---
name: "netgroup"
section: "5"
platform: "macos"
package: "NFS"
version: "343.100.5"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/netgroup/5"
---

# netgroup(5)

defines network groups

## NAME

**netgroup** – defines network groups

## SYNOPSIS

**netgroup**

## DESCRIPTION

The **netgroup** file specifies \`\`netgroups'', which are sets of **(host,** **user,** **domain)** tuples that are to be given similar network access.

Each line in the file consists of a netgroup name followed by a list of the members of the netgroup. Each member can be either the name of another netgroup or a specification of a tuple as follows:

```
(host, user, domain)
```

where the **host**, **user**, and **domain** are character string names for the corresponding component. Any of the comma separated fields may be empty to specify a \`\`wildcard'' value or may consist of the string \`\`-'' to specify \`\`no valid value''. The members of the list may be separated by whitespace and/or commas; the \`\`\\'' character may be used at the end of a line to specify line continuation. The functions specified in [getnetgrent(3)](/getnetgrent/3.md) should normally be used to access the **netgroup** database.

Lines that begin with a # are treated as comments.

## FILES

- */etc/netgroup*

  the netgroup database.

## SEE ALSO

[getnetgrent(3)](/getnetgrent/3.md), [exports(5)](/exports/5.md)

## COMPATIBILITY

The file format is compatible with that of various vendors, however it appears that not all vendors use an identical format.

## BUGS

The interpretation of access restrictions based on the member tuples of a netgroup is left up to the various network applications. Also, it is not obvious how the domain specification applies to the BSD environment.