etc/group - file that stores groups

/etc/group layout

dalton:x:1006:e,a,b,c,d

  1. group_name: It is the name of group. If you run ls -l command, you will see this name printed in the group field
  2. Password: Generally password is not used, hence it is empty/blank. It can store encrypted password. This is useful to implement privileged groups
  3. Group ID (GID): Each user must be assigned a group ID. You can see this number in your passwd file
  4. Group List: It is a list of usernames of users who are members of the group. The user names, must be separated by commas