Table of Contents

How to Create Logins in SQL Server with Examples?

Creating logins in SQL Server is a crucial step in database security. A login is used to grant access to a database instance or a specific database for a user or a group of users. In this post, we’ll discuss how to create logins in SQL Server with examples.

Creating a SQL Server Login

To create a SQL Server login, follow these steps:

Open SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to the SQL Server instance where you want to create the login.
Expand the “Security” folder in Object Explorer, right-click on the “Logins” folder, and select “New Login.”
In the “General” page of the New Login dialog box, enter the name for the login.
Select the authentication method for the login. SQL Server provides two authentication methods: Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication.
If you select SQL Server Authentication, enter a strong password for the login.
In the “Server Roles” page, select the appropriate server roles for the login. Server roles control the permissions assigned to the login at the server level.
In the “User Mapping” page, select the databases for which you want to grant access to the login. You can also assign the appropriate database roles to the login.
Click “OK” to create the login.

Alternatively, you can use the following T-SQL command to create a SQL Server login:

CREATE LOGIN [LoginName] WITH PASSWORD = ‘strong_password’;

This command creates a SQL Server login with the specified name and password.

Creating a Windows Login

To create a Windows login, follow these steps:

Open SSMS and connect to the SQL Server instance where you want to create the login.
Expand the “Security” folder in Object Explorer, right-click on the “Logins” folder, and select “New Login.”
In the “General” page of the New Login dialog box, enter the name for the login.
Select “Windows Authentication” as the authentication method for the login.
In the “Server Roles” page, select the appropriate server roles for the login. Server roles control the permissions assigned to the login at the server level.
In the “User Mapping” page, select the databases for which you want to grant access to the login. You can also assign the appropriate database roles to the login.
Click “OK” to create the login.

Alternatively, you can use the following T-SQL command to create a Windows login:

CREATE LOGIN [Domain\UserName] FROM WINDOWS;

This command creates a Windows login for the specified domain and username.

Creating a Login from a Certificate

To create a login from a certificate, follow these steps:

Create a certificate in the master database using the CREATE CERTIFICATE statement.
Create a login associated with the certificate using the CREATE LOGIN statement.

Here’s an example:

USE master;
CREATE CERTIFICATE MyCertificate WITH SUBJECT = ‘My Certificate’;

CREATE LOGIN MyLogin FROM CERTIFICATE MyCertificate;

This command creates a certificate with the name “MyCertificate” and creates a login associated with the certificate with the name “MyLogin.”

In conclusion, creating logins in SQL Server is an important aspect of database security. With the above examples, you can create different types of logins in SQL Server and control the permissions assigned to them.

FAQs about Creating Logins in SQL Server

What are the authentication methods available when creating a SQL Server login?
When creating a SQL Server login, you can choose between two authentication methods: Windows Authentication and SQL Server Authentication. Windows Authentication uses the Windows user account to authenticate, while SQL Server Authentication requires a username and password specific to SQL Server.
How can I create a SQL Server login using T-SQL commands?
To create a SQL Server login using T-SQL commands, you can use the following syntax:
CREATE LOGIN [LoginName] WITH PASSWORD = ‘strong_password’;
Replace [LoginName] with the desired login name and specify a strong password for the login.