# rpk security user

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [cloud-data-platform-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform-full.txt)

---
title: rpk security user
latest-operator-version: v26.2.1
latest-console-tag: v3.10.0
latest-connect-version: 4.105.0
latest-redpanda-tag: v26.2.1
docname: rpk/rpk-security/rpk-security-user
page-component-name: cloud-data-platform
page-version: master
page-component-version: master
page-component-title: Cloud
page-relative-src-path: rpk/rpk-security/rpk-security-user.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/cloud-docs/edit/main/modules/reference/pages/rpk/rpk-security/rpk-security-user.adoc
description: Manage SASL users. If SASL is enabled, a SASL user is what you use to talk to Redpanda, and ACLs control what your user has access to.
page-git-created-date: "2024-07-25"
page-git-modified-date: "2026-08-11"
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform/reference/rpk/rpk-security/rpk-security-user.md -->

Manage SASL users.

If SASL is enabled, a SASL user is what you use to talk to Redpanda, and ACLs control what your user has access to. See `rpk security acl --help` for more information about ACLs, and `rpk security acl user create --help` for more information about creating SASL users. Using SASL requires setting "enable\_sasl: true" in the redpanda section of your `redpanda.yaml`.

## [](#usage)Usage

```bash
rpk security user [flags]
```

## [](#subcommands)Subcommands

| Command | Description |
| --- | --- |
| rpk security user create | Create a SASL user. This command creates a single SASL user with the given password, optionally with a custom mechanism. |
| rpk security user delete | Delete a SASL user. This command deletes the specified SASL account from Redpanda. |
| rpk security user list | List SASL users. |
| rpk security user update | Update SASL user credentials. |

## [](#flags)Flags

| Value | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| --format | string | Output format (json,yaml,text,wide,help). |

## [](#global-flags)Global flags

| Value | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| --config | string | Redpanda or rpk config file; default search paths are ~/.config/rpk/rpk.yaml, $PWD/redpanda.yaml, and /etc/redpanda/redpanda.yaml. |
| -X, --config-opt | stringArray | Override rpk configuration settings; -X help for detail or -X list for terser detail. |
| --ignore-profile | bool | Ignore rpk.yaml and redpanda.yaml; use default settings. |
| --profile | string | rpk profile to use. |
| -v, --verbose | bool | Enable verbose logging. |