groupdel(1M)

NAME

groupdel — delete a group from the system

SYNOPSIS

groupdel group

DESCRIPTION

The groupdel command deletes a group from the system by removing the appropriate entry from the /etc/group file.

The groupdel command must be used with the group argument. group is the name of the group to be deleted, consisting of a string of printable characters.

NETWORKING FEATURES

This command is aware of NIS user entries. Only local groups may be deleted with groupdel. Attempts to delete an NIS group will result in an error. NIS groups must be administered from the NIS server. If groupdel is used on a system where NIS is installed, it may fail with the error

group x does not exist

(return value 6), if the group specified is an NIS group (see group(4)).

RETURN VALUE

groupdel exits with one of the following values:

0: No error.
2: Invalid command syntax.
3: Invalid argument supplied to an option.
6: group does not exist.
10: Cannot modify the /etc/group file.
11: /etc/passwd file or /etc/ptmp file busy. Another command may be modifying the /etc/passwd file.
12: Unable to open /etc/ptmp or /etc/passwd file is non-existent.

EXAMPLES

Delete the group project1 from the /etc/group file if it exists:

groupdel project1 

WARNINGS

As many users may try to write the /etc/passwd file simultaneously, a passwd locking mechanism was deviced. If this locking fails after subsequent retrying, groupdel terminates.

FILES

/etc/group 
/etc/ptmp 

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

groupdel: SVID3