addgroup

Create a new group

$ sudo addgroup [groupname]

$ sudo addgroup --system [groupname]

$ sudo addgroup [username] [groupname]

$ sudo addgroup --gid [1001] [groupname]

addgroup [options] group
addgroup [options] user group

addgroup is a Debian/Ubuntu friendly frontend to the low-level groupadd command. It creates new groups or adds existing users to groups, following the naming policies and conventions defined in adduser.conf.
When adding a user to a group, it modifies /etc/group to include the user as a member. This is the recommended way to manage group membership on Debian-based systems.

--gid id

Specify the group ID (GID) for the new group

Create a system group (GID from system range)

Allow group names that don't conform to naming conventions

Use alternate configuration file

Suppress informational messages

Print debug information

/etc/adduser.conf

Controls default behavior for addgroup and adduser, including GID ranges for normal and system groups, naming policies, and group creation defaults.

Group names must follow naming rules defined in adduser.conf. System groups typically have GIDs below 1000. Users must log out and back in for new group memberships to take effect.

addgroup was created as part of the adduser package for Debian, providing a user-friendly interface for group management that follows distribution policies. It has been part of Debian since the mid-1990s.

groupadd(8), adduser(8), delgroup(8), groups(1)