groupadd / groupmod / groupdel

Updated

July 31, 2026

Overview

These tools create, modify, and delete groups in the local group database (/etc/group, /etc/gshadow).

Syntax

sudo groupadd [options] group
sudo groupmod [options] group
sudo groupdel group

Common Options (`groupadd`)

Option	Description
`-g GID`	Specific GID
`-r`	System group (low GID)
`-f`	Exit success if exists

Examples with Explanations

sudo groupadd developers
sudo groupadd -g 2001 staff
sudo groupadd -r appdata
sudo groupmod -n devs developers
sudo groupdel oldgroup
getent group developers

Membership

Prefer usermod -aG or gpasswd -a user group:

sudo usermod -aG developers alice
grep ^developers /etc/group