---
name: "chroot"
section: "8"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/chroot/8"
---

# chroot(8)

change root directory

## NAME

**chroot** – change root directory

## SYNOPSIS

**chroot** \[**-g** *group*\[,*group*\[,*...*\]\]\] \[**-u** *user*\] *newroot* \[*command*\]

## DESCRIPTION

The **chroot** command changes its root directory to the supplied directory *newroot* and executes *command*, if supplied, or an interactive copy of the user's shell.

The **chroot** command is restricted to the superuser.

The options are as follows:

- **-g** *group*\[,*group*\[,*...*\]\]

  Override the primary and supplemental group IDs. The primary group ID is set to the first group in the list. Any remaining groups are placed in the supplemental group ID vector. Each group listed must exist in the [group(5)](/group/5.md) databases.

- **-u** *user*

  Set user ID to *user* (which must exist in the [passwd(5)](/passwd/5.md) database). The primary and supplemental group IDs will be set based on the user's entries in the [passwd(5)](/passwd/5.md) and [group(5)](/group/5.md) databases unless overridden by the **-g** option. Additional settings may be applied as specified in [login.conf(5)](/login.conf/5.md) depending on *user*'s login class.

## ENVIRONMENT

- SHELL

  If set, the string specified by SHELL is interpreted as the name of the shell to execute. If the variable SHELL is not set, */bin/sh* is used.

## SEE ALSO

[ldd(1)](/ldd/1.md), [group(5)](/group/5.md), [login.conf(5)](/login.conf/5.md), [passwd(5)](/passwd/5.md), [environ(7)](/environ/7.md)

## HISTORY

The **chroot** utility first appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.

## CAVEATS

**chroot** should never be installed setuid root, as it would then be possible to exploit the program to gain root privileges.