---
name: "group"
section: "5"
platform: "macos"
package: "files"
version: "974.120.2"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/group/5"
---

# group(5)

format of the group permissions file

## NAME

**group** – format of the group permissions file

## DESCRIPTION

The file ⟨*/etc/group*⟩ consists of newline separated ASCII records, one per group, containing four colon ‘:’ separated fields. These fields are as follows:

- group

  Name of the group.

- passwd

  Group's *encrypted* password.

- gid

  The group's decimal ID.

- member

  Group members.

The *group* field is the group name used for granting file access to users who are members of the group. The *gid* field is the number associated with the group name. They should both be unique across the system (and often across a group of systems) since they control file access. The *passwd* field is an optional *encrypted* password. This field is rarely used and an asterisk is normally placed in it rather than leaving it blank. The  *member* field contains the names of users granted the privileges of *group*. The member names are separated by commas without spaces or newlines. A user is automatically in a group if that group was specified in their */etc/passwd* entry and does not need to be added to that group in the */etc/group* *file.*

## INTERACTION WITH DIRECTORY SERVICES

Processes generally find group records using one of the [getgrent(3)](/getgrent/3.md) family of functions. On Mac OS X, these functions interact with the DirectoryService(8) daemon, which reads the /etc/group file as well as searching other directory information services to determine groups and group membership.

## FILES

- */etc/group*

  ## SEE ALSO

[passwd(1)](/passwd/1.md), [setgroups(2)](/setgroups/2.md), [crypt(3)](/crypt/3.md), [getgrent(3)](/getgrent/3.md), [initgroups(3)](/initgroups/3.md), [passwd(5)](/passwd/5.md), DirectoryService(8)

## BUGS

The [passwd(1)](/passwd/1.md) command does not change the **group** passwords.

## HISTORY

A **group** file format appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.