PostgreSQL: Documentation: 18: createuser

PostgreSQL: Documentation: 18: createuser
February 26, 2026:
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createuser
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createuser
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This option is obsolete but still accepted for backward compatibility.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
--no-replication
The new user will not have the
REPLICATION
privilege, which is described more fully in the documentation for
CREATE ROLE
. 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 32.15
).
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
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)
Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n)
Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/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 'SCRAM-SHA-256$4096:44560wPMLfjqiAzyPDZ/eQ==$4CA054rZlSFEq8Z3FEhToBTa2X6KnWFxFkPwIbKoDe0=:L/nbSZRCjp6RhOhKK56GoR1zibCCSePKshCJ9lnl3yw=' SUPERUSER CREATEDB CREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN NOREPLICATION NOBYPASSRLS;
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
CREATE ROLE
createrole_self_grant
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