Rename user's group name

Question

I just did usermod -l login-name old-name to change the username, but the group name is still the old one.

Any way of renaming the group name? I can't find any info to do so.

score 121 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '22 at 07:28

121

groupmod should work fine. Run it as superuser:

# groupmod --help
Usage: groupmod [options] GROUP

Options:
  -g, --gid GID                 change the group ID to GID
  -h, --help                    display this help message and exit
  -n, --new-name NEW_GROUP      change the name to NEW_GROUP
  -o, --non-unique              allow to use a duplicate (non-unique) GID
  -p, --password PASSWORD       change the password to this (encrypted)
                                PASSWORD

Use it like this:

groupmod --new-name NEW_GROUP_NAME OLD_GROUP_NAME

Note that this takes effect immediately and you do not need any logout/login.

edited Jun 16 '22 at 07:28

Valerio Bozz

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answered Mar 23 '12 at 20:35

Oliver Salzburg

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run it as a superuser – KawaiKx Jun 30 '14 at 18:56
Does it require a logout, login to take effect, like adding someone to a group does? – Jonathan May 18 '18 at 19:13
@Jonathan: No, it takes effect immediately. – Russ Bateman Feb 26 '19 at 17:48

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 26 '23 at 22:19

17

To reNAME as you asked:
sudo groupmod -n new-name current-name

Note: If the name already exists but you want to use it anyway:
sudo groupmod -o -n new-name current-name

If you are root you don't need to use sudo

edited Apr 26 '23 at 22:19

Community

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answered Oct 15 '14 at 09:49

JorgeArtware

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To list existing groups. Execute -> groups – infiniteLearner Jul 12 '23 at 08:46

Rename user's group name

2 Answers2