1GROUPDEL(8)               System Management Commands               GROUPDEL(8)
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NAME

6       groupdel - delete a group
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SYNOPSIS

9       groupdel [options] GROUP
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DESCRIPTION

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

16       The options which apply to the groupdel command are:
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18       -h, --help
19           Display help message and exit.
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21       -R, --root CHROOT_DIR
22           Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration
23           files from the CHROOT_DIR directory.
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CAVEATS

26       You may not remove the primary group of any existing user. You must
27       remove the user before you remove the group.
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29       You should manually check all file systems to ensure that no files
30       remain owned by this group.
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CONFIGURATION

33       The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the
34       behavior of this tool:
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36       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP (number)
37           Maximum members per group entry. When the maximum is reached, a new
38           group entry (line) is started in /etc/group (with the same name,
39           same password, and same GID).
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41           The default value is 0, meaning that there are no limits in the
42           number of members in a group.
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44           This feature (split group) permits to limit the length of lines in
45           the group file. This is useful to make sure that lines for NIS
46           groups are not larger than 1024 characters.
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48           If you need to enforce such limit, you can use 25.
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50           Note: split groups may not be supported by all tools (even in the
51           Shadow toolsuite). You should not use this variable unless you
52           really need it.
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FILES

55       /etc/group
56           Group account information.
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58       /etc/gshadow
59           Secure group account information.
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EXIT VALUES

62       The groupdel command exits with the following values:
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64       0
65           success
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67       2
68           invalid command syntax
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70       6
71           specified group doesn't exist
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73       8
74           can't remove user's primary group
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76       10
77           can't update group file
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SEE ALSO

80       chfn(1), chsh(1), passwd(1), gpasswd(8), groupadd(8), groupmod(8),
81       useradd(8), userdel(8), usermod(8).
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85shadow-utils 4.1.5.1              03/14/2019                       GROUPDEL(8)