chgrp
Example usage ofchgrp command to change the files' groups
Developer	AT&T Bell Laboratories
Initial release	May 1975; 50 years ago (1975-05)
Written in	Plan 9:C
Operating system	Unix,Unix-like,Plan 9,Inferno,IBM i
Platform	Cross-platform
Type	Command
License	Plan 9:MIT License

chgrp, short forchangegroup, is ashellcommand for changing thegroup associated with aUnix-basedfile systemfile – including special files such asdirectories. Changing the group of a file is restricted to a super-user (such as viasudo) or to the file's owning user if the user is in the specified group.

A file has accesspermissions for the owning user, a group and for others. Changing the group for a file changes access to it based on users' group memberships.

Thechgrp command was originally developed as part of theUnix operating system byAT&T Bell Laboratories. It is available in mostUnix-like systems,Plan 9,Inferno andIBM i.^[1]

The version ofchgrp bundled inGNUcoreutils was written by David MacKenzie.^[2]

Generally, the syntax can be described as:

chgrp [options]groupfiles

• group specifies the group with which the files should be associated; may be either a symbolic name or anidentifier
• files specifies one or more files, which may be the result of aglob expression like*.conf

Options:

• -RRecurse through directories
• -vVerbose output: log the name of each file changed
• -fForce orforge ahead even if an error occurs

The following demonstrates changing the group of files matching*.conf tostaff – provided the user owns the files (isgbeeker) and is a member ofstaff. The change will allow members of the groupstaff to modify the files since the group-class permissions (read/write) will apply, not the others-class permissions (read only).

$ls-l*.conf-rw-rw-r--   1 gbeeker  wheel          3545 Nov 04 2011  prog.conf-rw-rw-r--   1 gbeeker  wheel          3545 Nov 04 2011  prox.conf$chgrpstaff*.conf$ls-l*.conf-rw-rw-r--   1 gbeeker  staff          3545 Nov 04 2011  prog.conf-rw-rw-r--   1 gbeeker  staff          3545 Nov 04 2011  prox.conf

• chmod – Shell command for changing access permissions of a file
• chown – Shell command for changing the owner of a file
• Group identifier (Unix) – Unix/POSIX system account group number; numeric value used to represent a specific groupPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• List of POSIX commands

The WikibookGuide to Unix has a page on the topic of:Commands

• chgrp: change the file group ownership – Shell and Utilities Reference,The Single UNIX Specification, Version 5 fromThe Open Group
• chgrp(1) – Plan 9 Programmer's Manual, Volume 1
• chgrp(1) – Inferno General commandsManual

• Operating system security
• Standard Unix programs
• Unix SUS2008 utilities
• Plan 9 commands
• Inferno (operating system) commands
• IBM i Qshell commands

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