createuser
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
. 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.
-
-q
--quiet
-
Do not display a response.
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
--password
-
Force password prompt (to connect to the server, not for the password of the new user).
Environment
-
PGHOST
PGPORT
PGUSER
-
Default connection parameters
Diagnostics
In case of difficulty, see
CREATE ROLE
and
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
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
CREATE USER
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;
CREATE ROLE
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 'xyzzy' SUPERUSER CREATEDB CREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;
CREATE ROLE
In the above example, the new password isn't actually echoed when typed, but we show what was typed for clarity. However the password
will
appear in the echoed command, as illustrated — so you don't want to use -e when assigning a password, if anyone else can see your screen.
