groupadd(8)

NAME

   groupadd - create a new group

SYNOPSIS

   groupadd [options] group

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.

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. This value 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
       This option permits to add a group with a non-unique GID.

   -p, --password PASSWORD
       The encrypted password, as returned by crypt(3). The default is to
       disable the password.

       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.

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

   It is usually recommended to only use groupnames that begin with a
   lower case letter or an underscore, followed by lower case letters,
   digits, underscores, or dashes. They can end with a dollar sign. In
   regular expression terms: [a-z_][a-z0-9_-]*[$]?

   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.).

   Groupnames may only be up to 32 characters long.

   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 not unique (when -o not used)

   9
       group name not unique

   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).

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