How to Create a New SQL Server Login – BridgeWorks Help Center

This guide explains how to create a SQL Server Authentication login in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), map it to the database it needs, and verify access before using it with VDM.

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Before You Begin

Have access to a running SQL Server instance and SSMS.
Connect with an account authorized to create logins and assign the required database permissions.
Identify the database and VDM feature that will use the login, such as reporting, MDS, or Scheduler.
Confirm the required permissions and password settings with your database administrator.

A SQL Server login authenticates to the instance. Database access is configured separately through a mapped database user and its permissions. See Microsoft’s Create a Login documentation.

This procedure creates a SQL-authenticated login. An existing approved Windows-authenticated connection may be appropriate for other VDM configurations. Follow the setup guide for the feature you are configuring.

Create the SQL Server Login

Step 1: Connect and Open Server Properties

Open SSMS and connect to the correct SQL Server instance. In Object Explorer, right-click the instance and select Properties.

Step 2: Check Authentication Mode

Open the Security page. SQL-authenticated logins require SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode, also called mixed mode.

If the instance is currently set to Windows Authentication only, have your database administrator approve and apply the change. Select OK after changing the setting.

Changing authentication mode requires a SQL Server service restart. Step 6 covers this restart; coordinate the timing because it interrupts connections. If mixed mode is already enabled, no authentication-mode change or restart is needed. See Microsoft’s Change Server Authentication Mode instructions.

Step 3: Open New Login

In Object Explorer, expand the instance’s Security folder. Right-click Logins and select New Login….

Step 4: Enter the Login Credentials

Enter a recognizable Login name.
Select SQL Server Authentication.
Enter and confirm a strong password.
Configure password policy and expiration according to your organization’s requirements.

Password settings: Do not disable Enforce password policy simply because the login will be used by a service. For unattended use, resolve any required first-login password change before configuring the application, and plan how password changes will be reflected in saved connections. The screenshot shows an example; use the password settings approved for your environment.

Step 5: Map the Login to the Required Database

Select User Mapping.
Select the database the application needs to access.
Assign the database roles or specific permissions required by that workflow.
Select OK to create the login and save the mapping.

Important: The screenshot illustrates the User Mapping page. Its selected database and roles are not a permission template for every VDM login. Do not automatically map the login to master or grant broad roles there.

Role	What It Allows
`db_datareader`	Reading data from all user tables and views in the database.
`db_datawriter`	Adding, changing, and deleting data in all user tables.
`db_owner`	Full database administration, including the ability to drop the database.
`db_securityadmin`	Managing custom role membership and database permissions.

Assign only the permissions required for the intended work. Broad read or write access may also be unnecessary when access to specific objects is sufficient. See Microsoft’s Database-Level Roles reference.

For Scheduler: Map the login to the actual Scheduler database and follow the database permission requirements in the VDM Scheduler Setup and Configuration Guide.

For MDS: Follow Setting Up Multiple Data Sources (MDS) in VDM and have your database administrator confirm the authentication method and permissions for that configuration.

Step 6: Restart SQL Server If Authentication Mode Changed

If you changed authentication mode in Step 2, restart the SQL Server service at the agreed time. In SSMS, right-click the instance and select Restart, then confirm when prompted.

A restart is not required simply to create a new login. Reconnect to the instance after the restart if necessary.

Step 7: Test the Login and Database Access

Open a new SSMS connection to the same instance. Select SQL Server Authentication and enter the new login name and password.

After connecting, verify access to the intended database and the operations the application requires. A successful sign-in confirms authentication; it does not by itself prove that the login has all necessary database permissions.

Use the Login with VDM

For a reporting connection, continue with How to Create a Database Connection Profile in VDM.
For Scheduler or MDS, complete the corresponding setup guide linked above.
Test the VDM connection and the intended report or job before relying on the new login.

The SQL login provides database access. The Windows account running the Scheduler Service controls access to Views, export folders, and other Windows resources; configure that account separately.

Need Help?

Ask your database administrator to review authentication and permission issues. For VDM configuration assistance, contact support@bridgeworksllc.com with your VDM version, the feature you are configuring, and the error message. Do not include passwords.