vigr

Edit the group file

$ vigr

$ vigr -s

$ vigr -R /path/to/chroot

$ vigr -V

vigr [options]

vigr edits the /etc/group file (or /etc/gshadow with -s) while setting appropriate locks to prevent file corruption. It uses the editor specified by $VISUAL, then $EDITOR, falling back to vi if neither is set.

-g, --group

Edit the group database (default)

Edit the gshadow (shadow group) database

Display help message

Quiet mode

Apply changes in a chroot environment

The vigr command should always be used instead of directly editing /etc/group to prevent file corruption from concurrent access. Changes made require no additional steps to take effect.

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)