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$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_user.sgml,v 1.32 2003/12/14 00:15:03 neilc Exp $
PostgreSQL documentation
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<refentry id="SQL-CREATEUSER">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle id="sql-createuser-title">CREATE USER</refentrytitle>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>CREATE USER</refname>
  <refpurpose>define a new database user account</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <indexterm zone="sql-createuser">
  <primary>CREATE USER</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
CREATE USER <replaceable class="PARAMETER">name</replaceable> [ [ WITH ] <replaceable class="PARAMETER">option</replaceable> [ ... ] ]

where <replaceable class="PARAMETER">option</replaceable> can be:
    
      SYSID <replaceable class="PARAMETER">uid</replaceable> 
    | [ ENCRYPTED | UNENCRYPTED ] PASSWORD '<replaceable class="PARAMETER">password</replaceable>'
    | CREATEDB | NOCREATEDB
    | CREATEUSER | NOCREATEUSER
    | IN GROUP <replaceable class="PARAMETER">groupname</replaceable> [, ...]
    | VALID UNTIL '<replaceable class="PARAMETER">abstime</replaceable>' 
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <command>CREATE USER</command> adds a new user to a
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database cluster.  Refer to
   <xref linkend="user-manag"> and <xref
   linkend="client-authentication"> for information about managing
   users and authentication.  You must be a database superuser to use
   this command.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Parameters</title>

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The name of the user.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">uid</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        The <literal>SYSID</literal> clause can be used to choose the
        <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> user ID of the user that
        is being created. This is not normally not necessary, but may
        be useful if you need to recreate the owner of an orphaned
        object.
       </para>
       <para>
        If this is not specified, the highest assigned user ID plus one
	(with a minimum of 100) will be used as default.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">password</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
        Sets the user's password. If you do not plan to use password
        authentication you can omit this option, but then the user
        won't be able to connect if you decide to switch to password
        authentication.  The password can be set or changed later,
        using <xref linkend="SQL-ALTERUSER"
        endterm="SQL-ALTERUSER-title">.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>ENCRYPTED</></term>
      <term><literal>UNENCRYPTED</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	These key words control whether the password is stored
	encrypted in the system catalogs.  (If neither is specified,
	the default behavior is determined by the configuration
	parameter <varname>password_encryption</varname>.)  If the
	presented password string is already in MD5-encrypted format,
	then it is stored encrypted as-is, regardless of whether
	<literal>ENCRYPTED</> or <literal>UNENCRYPTED</> is specified
	(since the system cannot decrypt the specified encrypted
	password string).  This allows reloading of encrypted
	passwords during dump/restore.
       </para>

       <para>
        Note that older clients may lack support for the MD5
        authentication mechanism that is needed to work with passwords
        that are stored encrypted.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>CREATEDB</></term>
      <term><literal>NOCREATEDB</></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	These clauses define a user's ability to create databases.  If
	<literal>CREATEDB</literal> is specified, the user being
	defined will be allowed to create his own databases. Using
	<literal>NOCREATEDB</literal> will deny a user the ability to
	create databases. If this clause is omitted,
	<literal>NOCREATEDB</literal> is used by default.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>CREATEUSER</literal></term>
      <term><literal>NOCREATEUSER</literal></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	These clauses determine whether a user will be permitted to
	create new users himself. This option will also make the user
	a superuser who can override all access restrictions.
	Omitting this clause will set the user's value of this
	attribute to be <literal>NOCREATEUSER</literal>.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">groupname</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	A name of a group into which to insert the user as a new member.
	Multiple group names may be listed.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="parameter">abstime</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The <literal>VALID UNTIL</literal> clause sets an absolute
	time after which the user's password is no longer valid.  If
	this clause is omitted the login will be valid for all time.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
 </refsect1> 

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   Use <xref linkend="SQL-ALTERUSER" endterm="SQL-ALTERUSER-title"> to
   change the attributes of a user, and <xref linkend="SQL-DROPUSER"
   endterm="SQL-DROPUSER-title"> to remove a user.  Use <xref
   linkend="SQL-ALTERGROUP" endterm="SQL-ALTERGROUP-title"> to add the
   user to groups or remove the user from groups.
  </para>

  <para>
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> includes a program <xref
   linkend="APP-CREATEUSER" endterm="APP-CREATEUSER-title"> that has
   the same functionality as <command>CREATE USER</command> (in fact, it calls this
   command) but can be run from the command shell.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Examples</title>

  <para>
   Create a user with no password:
<programlisting>
CREATE USER jonathan;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Create a user with a password:
<programlisting>
CREATE USER davide WITH PASSWORD 'jw8s0F4';
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Create a user with a password that is valid until the end of 2004.
   After one second has ticked in 2005, the password is no longer
   valid.

<programlisting>
CREATE USER miriam WITH PASSWORD 'jw8s0F4' VALID UNTIL '2005-01-01';
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para> 
   Create an account where the user can create databases:
<programlisting>
CREATE USER manuel WITH PASSWORD 'jw8s0F4' CREATEDB;
</programlisting>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 
 <refsect1>
  <title>Compatibility</title>
  
  <para>
   The <command>CREATE USER</command> statement is a
   <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> extension.  The SQL standard
   leaves the definition of users to the implementation.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>See Also</title>

  <simplelist type="inline">
   <member><xref linkend="sql-alteruser" endterm="sql-alteruser-title"></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-dropuser" endterm="sql-dropuser-title"></member>
   <member><xref linkend="app-createuser"></member>
  </simplelist>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

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