<!--
doc/src/sgml/ref/createuser.sgml
PostgreSQL documentation
-->
<refentry id="app-createuser">
<indexterm zone="app-createuser">
<primary>createuser</primary>
</indexterm>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle><application>createuser</application></refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
<refmiscinfo>Application</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>createuser</refname>
<refpurpose>define a new <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> user account</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>createuser</command>
<arg rep="repeat"><replaceable>connection-option</replaceable></arg>
<arg rep="repeat"><replaceable>option</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="opt"><replaceable>username</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para>
<application>createuser</application> creates a
new <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> user (or more precisely, a role).
Only superusers and users with <literal>CREATEROLE</literal> privilege can create
new users, so <application>createuser</application> must be
invoked by someone who can connect as a superuser or a user with
<literal>CREATEROLE</literal> privilege.
</para>
<para>
If you wish to create a role with the <literal>SUPERUSER</literal>,
<literal>REPLICATION</literal>, or <literal>BYPASSRLS</literal> privilege,
you must connect as a superuser, not merely with
<literal>CREATEROLE</literal> privilege.
Being a superuser implies the ability to bypass all access permission
checks within the database, so superuser access should not be granted
lightly. <literal>CREATEROLE</literal> also conveys
<link linkend="role-creation">very extensive privileges</link>.
</para>
<para>
<application>createuser</application> is a wrapper around the
<acronym>SQL</acronym> command <link linkend="sql-createrole"><command>CREATE ROLE</command></link>.
There is no effective difference between creating users via
this utility and via other methods for accessing the server.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Options</title>
<para>
<application>createuser</application> accepts the following command-line arguments:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Specifies the name of the <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> user
to be created.
This name must be different from all existing roles in this
<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> installation.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-a <replaceable class="parameter">role</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--with-admin=<replaceable class="parameter">role</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Specifies an existing role that will be automatically added as a member of the new
role with admin option, giving it the right to grant membership in the
new role to others. Multiple existing roles can be specified by
writing multiple <option>-a</option> switches.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-c <replaceable class="parameter">number</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--connection-limit=<replaceable class="parameter">number</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Set a maximum number of connections for the new user.
The default is to set no limit.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-d</option></term>
<term><option>--createdb</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will be allowed to create databases.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-D</option></term>
<term><option>--no-createdb</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will not be allowed to create databases. This is the
default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-e</option></term>
<term><option>--echo</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Echo the commands that <application>createuser</application> generates
and sends to the server.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-E</option></term>
<term><option>--encrypted</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This option is obsolete but still accepted for backward
compatibility.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-g <replaceable class="parameter">role</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--member-of=<replaceable class="parameter">role</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--role=<replaceable class="parameter">role</replaceable></option> (deprecated)</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Specifies the new role should be automatically added as a member
of the specified existing role. Multiple existing roles can be
specified by writing multiple <option>-g</option> switches.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-i</option></term>
<term><option>--inherit</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new role will automatically inherit privileges of roles
it is a member of.
This is the default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-I</option></term>
<term><option>--no-inherit</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new role will not automatically inherit privileges of roles
it is a member of.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--interactive</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Prompt for the user name if none is specified on the command line, and
also prompt for whichever of the options
<option>-d</option>/<option>-D</option>,
<option>-r</option>/<option>-R</option>,
<option>-s</option>/<option>-S</option> is not specified on the command
line. (This was the default behavior up to PostgreSQL 9.1.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-l</option></term>
<term><option>--login</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will be allowed to log in (that is, the user name
can be used as the initial session user identifier).
This is the default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-L</option></term>
<term><option>--no-login</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will not be allowed to log in.
(A role without login privilege is still useful as a means of
managing database permissions.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-m <replaceable class="parameter">role</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--with-member=<replaceable class="parameter">role</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Specifies an existing role that will be automatically
added as a member of the new role. Multiple existing roles can
be specified by writing multiple <option>-m</option> switches.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-P</option></term>
<term><option>--pwprompt</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
If given, <application>createuser</application> will issue a prompt for
the password of the new user. This is not necessary if you do not plan
on using password authentication.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-r</option></term>
<term><option>--createrole</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will be allowed to create, alter, drop, comment on,
change the security label for other roles; that is,
this user will have <literal>CREATEROLE</literal> privilege.
See <xref linkend="role-creation"/> for more details about what
capabilities are conferred by this privilege.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-R</option></term>
<term><option>--no-createrole</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will not be allowed to create new roles. This is the
default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-s</option></term>
<term><option>--superuser</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will be a superuser.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-S</option></term>
<term><option>--no-superuser</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will not be a superuser. This is the default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-v <replaceable class="parameter">timestamp</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--valid-until=<replaceable class="parameter">timestamp</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Set a date and time after which the role's password is no longer valid.
The default is to set no password expiry date.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-V</option></term>
<term><option>--version</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Print the <application>createuser</application> version and exit.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--bypassrls</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will bypass every row-level security (RLS) policy.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--no-bypassrls</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will not bypass row-level security (RLS) policies. This is
the default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--replication</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will have the <literal>REPLICATION</literal> privilege,
which is described more fully in the documentation for <xref
linkend="sql-createrole"/>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--no-replication</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The new user will not have the <literal>REPLICATION</literal>
privilege, which is described more fully in the documentation for <xref
linkend="sql-createrole"/>. This is the default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-?</option></term>
<term><option>--help</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Show help about <application>createuser</application> command line
arguments, and exit.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
<para>
<application>createuser</application> also accepts the following
command-line arguments for connection parameters:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-h <replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--host=<replaceable class="parameter">host</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Specifies the host name of the machine on which the
server
is running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used
as the directory for the Unix domain socket.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-p <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--port=<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file
extension on which the server
is listening for connections.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-U <replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></option></term>
<term><option>--username=<replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
User name to connect as (not the user name to create).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-w</option></term>
<term><option>--no-password</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires
password authentication and a password is not available by
other means such as a <filename>.pgpass</filename> file, the
connection attempt will fail. This option can be useful in
batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a
password.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-W</option></term>
<term><option>--password</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Force <application>createuser</application> to prompt for a
password (for connecting to the server, not for the
password of the new user).
</para>
<para>
This option is never essential, since
<application>createuser</application> will automatically prompt
for a password if the server demands password authentication.
However, <application>createuser</application> will waste a
connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password.
In some cases it is worth typing <option>-W</option> to avoid the extra
connection attempt.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Environment</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><envar>PGHOST</envar></term>
<term><envar>PGPORT</envar></term>
<term><envar>PGUSER</envar></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Default connection parameters
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><envar>PG_COLOR</envar></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values
are <literal>always</literal>, <literal>auto</literal> and
<literal>never</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>
This utility, like most other <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> utilities,
also uses the environment variables supported by <application>libpq</application>
(see <xref linkend="libpq-envars"/>).
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Diagnostics</title>
<para>
In case of difficulty, see <xref linkend="sql-createrole"/>
and <xref linkend="app-psql"/> for
discussions of potential problems and error messages.
The database server must be running at the
targeted host. Also, any default connection settings and environment
variables used by the <application>libpq</application> front-end
library will apply.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Examples</title>
<para>
To create a user <literal>joe</literal> on the default database
server:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>createuser joe</userinput>
</screen>
</para>
<para>
To create a user <literal>joe</literal> on the default database
server with prompting for some additional attributes:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>createuser --interactive joe</userinput>
<computeroutput>Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) </computeroutput><userinput>n</userinput>
<computeroutput>Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n) </computeroutput><userinput>n</userinput>
<computeroutput>Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/n) </computeroutput><userinput>n</userinput>
</screen>
</para>
<para>
To create the same user <literal>joe</literal> using the
server on host <literal>eden</literal>, port 5000, with attributes explicitly specified,
taking a look at the underlying command:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>createuser -h eden -p 5000 -S -D -R -e joe</userinput>
<computeroutput>CREATE ROLE joe NOSUPERUSER NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;</computeroutput>
</screen>
</para>
<para>
To create the user <literal>joe</literal> as a superuser,
and assign a password immediately:
<screen>
<prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>createuser -P -s -e joe</userinput>
<computeroutput>Enter password for new role: </computeroutput><userinput>xyzzy</userinput>
<computeroutput>Enter it again: </computeroutput><userinput>xyzzy</userinput>
<computeroutput>CREATE ROLE joe PASSWORD 'md5b5f5ba1a423792b526f799ae4eb3d59e' SUPERUSER CREATEDB CREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;</computeroutput>
</screen>
In the above example, the new password isn't actually echoed when typed,
but we show what was typed for clarity. As you see, the password is
encrypted before it is sent to the client.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>See Also</title>
<simplelist type="inline">
<member><xref linkend="app-dropuser"/></member>
<member><xref linkend="sql-createrole"/></member>
<member><xref linkend="guc-createrole-self-grant"/></member>
</simplelist>
</refsect1>
</refentry>