Can a group be a member of another group?

vargasmas · 10-20-2009, 08:54 AM

The question is: In linux, can a group defined in /etc/group be a member of another group defined in /etc/group?
After googling this, I find that most people say "no", but no one says why the answer is no.
Comments?

catkin · 10-20-2009, 09:22 AM

Try it!

It is not possible, according to the group man page which describes the members of the group, the user_list, as "a list of the usernames that are members of this group, separated by commas". If it were possibel the man page would say usernames or groupnames.

Lordandmaker · 10-20-2009, 11:01 AM

No, users and groups are quite distinct entities, and the only things you can put in groups are users.

lutusp · 10-21-2009, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vargasmas

but no one says why the answer is no.

"Groups" has no tree hierarchy. It doesn't need one. It would be too complicated in an area that is already too complicated. Now you have your answer.

kstan · 10-21-2009, 09:40 PM

I know that in Linux cannot perform nesting group, but sad to say in big environment, organize group in hierarchy method is a good practise. Just like active directory allow us to manage resource permission easy and effectively.