createuser(1) PostgreSQL 16.7 Documentation createuser(1)
NAME
createuser - define a new PostgreSQL user account
SYNOPSIS
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 role with the SUPERUSER, REPLICATION, or
BYPASSRLS privilege, 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. CREATEROLE also conveys very extensive
privileges.
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.
-a role
--with-admin=role
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 -a switches.
-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This option is obsolete but still accepted for backward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
--member-of=role
--role=role (deprecated)
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 -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.)
-m role
--with-member=role
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 -m switches.
-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, alter, drop, comment on,
change the security label for other roles; that is, this user will
have CREATEROLE privilege. See role creation for more details about
what capabilities are conferred by this 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 timestamp
--valid-until=timestamp
Set a date and time after which the role's password is no longer
valid. The default is to set no password expiry date.
-V
--version
Print the createuser version and exit.
--bypassrls
The new user will bypass every row-level security (RLS) policy.
--no-bypassrls
The new user will not bypass row-level security (RLS) policies.
This is the default.
--replication
The new user will have the REPLICATION privilege, which is
described more fully in the documentation for CREATE ROLE
(CREATE_ROLE(7)).
--no-replication
The new user will not have the REPLICATION privilege, which is
described more fully in the documentation for CREATE ROLE
(CREATE_ROLE(7)). This is the default.
-?
--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 Section 34.15).
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
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
dropuser(1), CREATE ROLE (CREATE_ROLE(7)), createrole_self_grant
PostgreSQL 16.7 2025 createuser(1)
postgresql 16.7 - Generated Sat Mar 22 09:33:50 CDT 2025