diff --git a/src/caosdb/utils/caosdb_admin.py b/src/caosdb/utils/caosdb_admin.py
index 46ca9b1baaf66e3380af342d3c0e8e3a489b21e7..ee26697268bcb994f280d6b7939b80e43c2be511 100755
--- a/src/caosdb/utils/caosdb_admin.py
+++ b/src/caosdb/utils/caosdb_admin.py
@@ -141,20 +141,20 @@ def do_set_user_password(args):
 
 
 def do_add_user_roles(args):
-    roles = admin._get_roles(user=args.user_name, realm=None)
+    roles = admin._get_roles(username=args.user_name, realm=None)
 
     for r in args.user_roles:
         roles.add(r)
-    admin._set_roles(user=args.user_name, roles=roles)
+    admin._set_roles(username=args.user_name, roles=roles)
 
 
 def do_remove_user_roles(args):
-    roles = admin._get_roles(user=args.user_name, realm=None)
+    roles = admin._get_roles(username=args.user_name, realm=None)
 
     for r in args.user_roles:
         if r in roles:
             roles.remove(r)
-    admin._set_roles(user=args.user_name, roles=roles)
+    admin._set_roles(username=args.user_name, roles=roles)
 
 
 def do_set_user_entity(args):
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ def do_delete_user(args):
 
 
 def do_retrieve_user_roles(args):
-    print(admin._get_roles(user=args.user_name))
+    print(admin._get_roles(username=args.user_name))
 
 
 def do_retrieve_role_permissions(args):
@@ -292,7 +292,8 @@ USAGE
     # users (CRUD)
     subparser = subparsers.add_parser(
         "create_user",
-        help="Create a new user in caosdb's internal user database.")
+        help="Create a new user in caosdb's internal user database. You need "
+        " to activate the user before use.")
     subparser.set_defaults(call=do_create_user)
     subparser.add_argument("-a", "--ask-password",
                            help="Prompt for a password.", action="store_true")