Account permissions and security settings in SharePoint Servers

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This article describes SharePoint administrative and services account permissions for the following areas: Microsoft SQL Server, the file system, file shares, and registry entries.

Important

Do not use service account names that contain the symbol $ with the exception of using a Group Managed Service Account for SQL Server.

Learn more about SharePoint admin role in Microsoft 365.

About account permissions and security settings in SharePoint Servers

The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard (Psconfig) and the Farm Configuration Wizard, both of which are run during a complete installation, configure many of the SharePoint baseline account permissions and security settings.

Service account recommendations

The following sections describe recommendations on SharePoint Service accounts.

Service account recommendations

Microsoft recommends using a minimal number of Service Application Pool accounts in the farm. This recommendation is to reduce memory usage and increase performance while maintaining the appropriate level of security.

  • Use an elevated, personally identifiable account for SharePoint installation, maintenance, and upgrades. This account will hold the roles required as outlined in SharePoint Farm Administrator account. Each SharePoint admin should use a separate account so that their activity performed on the farm is clearly identified.

  • If possible, use a security group, SharePoint Farm Administrators Groups, to unify all individual SharePoint Farm Administrator accounts and to grant permissions as outlined in SharePoint Farm Administrator account. This usage of a security group simplifies the management of the SharePoint Farm Administrator accounts significantly.

  • The SharePoint Farm Service account should only run the SharePoint Timer service, SharePoint Insights (if applicable), the IIS Application Pools for Central Administration, SharePoint Web Services System (used for the topology service), and SecurityTokenServiceApplicationPool (used for the Security Token Service).

  • A single account should be used for all Service Applications, named Service Application Pool account. This usage of a single account allows the administrator to use a single IIS Application Pool for all Service Applications. In addition, this account should run the following Windows Services: SharePoint Search Host Controller, SharePoint Server Search, and Distributed Cache (AppFabric Caching Service).

  • A single account should be used for all Web Applications, named Web Application pool account. This usage of a single account allows the administrator to use a single IIS Application Pool for all Web Applications, except the Central Administration Web Application which is run by the SharePoint farm service account.

  • Except for the Claims to Windows Token Service account, no Service Application Pool account should have Local Administrator access to any SharePoint server, nor any elevated SQL Server role, for example, the sysadmin fixed role. The SharePoint Farm Administrator account will require the dbcreator and securityadmin fixed roles unless you pre-provision SharePoint databases and manually assign permissions to each database.

  • Service Application Pool accounts, except for the account running the Claims to Windows Token Service, should have Deny logon locally and Deny logon through Remote Desktop Services in the Local Security Policy\User Rights Assignment. These values are set via secpol.msc.

  • Use separate accounts for Content access (Search crawler), Portal Super Reader, Portal Super User, and User Profile Service Application Synchronization, if applicable.

  • The Claims to Windows Token Service account is a highly privileged account on the farm. Prior to deploying this service, verify if it's required. If necessary, use a separate account for this service.

Service accounts recommendations overview

Service account name What is it used for? How many should be used?
SharePoint Farm Administrator account Personally identifiable account for a SharePoint admin 1-n
SharePoint Farm Service account Timer Service, Insights, IIS App for CA, SP Web Services System, Security Token Service App Pool 1
Default content access account Search crawling internal and external sources 1
Content access accounts Search crawling internal and external sources 1-n
Web Application Pool account All Web Applications without Central Administration 1
SharePoint Service Application Pool account All Service Applications 1
Portal Super Reader Object caching 1
Portal Super User Object caching 1
User Profile Service Application Synchronization Used for Active Directory Import 1-n

SharePoint administrative accounts

One of the following SharePoint components automatically configures most of the SharePoint administrative account permissions during the setup process:

  • The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard (Psconfig).

  • The Farm Configuration Wizard.

  • The SharePoint Central Administration website.

  • Microsoft PowerShell.

SharePoint Farm Administrator account

This account is used to set up each server in your farm by running the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard (Psconfig), the initial Farm Configuration Wizard, and PowerShell. For the examples in this article, the SharePoint Farm Administrator account is used for farm administration, and you can use Central Administration to manage it. Some configuration options, for example, configuration of the SharePoint Server Search query server, require local administration permissions. The SharePoint Farm Administrator account has the following requirements:

  • It must have domain user account permissions.

  • It must be a member of the local Administrators group on each server in the SharePoint farm.

  • This account must have access to the SharePoint databases.

  • If you use any PowerShell operations that affect a database, the SharePoint Farm Administrator account must be a member of the db_owner role.

  • This account must be assigned to the securityadmin and dbcreator SQL Server security roles during setup and configuration.

Note

The securityadmin and dbcreator SQL Server security roles might be required for this account during a complete version-to-version upgrade because new databases might have to be created and secured for services.

After you run the configuration wizards, machine-level permissions for the SharePoint Farm Administrator account include:

  • Membership in the WSS_ADMIN_WPG Windows security group.

After you run the configuration wizards, database permissions include:

  • db_owner on the SharePoint server farm configuration database.

  • db_owner on the SharePoint Central Administration content database.

Caution

If the account that you use to run the configuration wizards doesn't have the appropriate special SQL Server role membership or access as db_owner on the databases, the configuration wizards won't run correctly.

SharePoint Farm Service account

The SharePoint Farm service account, which is also referred to as the database access account, is used as the application pool identity for Central Administration and as the process account for the SharePoint Timer Service. The server farm account has the following requirement:

  • It must have domain user account permissions.

Extra permissions are automatically granted to the SharePoint Farm Service account on SharePoint servers that are joined to a server farm.

After you run Setup, machine-level permissions include:

  • Membership in the WSS_ADMIN_WPG Windows security group for the SharePoint Timer Service.

  • Membership in WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG for the Central Administration and Timer service application pools.

  • Membership in WSS_WPG for the Central Administration application pool.

After you run the configuration wizards, SQL Server and database permissions include:

  • Dbcreator fixed server role.

  • Securityadmin fixed server role.

  • db_owner for all SharePoint databases.

  • Membership in the WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS role for the SharePoint server farm configuration database.

  • Membership in the WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS role for the SharePoint_Admin content database.

SharePoint Application Pool accounts

This section describes the SharePoint Application Pool accounts that are set up by default during installation.

Default content access account

The default content access account is used within a specific service application to crawl content, unless a different authentication method is specified by a crawl rule for a URL or URL pattern. This account requires the following permission configuration settings:

  • The default content access account must be a domain user account that has read access to external or secure content sources that you want to crawl by using this account.

  • For SharePoint Server sites that aren't part of the server farm, you have to explicitly grant this account full read permission to the Web Applications that host the sites.

  • This account must not be a member of the Farm Administrators group.

Content access accounts

Content access accounts are configured to access content by using the Search administration crawl rules feature. This type of account is optional, and you can configure it when you create a new crawl rule. For example, external content (such as a file share) might require this separate content access account. This account requires the following permission configuration settings:

  • The content access account must have read access to external or secure content sources that this account is configured to access.

  • For SharePoint Server sites that aren't part of the server farm, you have to explicitly grant this account full read permission to the Web Applications that host the sites.

Web Application Pool account

The Web Application Pool account must be a domain user account. This account must not be a member of the Farm Administrators group.

This account should be used for all Web Applications without Central Administration.

The following machine-level permission is configured automatically:

  • This account is a member of WSS_WPG.

The following SQL Server and database permissions are configured automatically:

  • This account is assigned to the WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS role that is associated with the farm configuration database.

  • This account is assigned to the WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS role that is associated with the SharePoint Admin content database.

  • The application pool accounts for Web Applications are assigned to the SPDataAccess role for the content databases.

SharePoint Service Application Pool account

The SharePoint Service Application Pool account must be a domain user account. This account must not be a member of the Administrators group on any computer in the server farm.

The following machine-level permission is configured automatically:

  • This account is a member of WSS_WPG.

The following SQL Server and database requirements/permissions are configured automatically:

  • This account is assigned to the SPDataAccess role for the content databases.

  • This account is assigned to the SPDataAccess role for a search database that is associated with the Web Application.

  • This account must have read and write access to the associated service application database.

  • This account is assigned to the WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS role that is associated with the farm configuration database.

  • This account is assigned to the WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS role that is associated with the SharePoint_Admin content database.

SharePoint database roles

This section describes the database roles that installation sets up by default or that you can configure optionally.

WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS database role

The WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS database role applies to the application pool account for each Web Application that is registered in a SharePoint farm. This role applicability enables Web Applications to query and update the site map and have read-only access to other items in the configuration database. Setup assigns the WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS role to the following databases:

  • The SharePoint Config database (the configuration database)

  • The SharePoint Admin Content database

Members of the WSS_CONTENT_APPLICATION_POOLS role have the execute permission for a subset of the stored procedures for the database. In addition, members of this role have the select permission to the Versions table (dbo.Versions) in the SharePoint_AdminContent database. For other databases, the accounts planning tool indicates that access to read these databases is automatically configured. In some cases, limited access to write to a database is also automatically configured. To provide this access, permissions for stored procedures are configured.

SharePoint_SHELL_ACCESS database role

The secure SharePoint_SHELL_ACCESS database role on the configuration database replaces the need to add an administration account as a db_owner on the configuration database. By default, the setup account is assigned to the SharePoint_SHELL_ACCESS database role. You can use a PowerShell command to grant or remove memberships to this role. Setup assigns the SharePoint_SHELL_ACCESS role to the following databases:

  • The SharePoint_Config database (the configuration database).

  • One or more of the SharePoint Content databases. This database is configurable by using the PowerShell command that manages membership and the object that is assigned to this role.

Members of the SharePoint_SHELL_ACCESS role have the execute permission for all stored procedures for the database. In addition, members of this role have the read and write permissions on all the database tables.

SPREADONLY database role

The SPREADONLY role should be used for setting the database to read-only mode instead of using sp_dboption. This role as its name suggests should be used when only read access is required for usage and telemetry data.

Note

The sp_dboption stored procedure isn't available in SQL Server 2012. For more information about sp_dboption, see sp_dboption (Transact-SQL).

The SPREADONLY SQL role will have the following permissions:

  • Grant SELECT on all SharePoint stored procedures and functions.

  • Grant SELECT on all SharePoint tables.

  • Grant EXECUTE on user-defined types where schema is dbo.

SPDataAccess database role

The SPDataAccess role is the default role for database access and should be used for all object model-level access to databases. Add the application pool account to this role during upgrades or new deployments.

Note

The SPDataAccess role replaced the db_owner role in SharePoint Server 2016.

The SPDataAccess role will have the following permissions:

  • Grant EXECUTE or SELECT on all SharePoint stored procedures and functions.

  • Grant SELECT on all SharePoint tables.

  • Grant EXECUTE on user-defined types where schema is dbo.

  • Grant INSERT on AllUserDataJunctions table.

  • Grant UPDATE on Sites view.

  • Grant UPDATE on UserData view.

  • Grant UPDATE on AllUserData table.

  • Grant INSERT and DELETE on NameValuePair tables.

  • Grant create table permission.

Group permissions

This section describes the permissions of groups that the SharePoint Servers 2016 and 2019 setup and configuration tools create.

WSS_ADMIN_WPG

WSS_ADMIN_WPG has read and write access to local resources. The application pool accounts for the Central Administration and Timer services are in WSS_ADMIN_WPG. The following table shows the WSS_ADMIN_WPG registry entry permissions:

Note

SharePoint 2013 uses the registry path "15.0" instead of "16.0" and file system path "15" instead of "16". Some paths listed in the subsequent tables don't apply to SharePoint Foundation 2013.

Key name Permissions Inherit Description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS Full control Not applicable Not applicable
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Registration{90150000-110D-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE} Read, write Not applicable Not applicable
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server Read No This key is the root of the SharePoint Server registry settings tree. If this key is altered, SharePoint Server functionality will fail.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0 Full control No This key is the root of the SharePoint Server 2016 registry settings.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\LoadBalancerSettings Read, write No This key contains settings for the document conversion service. Altering this key will break document conversion functionality.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\LauncherSettings Read, write No This key contains settings for the document conversion service. Altering this key will break document conversion functionality.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\Search Full control Not applicable Not applicable
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\Search Full control Not applicable Not applicable
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\Secure Full control No This key contains the connection string and the ID of the configuration database to which the machine is joined. If this key is altered, the SharePoint Server installation on the machine won't function.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\WSS Full control Yes This key contains settings used during setup. If this key is altered, diagnostic logging might fail, and setup or post-setup configuration might fail.

The following table shows the WSS_ADMIN_WPG file system permissions.

File system path Permissions Inherit Description
%AllUsersProfile%\ Microsoft\SharePoint Full control No This directory contains the file-system-backed cache of the farm configuration. If this directory is altered or deleted, processes might fail to start, and the administrative actions might fail.
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss Full control No This directory (or the corresponding directory under the Inetpub root on the server) is used as the default location for IIS Websites. If this directory is altered or deleted, SharePoint sites will be unavailable, and administrative actions might fail, unless custom IIS Website paths are provided for all IIS Websites extended with SharePoint Server.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0 Full control No This directory is the installation location for SharePoint Server 2016 binaries and data. The directory can be changed during installation. If this directory is removed, altered, or removed after installation, all SharePoint Server functionalities will fail. Membership in the WSS_ADMIN_WPG Windows security group is required for some SharePoint Server services to be able to store data on the disk.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\WebServices Read, write No This directory is the root directory where back-end Web services are hosted, for example, Excel and Search. If this directory is removed or altered, the SharePoint Server features that depend on these services will fail.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\Data Full control No This directory is the root location where local data is stored, including search indexes. If this directory is removed or altered, the Search functionality will fail. WSS_ADMIN_WPG Windows security group permissions are required to enable the Search functionality to save and secure data in this folder.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\Logs Full control Yes This directory is the location where the runtime diagnostic logging is generated. If this directory is removed or altered, the Logging functionality won't function properly.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\Data\Office Server Full control Yes Same as the parent folder.
%windir%\System32\drivers\etc\HOSTS Read, write Not applicable Not applicable
%windir%\Tasks Full control Not applicable Not applicable
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16 Modify Yes This directory is the installation directory for core SharePoint Server files. If the access control list (ACL) is modified, feature activation, solution deployment, and other features won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ADMISAPI Full control Yes This directory contains the SOAP services for Central Administration. If this directory is altered, remote site creation and other methods exposed in the service won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\CONFIG Full control Yes This directory contains files used to extend IIS Websites with SharePoint Server. If this directory or its contents are altered, Web Application provisioning won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\LOGS Full control No This directory contains setup and runtime tracing logs. If the directory is altered, diagnostic logging won't function correctly.
%windir%\temp Full control Yes This directory is used by platform components on which SharePoint Server depends. If the ACL is modified, Web Part rendering and other deserialization operations might fail.
%windir%\System32\logfiles\SharePoint Full control No This directory is used by SharePoint Server usage logging. If this directory is modified, usage logging won't function correctly. This registry key applies only to SharePoint Server.
%systemdrive\program files\Microsoft Office Servers\16 folder on Index servers Full control Not applicable This permission is granted for a %systemdrive\program files\Microsoft Office Servers\16 folder on Index servers.

WSS_WPG

WSS_WPG has read access to local resources. All application pool and services accounts are in WSS_WPG. The following table shows WSS_WPG registry entry permissions:

Key name Permissions Inherit Description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0 Read No This key is the root of the SharePoint Server registry settings.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\Diagnostics Read, write No This key contains settings for the SharePoint Server diagnostic logging. If this key is altered, the Logging functionality will break.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\LoadBalancerSettings Read, write No This key contains settings for the document conversion service. If this key is altered, the document conversion functionality will break.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\LauncherSettings Read, write No This key contains settings for the document conversion service. If this key is altered, the document conversion functionality will break.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\Secure Read No This key contains the connection string and the ID of the configuration database to which the machine is joined. If this key is altered, the SharePoint Server 2016 installation on the machine won't function.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\WSS Read Yes This key contains settings that are used during setup. If this key is altered, diagnostic logging might fail and setup or post-setup configuration might fail.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurePipeServers\winreg Read No This key contains settings that control remote access to the registry.

The following table shows the WSS_WPG file system permissions:

File system path Permissions Inherit Description
%AllUsersProfile%\ Microsoft\SharePoint Read No This directory contains the file-system-backed cache of the farm configuration. If this directory is altered or deleted, processes might fail to start and the administrative actions might fail.
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss Read, execute No This directory (or the corresponding directory under the Inetpub root on the server) is used as the default location for IIS Websites. If this directory is altered or deleted, SharePoint sites will be unavailable and administrative actions might fail, unless custom IIS Website paths are provided for all IIS Websites extended with SharePoint Server.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0 Read, execute No This directory is the installation location for the SharePoint Server binaries and data. It can be changed during installation. If this directory is removed, altered, or moved after installation, all SharePoint Server functionalities will fail. WSS_WPG read and execute permissions are required to enable IIS Websites to load SharePoint Server binaries.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\WebServices Read No This directory is the root directory where back-end Web services are hosted, for example, Excel and Search. If this directory is removed or altered, the SharePoint Server features that depend on these services will fail.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\Logs Read, write Yes This directory is the location where the runtime diagnostic logging is generated. If this directory is removed or altered, the Logging functionality won't function properly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ADMISAPI Read Yes This directory contains the SOAP services for Central Administration. If this directory is altered, remote site creation and other methods exposed in the service won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\CONFIG Read Yes This directory contains files used to extend IIS Websites with SharePoint Server. If this directory or its contents are altered, Web Application provisioning won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\LOGS Modify No This directory contains setup and runtime tracing logs. If the directory is altered, diagnostic logging won't function correctly.
%windir%\temp Read Yes This directory is used by platform components on which SharePoint Server depends. If the ACL is modified, Web Part rendering and other deserialization operations might fail.
%windir%\System32\logfiles\SharePoint Read No This directory is used by SharePoint Server usage logging. If this directory is modified, usage logging won't function correctly. The registry key applies only to SharePoint Server.
%systemdrive\program files\Microsoft Office Servers\16 Read, execute Not applicable The permission is granted for %systemdrive\program files\Microsoft Office Servers\16 folder on Index servers.

Local service

The following table shows the local service registry entry permission:

Key name Permissions Inherit Description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\LoadBalancerSettings Read No This key contains settings for the document conversion service. If this key is altered, the document conversion functionality will break.

The following table shows the local service file system permission:

File system path Permissions Inherit Description
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\Bin Read, execute No This directory is the installed location of the SharePoint Server binaries. If this directory is removed or altered, all the SharePoint Server functionalities will fail.

Local system

The following table shows the local system registry entry permissions:

Key name Permissions Inherit Description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\LauncherSettings Read No This key contains settings for the document conversion service. If this key is altered, the document conversion functionality will break. This registry key applies only to SharePoint Server.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\Secure Full control No This key contains the connection string and the ID of the configuration database to which the machine is joined. If this key is altered, the SharePoint Server installation on the machine won't function.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\Secure\FarmAdmin Full control No This key contains the encryption key that is used to store secrets in the configuration database. If this key is altered, service provisioning and other features will fail.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\WSS Full control Yes This key contains settings that are used during setup. If this key is altered, diagnostic logging might fail and setup or post-setup configuration might fail.

The following table shows the local file system permissions:

File system path Permissions Inherit Description
%AllUsersProfile%\ Microsoft\SharePoint Full control No This directory contains the file-system-backed cache of the farm configuration. If this directory is altered or deleted, processes might fail to start and administrative actions might fail.
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss Full control No This directory (or the corresponding directory under the Inetpub root on the server) is used as the default location for IIS Websites. If this directory is altered or deleted, SharePoint sites will be unavailable and administrative actions might fail, unless custom IIS Website paths are provided for all IIS Websites extended with SharePoint Server.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ADMISAPI Full control Yes This directory contains the SOAP services for Central Administration. If this directory is altered, remote site creation and other methods exposed in the service won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\CONFIG Full control Yes This directory contains configuration files used to provision Web applications and service applications. If this directory or its contents are altered, Web Application provisioning won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\LOGS Full control No This directory contains setup and runtime tracing logs. If this directory is altered, diagnostic logging won't function correctly.
%windir%\temp Full control Yes This directory is used by platform components on which SharePoint Server depends. If the ACL is modified, Web Part rendering and other deserialization operations might fail.
%windir%\System32\logfiles\SharePoint Full control No This directory is used by SharePoint Server for usage logging. If this directory is modified, usage logging won't function correctly. This registry key applies only to SharePoint Server.

Network service

The following table shows the network service registry entry permission:

Key name Permissions Inherit Description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office Server\16.0\Search\Setup Read Not applicable Not applicable

Administrators

The following table shows the administrators registry entry permissions:

Key name Permissions Inherit Description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\Secure Full control No This key contains the connection string and the ID of the configuration database to which the machine is joined. If this key is altered, the SharePoint Server installation on the machine won't function.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\Secure\FarmAdmin Full control No This key contains the encryption key that is used to store secrets in the configuration database. If this key is altered, service provisioning and other features will fail.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\WSS Full control Yes This key contains settings that are used during setup. If this key is altered, diagnostic logging might fail and setup or post-setup configuration might fail.

The following table shows the administrators file system permissions:

File system path Permissions Inherit Description
%AllUsersProfile%\ Microsoft\SharePoint Full control No This directory contains the file-system-backed cache of the farm configuration. If this directory is altered or deleted, processes might fail to start and administrative actions might fail.
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wss Full Control No This directory (or the corresponding directory under the Inetpub root on the server) is used as the default location for IIS Websites. If this directory is altered or deleted, SharePoint sites will be unavailable and administrative actions might fail, unless custom IIS Website paths are provided for all IIS Websites that are extended with SharePoint Server.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ADMISAPI Full control Yes This directory contains the SOAP services for Central Administration. If this directory is altered, remote site creation and other methods exposed in the service won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\CONFIG Full control Yes This directory contains configuration files used to provision Web applications and service applications. If this directory or its contents are altered, Web Application provisioning won't function correctly.
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\LOGS Full control No This directory contains setup and runtime tracing logs. If the directory is altered, diagnostic logging won't function correctly.
%windir%\temp Full control Yes This directory is used by platform components on which SharePoint Server depends. If the ACL is modified, Web Part rendering and other deserialization operations might fail.
%windir%\System32\logfiles\SharePoint Full control No This directory is used by SharePoint Server for usage logging. If this directory is modified, usage logging won't function correctly. This registry key applies only to SharePoint Server.

WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG

WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG can read the encrypted farm administration credential registry entry. WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG is only used for encryption and decryption of passwords that are stored in the configuration database. The following table shows the WSS_RESTRICTED_WPG registry entry permission:

Key name Permissions Inherit Description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\16.0\Secure\FarmAdmin Full control No This key contains the encryption key that is used to store secrets in the configuration database. If this key is altered, service provisioning and other features will fail.

Users group

The following table shows the users group file system permissions:

File system path Permissions Inherit Description
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0 Read, execute No This directory is the installation location for SharePoint Server binaries and data. It can be changed during installation. If this directory is removed, altered, or moved after installation, all SharePoint Server functionality will fail.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\WebServices\Root Read, execute No This directory is the root directory where back-end root Web services are hosted. The only service initially installed on this directory is a search global administration service. If this directory is removed or altered, some search administration functionalities that use the server-specific Central Administration Settings page won't work.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\Logs Read, write Yes This directory is the location where the runtime diagnostic logging is generated. If this directory is removed or altered, Logging won't function properly.
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office Servers\16.0\Bin Read, execute No This directory is the installed location of SharePoint Server binaries. If this directory is removed or altered, all the SharePoint Server functionalities will fail.

All SharePoint Server service accounts

The following table shows the SharePoint Server service accounts' file system permission:

File system path Permissions Inherit Description
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\LOGS Modify No This directory contains setup and runtime tracing logs. If this directory is altered, diagnostic logging won't function correctly. All SharePoint Server service accounts must have write permission to this directory.

See also

Concepts

Install SharePoint Server