groups – Prints the names of the groups the specified user is a member of.

The groups command is a Linux command that is used to display the names of the groups that a specified user is a member of. This command is useful for system administrators who need to manage user permissions and group memberships on a Linux system.

Overview

The syntax for the groups command is as follows:

groups [options] [username]

In this syntax, username is the name of the user whose group memberships you want to display. If no username is specified, the command will display the group memberships of the current user.

Here are some examples of how to use the groups command:

To display the group memberships of the current user:

groups

To display the group memberships of a specific user:

groups jdoe

Options

The groups command has the following options:

Troubleshooting tips

If you receive an error message when running the groups command, it may be because the specified user does not exist on the system. Double-check the spelling of the username and try again.

If you are not seeing the expected group memberships for a user, it may be because the user is not a member of any groups on the system. You can check this by running the id command with the username as an argument.

Notes

• The groups command can be useful in conjunction with other commands like chgrp and chown to manage file permissions on a Linux system.
• The group memberships displayed by the groups command are determined by the user’s entries in the /etc/group file.