groupdel(8)

NAME

   groupdel - delete a group

SYNOPSIS

   groupdel [options] GROUP

DESCRIPTION

   The groupdel command modifies the system account files, deleting all
   entries that refer to GROUP. The named group must exist.

OPTIONS

   The options which apply to the groupdel command are:

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

   -R, --root CHROOT_DIR
       Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration
       files from the CHROOT_DIR directory.

CAVEATS

   You may not remove the primary group of any existing user. You must
   remove the user before you remove the group.

   You should manually check all file systems to ensure that no files
   remain owned by this group.

CONFIGURATION

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

   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.

FILES

   /etc/group
       Group account information.

   /etc/gshadow
       Secure group account information.

EXIT VALUES

   The groupdel command exits with the following values:

   0
       success

   2
       invalid command syntax

   6
       specified group doesn't exist

   8
       can't remove user's primary group

   10
       can't update group file

SEE ALSO

   chfn(1), chsh(1), passwd(1), gpasswd(8), groupadd(8), groupmod(8),
   useradd(8), userdel(8), usermod(8).

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