NAME

       groupdel - delete a group

SYNOPSIS

       groupdel [options] GROUP

DESCRIPTION

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

OPTIONS

       The options which apply to the groupdel command are:

       -f, --force
           This option forces the removal of the group, even if there's some user having the
           group as the primary one.

       -h, --help
           Display help message and exit.

       -R, --root CHROOT_DIR
           Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the
           CHROOT_DIR directory. Only absolute paths are supported.

       -P, --prefix PREFIX_DIR
           Apply changes in the PREFIX_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the
           PREFIX_DIR directory. This option does not chroot and is intended for preparing a
           cross-compilation target. Some limitations: NIS and LDAP users/groups are not
           verified. PAM authentication is using the host files. No SELINUX support.

CAVEATS

       You may not remove the primary group of any existing user. You must remove the user before
       you remove the group.

       You should manually check all file systems to ensure that no files remain owned by this
       group.

CONFIGURATION

       The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the behavior of this tool:

       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP (number)
           Maximum members per group entry. When the maximum is reached, a new group entry (line)
           is started in /etc/group (with the same name, same password, and same GID).

           The default value is 0, meaning that there are no limits in the number of members in a
           group.

           This feature (split group) permits to limit the length of lines in the group file.
           This is useful to make sure that lines for NIS groups are not larger than 1024
           characters.

           If you need to enforce such limit, you can use 25.

           Note: split groups may not be supported by all tools (even in the Shadow toolsuite).
           You should not use this variable unless you really need it.

FILES

       /etc/group
           Group account information.

       /etc/gshadow
           Secure group account information.

EXIT VALUES

       The groupdel command exits with the following values:

       0
           success

       2
           invalid command syntax

       6
           specified group doesn't exist

       8
           can't remove user's primary group

       10
           can't update group file

SEE ALSO

       chfn(1), chsh(1), passwd(1), gpasswd(8), groupadd(8), groupmod(8), useradd(8), userdel(8),
       usermod(8).