PASSWORD 'md5b5f5ba1a423792b526f799ae4eb3d59e' SUPERUSER CREATEDB CREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;
248 In the above example, the new password isn't actually echoed when
250 typed, but we show what was typed for clarity. As you see, the password
251 is encrypted before it is sent to the client.
252
254 dropuser(1), CREATE ROLE (CREATE_ROLE(7)), createrole_self_grant
255PostgreSQL 16.1 2023 CREATEUSER(1)