man > GROUPADD(8)

GROUPADD(8)                          System Management Commands                          GROUPADD(8)

NAME
       groupadd - create a new group

SYNOPSIS


       groupadd [OPTIONS] NEWGROUP

DESCRIPTION
       The groupadd command creates a new group account using the values specified on the command
       line plus the default values from the system. The new group will be entered into the system
       files as needed.

       Groupnames may contain only lower and upper case letters, digits, underscores, or dashes.
       They can end with a dollar sign. Dashes are not allowed at the beginning of the groupname.
       Fully numeric groupnames and groupnames . or .. are also disallowed.

       On Debian, the only constraints are that groupnames must neither start with a dash ('-') nor
       plus ('+') nor tilde ('~') nor contain a colon (':'), a comma (','), or a whitespace (space:'
       ', end of line: '\n', tabulation: '\t', etc.).

       On Ubuntu, the same constraints as Debian are in place, with the additional constraint that
       the groupname cannot be fully numeric. This includes octal and hexadecimal syntax.

       Groupnames may only be up to 32 characters long.

OPTIONS
       The options which apply to the groupadd command are:

       -f, --force
           This option causes the command to simply exit with success status if the specified group
           already exists. When used with -g, and the specified GID already exists, another (unique)
           GID is chosen (i.e.  -g is turned off).

       -g, --gid GID
           The numerical value of the group's ID.  GID must be unique, unless the -o option is used.
           The value must be non-negative. The default is to use the smallest ID value greater than
           or equal to GID_MIN and greater than every other group.

           See also the -r option and the GID_MAX description.

       -h, --help
           Display help message and exit.

       -K, --key KEY=VALUE
           Overrides /etc/login.defs defaults (GID_MIN, GID_MAX and others). Multiple -K options can
           be specified.

           Example: -K GID_MIN=100  -K GID_MAX=499

           Note: -K GID_MIN=10,GID_MAX=499 doesn't work yet.

       -o, --non-unique
           permits the creation of a group with an already used numerical ID. As a result, for this
           GID, the mapping towards group NEWGROUP may not be unique.

       -p, --password PASSWORD
           defines an initial password for the group account. PASSWORD is expected to be encrypted,
           as returned by crypt (3).

           Without this option, the group account will be locked and with no password defined, i.e.
           a single exclamation mark in the respective field of ths system account file /etc/group
           or /etc/gshadow.

           Note: This option is not recommended because the password (or encrypted password) will be
           visible by users listing the processes.

           You should make sure the password respects the system's password policy.

       -r, --system
           Create a system group.

           The numeric identifiers of new system groups are chosen in the SYS_GID_MIN-SYS_GID_MAX
           range, defined in login.defs, instead of GID_MIN-GID_MAX.

       -R, --root CHROOT_DIR
           Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the
           CHROOT_DIR directory. Only absolute paths are supported.

       -P, --prefix PREFIX_DIR
           Apply changes to configuration files under the root filesystem found under the directory
           PREFIX_DIR. This option does not chroot and is intended for preparing a cross-compilation
           target. Some limitations: NIS and LDAP users/groups are not verified. PAM authentication
           is using the host files. No SELINUX support.

       -U, --users
           A list of usernames to add as members of the group.

           The default behavior (if the -g, -N, and -U options are not specified) is defined by the
           USERGROUPS_ENAB variable in /etc/login.defs.

CONFIGURATION
       The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the behavior of this tool:

       GID_MAX (number), GID_MIN (number)
           Range of group IDs used for the creation of regular groups by useradd, groupadd, or
           newusers.

           The default value for GID_MIN (resp.  GID_MAX) is 1000 (resp. 60000).

       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP (number)
           Maximum members per group entry. When the maximum is reached, a new group entry (line) is
           started in /etc/group (with the same name, same password, and same GID).

           The default value is 0, meaning that there are no limits in the number of members in a
           group.

           This feature (split group) permits to limit the length of lines in the group file. This
           is useful to make sure that lines for NIS groups are not larger than 1024 characters.

           If you need to enforce such limit, you can use 25.

           Note: split groups may not be supported by all tools (even in the Shadow toolsuite). You
           should not use this variable unless you really need it.

       SYS_GID_MAX (number), SYS_GID_MIN (number)
           Range of group IDs used for the creation of system groups by useradd, groupadd, or
           newusers.

           The default value for SYS_GID_MIN (resp.  SYS_GID_MAX) is 101 (resp.  GID_MIN-1).

FILES
       /etc/group
           Group account information.

       /etc/gshadow
           Secure group account information.

       /etc/login.defs
           Shadow password suite configuration.

CAVEATS
       You may not add a NIS or LDAP group. This must be performed on the corresponding server.

       If the groupname already exists in an external group database such as NIS or LDAP, groupadd
       will deny the group creation request.

EXIT VALUES
       The groupadd command exits with the following values:

       0
           success

       2
           invalid command syntax

       3
           invalid argument to option

       4
           GID is already used (when called without -o)

       9
           group name is already used

       10
           can't update group file

SEE ALSO
       chfn(1), chsh(1), passwd(1), gpasswd(8), groupdel(8), groupmod(8), login.defs(5), useradd(8),
       userdel(8), usermod(8).

shadow-utils 4.13                            05/30/2024                                  GROUPADD(8)