createuser

createuser

1

Application

createuser

define a new

PostgreSQL

user account

createuser

connection-option

option

username

Description
===========

createuser creates a new PostgreSQL user (or more precisely, a role).
Only superusers and users with `CREATEROLE` privilege can create new
users, so createuser must be invoked by someone who can connect as a
superuser or a user with `CREATEROLE` privilege.

If you wish to create a new superuser, you must connect as a superuser,
not merely with `CREATEROLE` privilege. Being a superuser implies the
ability to bypass all access permission checks within the database, so
superuser access should not be granted lightly.

createuser is a wrapper around the SQL command
[`CREATE ROLE`](#sql-createrole). There is no effective difference
between creating users via this utility and via other methods for
accessing the server.

Options
=======

createuser accepts the following command-line arguments:

username

:   Specifies the name of the PostgreSQL user to be created. This name
    must be different from all existing roles in this PostgreSQL
    installation.

`-c number`; `--connection-limit=number`

:   Set a maximum number of connections for the new user. The default is
    to set no limit.

`-d`; `--createdb`

:   The new user will be allowed to create databases.

`-D`; `--no-createdb`

:   The new user will not be allowed to create databases. This is the
    default.

`-e`; `--echo`

:   Echo the commands that createuser generates and sends to the server.

`-E`; `--encrypted`

:   This option is obsolete but still accepted for backward
    compatibility.

`-g role`; `--role=role`

:   Indicates role to which this role will be added immediately as a new
    member. Multiple roles to which this role will be added as a member
    can be specified by writing multiple `-g` switches.

`-i`; `--inherit`

:   The new role will automatically inherit privileges of roles it is a
    member of. This is the default.

`-I`; `--no-inherit`

:   The new role will not automatically inherit privileges of roles it
    is a member of.

`--interactive`

:   Prompt for the user name if none is specified on the command line,
    and also prompt for whichever of the options `-d`/`-D`, `-r`/`-R`,
    `-s`/`-S` is not specified on the command line. (This was the
    default behavior up to PostgreSQL 9.1.)

`-l`; `--login`

:   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.

`-L`; `--no-login`

:   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.)

`-P`; `--pwprompt`

:   If given, createuser will issue a prompt for the password of the new
    user. This is not necessary if you do not plan on using password
    authentication.

`-r`; `--createrole`

:   The new user will be allowed to create new roles (that is, this user
    will have `CREATEROLE` privilege).

`-R`; `--no-createrole`

:   The new user will not be allowed to create new roles. This is the
    default.

`-s`; `--superuser`

:   The new user will be a superuser.

`-S`; `--no-superuser`

:   The new user will not be a superuser. This is the default.

`-V`; `--version`

:   Print the createuser version and exit.

`--replication`

:   The new user will have the `REPLICATION` privilege, which is
    described more fully in the documentation for
    [???](#sql-createrole).

`--no-replication`

:   The new user will not have the `REPLICATION` privilege, which is
    described more fully in the documentation for
    [???](#sql-createrole).

`-?`; `--help`

:   Show help about createuser command line arguments, and exit.

createuser also accepts the following command-line arguments for
connection parameters:

`-h host`; `--host=host`

:   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.

`-p port`; `--port=port`

:   Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on
    which the server is listening for connections.

`-U username`; `--username=username`

:   User name to connect as (not the user name to create).

`-w`; `--no-password`

:   Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password
    authentication and a password is not available by other means such
    as a `.pgpass` 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.

`-W`; `--password`

:   Force createuser to prompt for a password (for connecting to the
    server, not for the password of the new user).

    This option is never essential, since createuser will automatically
    prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication.
    However, createuser will waste a connection attempt finding out that
    the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing `-W`
    to avoid the extra connection attempt.

Environment
===========

PGHOST; PGPORT; PGUSER

:   Default connection parameters

PG\_COLOR

:   Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible
    values are `always`, `auto` and `never`.

This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the
environment variables supported by libpq (see [???](#libpq-envars)).

Diagnostics
===========

In case of difficulty, see [???](#sql-createrole) and [???](#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 libpq
front-end library will apply.

Examples
========

To create a user `joe` on the default database server:

    $ createuser joe

To create a user `joe` on the default database server with prompting for
some additional attributes:

    $ createuser --interactive joe
    Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) n
    Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n) n
    Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/n) n

To create the same user `joe` using the server on host `eden`, port
5000, with attributes explicitly specified, taking a look at the
underlying command:

    $ createuser -h eden -p 5000 -S -D -R -e joe
    CREATE ROLE joe NOSUPERUSER NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;

To create the user `joe` as a superuser, and assign a password
immediately:

    $ createuser -P -s -e joe
    Enter password for new role: xyzzy
    Enter it again: xyzzy
    CREATE ROLE joe PASSWORD 'md5b5f5ba1a423792b526f799ae4eb3d59e' SUPERUSER CREATEDB CREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;

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.

See Also
========
