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.

       -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           This option is obsolete but still accepted for backward compatibility.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, alter, drop, comment on, change the security label for, and
           grant or revoke membership in 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
       --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 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)).

       -?
       --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))

PostgreSQL 14.18                                      2025                                         CREATEUSER(1)