How To Create A User In SQL Server Database

As a DBA working with SQL server and managing SQL Server environments, I have created tons of users in SQL server. It is crucial to know how to do this task smoothly. In this article, I will walk you through the simplest approaches I used to follow to create SQL server user.

How To Create A User In SQL Server

Before starting, let me clarify that you can create 2 types of uses.

  • SQL Server Authentication Users: Authenticated by SQL Server.
  • Windows Authentication Users: Authenticated by Windows before SQL server.

Approach-1: Creating a SQL Server Authentication Users

To create a user in SQL Server, follow the steps below.

1. The first step is to create a login for our SQL Server instance using the SQL query below.

USE master;
GO
CREATE LOGIN rajusa WITH PASSWORD = 'Raj@123';

The query was executed successfully, as shown in the screenshot below.

create user sql server script

2. The next step is to create a user in that database that maps to this login using the below query.

USE Test;
GO
CREATE USER rajusa FOR LOGIN rajusa;

The command was executed successfully, as shown below.

how to create user in sql server using query

So, in the above example, we created a rajusa user.

It is very important to cross-check whether the user was created successfully. Let’s execute the query below to check that.

USE Test;
GO
SELECT name, type, type_desc FROM sys.database_principals WHERE name = 'rajusa';

After executing the above query, you can see that the user created successfully. Check out the screenshot below for your reference.

how to create sql server user

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Approach-2: Using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

Follow the below steps.

1. Connect to SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Expand the Database node and select your database, expand your selected database node.

3. Right-click on the Security folder –> Select New –> Click on the User option as shown in the below screenshot.

create user sql server management studio

4. Select the required User type. Enter the user name and the default schema, and then click the OK button, as shown in the screenshot below.

create user sql server script

Now, to cross-check if the user created successfully, we can run the query below. As shown in the screenshot below, the user created successfully.

create user sql server example

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Approach-3 Creating a Windows Authentication User

Syntax

USE DBName;
GO
CREATE USER [DOMAIN\UserName] FOR LOGIN [DOMAIN\UserName];

Example

In the example below, we created the SQLWriter user.

USE Test;
GO
CREATE USER [NT SERVICE\SQLWriter] FOR LOGIN [NT SERVICE\SQLWriter];

The query was executed successfully, as shown in the screenshot below.

how to create a user in sql server database

To ensure that the Windows user is created successfully, let us execute the select statement below. As shown in the screenshot below, the user with the type Windows_user created successfully.

how to create user sql server management studio

Conclusion

Creating users in SQL Server databases is a crucial skill for a DBA or developer working in SQL server. You can utilize the approaches mentioned above to create an SQL user.

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