The groupmod command is used to change the group’s own attributes. It will edit the /etc/group file for you. Modifications of the group might include changing its name or GID. Adding a user to a group is considered to be a modification of the user, not the group. As such, it is accomplished using the usermod command.
Some groupmod options include the following.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| -g | Change the group ID. |
| -n | Rename a group. |
Syntax
The syntax of the groupmod command is:
# groupmod [options] {group names}
To modify the name of a group after it has been created, use the groupmod command. To make the change, log in as the root user and enter the following command:
# groupmod -n newgroup currentgroup
where newgroup is the new name you want to give the group, and currentgroup is the current name of the group. For example, to change a group name from admin to geek, you would use the following command:
# groupmod -n geek admin
If you encounter below error while running the groupmod command:
groupmod: command not found
you may try installing the passwd package as shown below as per your choice of distribution.
| Distribution | Command |
|---|---|
| Debian | apt-get install passwd |
| Ubuntu | apt-get install passwd |
| Alpine | apk add shadow |
| Arch Linux | pacman -S shadow |
| Kali Linux | apt-get install passwd |
| Fedora | dnf install shadow-utils-2 |
| Raspbian | apt-get install passwd |
groupmod Command Examples
1. Change the group ID:
# groupmod -g 123 group_name
2. Rename a group:
# groupmod -n new_group_name group_name
See the man page groupmod for a full list of all the command-line options available.