NAME
createuser - define a new PostgreSQL user account
SYNOPSIS
createuser [ 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
superuserdom should not be granted lightly.
createuser is a wrapper around the SQL command CREATE ROLE
[create_role(7)]. 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.
-s
--superuser
The new user will be a superuser.
-S
--no-superuser
The new user will not be a superuser. This is the default.
-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.
-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.
-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.)
-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.
-c number
--connection-limit number
Set a maximum number of connections for the new user. The
default is to set no limit.
-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.
-E
--encrypted
Encrypts the user’s password stored in the database. If not
specified, the default password behavior is used.
-N
--unencrypted
Does not encrypt the user’s password stored in the database. If
not specified, the default password behavior is used.
-e
--echo Echo the commands that createuser generates and sends to the
server.
You will be prompted for a name and other missing information if it is
not specified on the command line.
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
This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the
environment variables supported by libpq (see in the documentation).
DIAGNOSTICS
In case of difficulty, see CREATE ROLE [create_role(7)] and psql(1) 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
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,
avoiding the prompts and 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. If the option
--unencrypted is used, the password will appear in the echoed command
(and possibly also in the server log and elsewhere), so you don’t want
to use -e in that case, if anyone else can see your screen.
SEE ALSO
dropuser(1), CREATE ROLE [create_role(7)]