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SUSER_SID (Transact-SQL)

Returns the security identification number (SID) for the specified login name.

Topic link iconTransact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

SUSER_SID ( [ 'login' ] [ , Param2 ] )

Arguments

  • 'login'
    Is the login name of the user. login is sysname. login, which is optional, can be a SQL Server login or Microsoft Windows user or group. If login is not specified, information about the current security context is returned. If contains the word NULL, will return NULL.

  • Param2
    Specifies whether the login name is validated. Param2 is of type int and is optional. When Param2 is 0, the login name is not validated. When Param2 is not specified as 0, the Windows login name is verified to be exactly the same as the login name stored in SQL Server.

Return Types

varbinary(85)

Remarks

SUSER_SID can be used as a DEFAULT constraint in either ALTER TABLE or CREATE TABLE. SUSER_SID can be used in a select list, in a WHERE clause, and anywhere an expression is allowed. SUSER_SID must always be followed by parentheses, even if no parameter is specified.

When called without an argument, SUSER_SID returns the SID of the current security context. When called without an argument within a batch that has switched context by using EXECUTE AS, SUSER_SID returns the SID of the impersonated context. When called from an impersonated context, SUSER_SID(ORIGINAL_LOGIN()) returns the SID of the original context.

When the SQL Server collation and the Windows collation are different, SUSER_SID can fail when SQL Server and Windows store the login in a different format. For example, if the Windows computer TestComputer has the login User and SQL Server stores the login as TESTCOMPUTER\User, the lookup of the login TestComputer\User might fail to resolve the login name correctly. To skip this validation of the login name, use Param2. Differing collations is often a cause of SQL Server error 15401:

Windows NT user or group '%s' not found. Check the name again.

Examples

A. Using SUSER_SID

The following example returns the security identification number for the SQL Server sa login.

SELECT SUSER_SID('sa');
GO

B. Using SUSER_SID with a Windows user name

The following example returns the security identification number for the Windows user London\Workstation1.

SELECT SUSER_SID('London\Workstation1');
GO

C. Using SUSER_SID as a DEFAULT constraint

The following example uses SUSER_SID as a DEFAULT constraint in a CREATE TABLE statement.

USE AdventureWorks2008R2;
GO
CREATE TABLE sid_example
(
login_sid   varbinary(85) DEFAULT SUSER_SID(),
login_name  varchar(30) DEFAULT SYSTEM_USER,
login_dept  varchar(10) DEFAULT 'SALES',
login_date  datetime DEFAULT GETDATE()
) 
GO
INSERT sid_example DEFAULT VALUES
GO

D. Comparing the Windows login name to the login name stored in SQL Server

The following example shows how to use Param2 to obtain the SID from Windows and uses that SID as an input to the SUSER_SNAME function. The example provides the login in the format in which it is stored in Windows (TestComputer\User), and returns the login in the format in which it is stored in SQL Server (TESTCOMPUTER\User).

SELECT SUSER_SNAME(SUSER_SID('TestComputer\User', 0)) ;