How to Create a User Group in Linux

How to Create a User Group in Linux

Hey there! 👋 Welcome back to ProgramGuru.org. In this Linux tutorial, we're going to learn how to create a user group. This is an essential part of managing permissions and organizing users on any Linux system. Don’t worry if you’re new—I'll guide you step by step.

🚀 What is a User Group?

In Linux, a group is a collection of users. Groups help system administrators manage permissions efficiently. For example, instead of setting permissions for each user, you can assign permissions to a group and add users to that group.

🛠️ Step 1: Open the Terminal

Let’s begin by opening your terminal. You can do this with:

Ctrl + Alt + T

🔹 Step 2: Check Existing Groups (Optional)

If you want to see the current groups on your system:

cut -d: -f1 /etc/group

root
daemon
bin
sys
...

✅ Step 3: Create a New Group

We’ll use the groupadd command to create a new group. For example, to create a group named devteam:

sudo groupadd devteam

You’ll be prompted for your password if you’re not the root user.

🔍 Step 4: Verify the Group Was Created

Let’s check if the group was successfully created:

getent group devteam

devteam:x:1002:

This means the group exists and currently has no users.

👤 Step 5: Add a User to the Group

To add an existing user (like john) to the new group:

sudo usermod -aG devteam john

The -aG flag appends the user to the group without removing them from others.

🔁 Step 6: Apply Group Changes

To make group changes take effect, either log the user out and back in, or use:

newgrp devteam

📋 Step 7: Confirm User's Groups

You can confirm the user's group membership with:

groups john

john : john devteam

🎉 That’s It!

You’ve successfully created a new user group and added a user to it. Group management is key to secure and scalable Linux system administration.

If you're enjoying these step-by-step Linux tutorials, don’t forget to check out more topics in our Linux series here on ProgramGuru.org! See you in the next lesson! 👋