group(4)                                                    group(4)


       NAME
             group - group file

       SYNOPSIS
             /etc/group

       DESCRIPTION
             The group file describes each group of users recognized by the
             system.

          Files
             /etc/group
             /var/yp/domainname/group.bygid          Corresponding NIS map
                                                     containing group
                                                     security information.
                                                     The group ID is the
                                                     key in the map.
             /var/yp/domainname/group.byname         Same as group.bygid,
                                                     except key is group
                                                     name instead of group
                                                     ID.

       USAGE
             For each group, the group file contains a one-line entry of
             the form:
                   groupname:password:gid:user-list

             where:

             groupname      is the name of the group

             gid            is the group's numerical ID within the system;
                            it must be unique

             user-list      is a comma-separated list of users allowed in
                            the group

             The group file is an ASCII file.  The fields are separated by
             colons; each group is separated from the next by a new-line.

             A group entry beginning with a + (plus sign), means to
             incorporate an entry or entries from the Network Information
             Service (NIS) into the local /etc/group file.  A + on a line
             itself means to insert the entire contents of the NIS group
             file at that point in the local file.  An entry of the form
             +groupname means to insert the NIS entry (if any) for that


                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1

      group(4)                                                    group(4)


            group name.  If a +groupname entry has an empty password or
            user-list field, the fields in the NIS entry will used to fill
            in the corresponding fields in the local entry.  The group ID
            in the NIS entry will never be used.

            An entry of the form -groupname indicates that the group is
            disallowed.  All subsequent entries for that group name,
            whether in the NIS group file, or in the local group file are
            ignored.

            If the password field is empty, no password is demanded.

            Because of the encrypted passwords, the group file can and
            does have general read permission and can be used, for
            example, to map numerical group ID to names.

            During user identification and authentication, the
            supplementary group access list is initialized sequentially
            from information in this file.  If a user is in more groups
            than the system is configured for, {NGROUPS_MAX}, a warning
            will be given and subsequent group specifications will be
            ignored.

            When the Network Information Service (NIS) is in use, the
            local /etc/group file is consulted first, then the NIS map
            group.bygid or group.byname on the NIS server.

      REFERENCES
            getgroups(2), groups(1), initgroups(3C), newgrp(1M),
            passwd(1), unistd(4), usermod(1M)


















                          Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 2