Privileges for using ArcGIS with a SQL Server database

Privileges determine what a user is authorized to do with the data and the database. Assign privileges based on the type of work the person does within the organization.

As a Microsoft SQL Server database administrator, you create roles based on what users need to do in the database, grant privileges to the roles, and add the appropriate user accounts to each role. The minimum required privileges for common types of users for which you would create roles are listed below: data viewers, data editors, and data creators.

These privileges apply to using ArcGIS with a SQL Server database or one of the supported SQL Server database service offerings. If you need to know the privileges required to use a geodatabase, see Privileges for geodatabases in SQL Server.

The following table lists three groups of users and the minimum privileges they require to query, edit, or create data from ArcGIS.

Type of user	Required privileges	Purpose
Data viewer	CONNECT	This privilege allows users to connect to the database. The CONNECT privilege is granted on databases to the public database role by default. If you revoke this privilege from public, you must explicitly grant CONNECT on databases to specific roles or logins.
	SELECT on other users' tables	Data viewers must have the SELECT privilege on specific tables you want them to query. If allowed to read all tables in the database, you can assign users to the db_datareader database role; otherwise, grant SELECT on specific tables and views.
Data editor* Data editors require the same privileges as data viewers, plus these additional privileges.	INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE on other users' tables	Grant the editing operations you want editors to perform on specific tables. You can grant any combination of INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE privileges depending on what editors need to do. Therefore, you can create multiple editor groups and grant the appropriate privileges to each. For example, you can have a full_edit group that has all three privileges plus SELECT on the tables group members need to edit and an updates_only group that has only SELECT and UPDATE privileges on the tables members need to edit.
Data creator	CONNECT	This privilege allows users to connect to the database. The CONNECT privilege is granted on databases to the public database role by default. If you revoke this privilege from public, you must explicitly grant CONNECT on databases to specific roles or logins.
	CREATE TABLE CREATE INDEX Each user must own or have CONTROL permission on a schema that has the same name as their username, and the schema must be the user's default schema. You cannot use a single schema for all data creators. Schema names must match individual usernames. You cannot use a single schema for all data creators. For example, the username ruth must own or control a schema named ruth. If this requirement is not met, the user cannot use ArcGIS to create objects in the database.	These privileges allow data creators to create tables and feature classes.

*To edit data, publish editable web feature layers that reference the data in your SQL Server database.

If data creators at your site need to create views, grant them the CREATE VIEW permission. If you require that data creators be able to delete the objects they create, grant them the following additional privileges:

• DROP VIEW
• DROP TABLE
• DROP INDEX

Tip:

ArcGIS Insights may require additional privileges. See Required database privileges in the ArcGIS Insights help for more information.