Finding List Users In SQL Server Database

When we work in the SQL Server database, maintaining and securing our data becomes crucial. There are various situations where database administrators need to list users in SQL Server to track any suspicious changes. There are numerous scenarios where the verification of users in the SQL Server database is necessary. 

Here, we will discuss these situations and the methods for finding the users in the SQL Server database. 

Why Is It Required to Verify and List Users in SQL Server?

There are many situations in which it becomes important to know how to find user in SQL Server. We have mentioned a few of these situations here:

For Monitoring the Users’ Actions

With the list of users, it becomes convenient for the database administrators to monitor the operations performed by the users. Additionally, with the list of users in hand, the database administrators can keep track of how many users are there on a specific database. 

During Migration Operations

When a SQL Server database is migrated from one server to another server, it is crucial to have a list of users to ensure all the users are migrated during the database migration.

Performance Analysis

While analyzing the database performance, with the methods to list users in SQL Server, it can be tracked which user is putting more load on the server. With this analysis, the database performance can be monitored and improved. 

After Disaster Recovery
In case of database recovery after unexpected errors and disasters, knowing the database’s users can help ensure the necessary access to the database. 

In all these situations, knowing how to find user in SQL Server is necessary. Various methods can help find users in the SQL Database. We will discuss and understand these solutions to ensure efficient results. 

Solutions To List Users In SQL Server

There are different methods that can help to find the list of users in the SQL Server Database. Each method has its own functionality and a way of resolving the issue and displaying all the users of a database. Here we will discuss these methods and help the users get the desired results. Beginning with the first method, let’s understand how it works.

Method – 1: With the Help of sys.database_principals Command

One of the methods that can resolve the how to find user in SQL Server issue is with the help of the sys.database_principals command. Let’s take a look at how to implement this command and resolve the query.

SELECT name, type, type_desc, create_date, modify_date

FROM sys.database_principals

WHERE type IN (‘S’, ‘U’, ‘G’, ‘E’, ‘X’)

ORDER BY name;

The command here will help you to get the following details about the users in the SQL Database:

• The name of the database principals(user).
• An individual letter code specifying the type of principal.
  • S: SQL User 
  • U: Windows User
  • G: Windows Group
  • E: External User
  • X: External Group
• The description of the database principal.
• The date of creation of the database principal.
• The date of the last modification of the database principal.

Method – 2: List Users in SQL Server With the Help of SSMS

With the help of SQL Server Management Studio, a user can check the users list in the SQL Server. We will now see how this method is implemented and how it helps. The steps to using SSMS are as follows:

1. Firstly open SSMS and connect it to the SQL Server Instance.
2. Next, go to the database and right-click on the desired database.
3. Select the Security option and then find the Users option.
4. Right-click on the Users option and view the desired users list in the database.

By following these steps, you can check the list of users in the SQL Server database. This is how the SQL Server Management Studio helps the users with how to find user in SQL Server issue. Moving on to the next method now, let’s see how it will display the users in the SQL Server database. 

Method – 3: Using the Automated Solution

Here we are going to use an expert solution to list users in SQL Server. With the automated solution, the whole process of finding the users becomes more simplified and safe. The solution we are talking about is the SQL Password Recovery Tool. This tool will help the database administrators retrieve the list of users in the database along with their password status. 

So, moving on to the steps, let’s see how the tool helps with resolving this issue.

1. Install and launch the software.
2. Click on the browse tab to add the database file(.mdf) to the software.
3. After a scan, you will get the list of the users in the selected SQL database.

** Additionally, you can check if the provided users have a password set on their logins or not.

With the help of this solution, you can efficiently check and get the users working on a specific database. All the solutions we have mentioned here will help you get the solution to how to find user in SQL Server database. 

Conclusion

For different purposes and conditions, it sometimes becomes necessary for the database administrators to list users in SQL Server. To efficiently do that without risking the users’ data, we have discussed the same situation here. We have also explained different solutions that will help the users with fetching the users’ list.