vigr

vigr [options]

vigr edits the `/etc/group` file (or `/etc/gshadow` with -s) while setting appropriate locks to prevent file corruption from concurrent access. It first locks the file, creates a temporary copy, opens it in the user's preferred editor (checking `$VISUAL`, then `$EDITOR`, falling back to `vi`), performs syntax checks after editing, and then atomically replaces the original file.

-g, --group

Edit the group database (default).

Edit the gshadow (shadow group) database.

Edit the passwd database (equivalent to running vipw).

Quiet mode.

Apply changes in a chroot environment.

Display help message.

The vigr command should always be used instead of directly editing `/etc/group` to prevent file corruption from concurrent access. Changes take effect immediately. Requires root privileges. If you edit `/etc/group`, you should also check `/etc/gshadow` for consistency by running `vigr -s`.

vigr is part of the shadow-utils package, providing safe editing of group files similar to how vipw edits password files.

vipw(8), group(5), gshadow(5), groupadd(8), groupmod(8), groupdel(8)