GRANT Database Permissions (Transact-SQL)

Grants permissions on a database.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

GRANT <permission> [ ,...n ]  
    TO <database_principal> [ ,...n ] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ AS <database_principal> ]

<permission>::=  permission | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ]

<database_principal> ::= Database_user 
    | Database_role 
    | Application_role 
    | Database_user_mapped_to_Windows_User 
    | Database_user_mapped_to_Windows_Group 
    | Database_user_mapped_to_certificate 
    | Database_user_mapped_to_asymmetric_key 
    | Database_user_with_no_login

Arguments

• permission
  Specifies a permission that can be granted on a database. For a list of the permissions, see the Remarks section later in this topic.

• ALL
  This option does not grant all possible permissions. Granting ALL is equivalent to granting the following permissions: BACKUP DATABASE, BACKUP LOG, CREATE DATABASE, CREATE DEFAULT, CREATE FUNCTION, CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE RULE, CREATE TABLE, and CREATE VIEW.

• PRIVILEGES
  Included for ISO compliance. Does not change the behavior of ALL.

• WITH GRANT OPTION
  Indicates that the principal will also be given the ability to grant the specified permission to other principals.

• AS <database_principal>
  Specifies a principal from which the principal executing this query derives its right to grant the permission.

• Database_user
  Specifies a database user.

• Database_role
  Specifies a database role.

• Application_role
  Specifies an application role.

• Database_user_mapped_to_Windows_User
  Specifies a database user mapped to a Windows user.

• Database_user_mapped_to_Windows_Group
  Specifies a database user mapped to a Windows group.

• Database_user_mapped_to_certificate
  Specifies a database user mapped to a certificate.

• Database_user_mapped_to_asymmetric_key
  Specifies a database user mapped to an asymmetric key.

• Database_user_with_no_login
  Specifies a database user with no corresponding server-level principal.

Remarks

Important

A combination of ALTER and REFERENCE permissions in some cases could allow the grantee to view data or execute unauthorized functions. For example: A user with ALTER permission on a table and REFERENCE permission on a function can create a computed column over a function and have it be executed. In this case, the user must also have SELECT permission on the computed column.

A database is a securable contained by the server that is its parent in the permissions hierarchy. The most specific and limited permissions that can be granted on a database are listed in the following table, together with the more general permissions that include them by implication.

Database permission	Implied by database permission	Implied by server permission
ALTER	CONTROL	ALTER ANY DATABASE
ALTER ANY APPLICATION ROLE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY ASSEMBLY	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY ASYMMETRIC KEY	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY CERTIFICATE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY CONTRACT	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT	ALTER	ALTER ANY SERVER AUDIT
ALTER ANY DATABASE DDL TRIGGER	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY DATABASE EVENT NOTIFICATION	ALTER	ALTER ANY EVENT NOTIFICATION
ALTER ANY DATASPACE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY FULLTEXT CATALOG	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY MESSAGE TYPE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY REMOTE SERVICE BINDING	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY ROLE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY ROUTE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY SCHEMA	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY SERVICE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY SYMMETRIC KEY	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
ALTER ANY USER	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
AUTHENTICATE	CONTROL	AUTHENTICATE SERVER
BACKUP DATABASE	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
BACKUP LOG	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
CHECKPOINT	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
CONNECT	CONNECT REPLICATION	CONTROL SERVER
CONNECT REPLICATION	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
CONTROL	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE AGGREGATE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE ASSEMBLY	ALTER ANY ASSEMBLY	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE ASYMMETRIC KEY	ALTER ANY ASYMMETRIC KEY	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE CERTIFICATE	ALTER ANY CERTIFICATE	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE CONTRACT	ALTER ANY CONTRACT	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE DATABASE	CONTROL	CREATE ANY DATABASE
CREATE DATABASE DDL EVENT NOTIFICATION	ALTER ANY DATABASE EVENT NOTIFICATION	CREATE DDL EVENT NOTIFICATION
CREATE DEFAULT	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE FULLTEXT CATALOG	ALTER ANY FULLTEXT CATALOG	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE FUNCTION	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE MESSAGE TYPE	ALTER ANY MESSAGE TYPE	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE PROCEDURE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE QUEUE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE REMOTE SERVICE BINDING	ALTER ANY REMOTE SERVICE BINDING	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE ROLE	ALTER ANY ROLE	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE ROUTE	ALTER ANY ROUTE	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE RULE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE SCHEMA	ALTER ANY SCHEMA	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE SERVICE	ALTER ANY SERVICE	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE SYMMETRIC KEY	ALTER ANY SYMMETRIC KEY	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE SYNONYM	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE TABLE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE TYPE	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE VIEW	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
CREATE XML SCHEMA COLLECTION	ALTER	CONTROL SERVER
DELETE	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
EXECUTE	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
INSERT	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
REFERENCES	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
SELECT	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
SHOWPLAN	CONTROL	ALTER TRACE
SUBSCRIBE QUERY NOTIFICATIONS	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
TAKE OWNERSHIP	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
UPDATE	CONTROL	CONTROL SERVER
VIEW DATABASE STATE	CONTROL	VIEW SERVER STATE
VIEW DEFINITION	CONTROL	VIEW ANY DEFINITION

Permissions

The grantor (or the principal specified with the AS option) must have either the permission itself with GRANT OPTION, or a higher permission that implies the permission being granted.

If you are using the AS option, the following additional requirements apply.

AS granting_principal	Additional permission required
Database user	IMPERSONATE permission on the user, membership in the db_securityadmin fixed database role, membership in the db_owner fixed database role, or membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.
Database user mapped to a Windows login	IMPERSONATE permission on the user, membership in the db_securityadmin fixed database role, membership in the db_owner fixed database role, or membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.
Database user mapped to a Windows Group	Membership in the Windows group, membership in the db_securityadmin fixed database role, membership in the db_owner fixed database role, or membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.
Database user mapped to a certificate	Membership in the db_securityadmin fixed database role, membership in the db_owner fixed database role, or membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.
Database user mapped to an asymmetric key	Membership in the db_securityadmin fixed database role, membership in the db_owner fixed database role, or membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.
Database user not mapped to any server principal	IMPERSONATE permission on the user, membership in the db_securityadmin fixed database role, membership in the db_owner fixed database role, or membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.
Database role	ALTER permission on the role, membership in the db_securityadmin fixed database role, membership in the db_owner fixed database role, or membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.
Application role	ALTER permission on the role, membership in the db_securityadmin fixed database role, membership in the db_owner fixed database role, or membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.

Object owners can grant permissions on the objects they own. Principals that have CONTROL permission on a securable can grant permission on that securable.

Grantees of CONTROL SERVER permission, such as members of the sysadmin fixed server role, can grant any permission on any securable in the server.

Examples

A. Granting permission to create tables

The following example grants CREATE TABLE permission on the AdventureWorks database to user MelanieK.

USE AdventureWorks;
GRANT CREATE TABLE TO MelanieK;
GO

B. Granting SHOWPLAN permission to an application role

The following example grants SHOWPLAN permission on the AdventureWorks database to application role AuditMonitor.

USE AdventureWorks;
GRANT SHOWPLAN TO AuditMonitor;
GO

C. Granting CREATE VIEW with GRANT OPTION

The following example grants CREATE VIEW permission on the AdventureWorks database to user CarmineEs with the right to grant CREATE VIEW to other principals.

USE AdventureWorks;
GRANT CREATE VIEW TO CarmineEs WITH GRANT OPTION;
GO

See Also

Reference

sys.database_permissions (Transact-SQL)

sys.database_principals (Transact-SQL)

CREATE DATABASE (Transact-SQL)

GRANT (Transact-SQL)

Concepts

Permissions (Database Engine)

Principals (Database Engine)

Change History

Updated content
Added the ALTER ANY DATABASE AUDIT permission.