CHGRP(1)                    General Commands Manual                   CHGRP(1)

NAME
     chgrp – change group

SYNOPSIS
     chgrp [-fhnvx] [-R [-H | -L | -P]] group file ...

DESCRIPTION
     The chgrp utility sets the group ID of the file named by each file
     operand to the group ID specified by the group operand.

     The following options are available:

     -H      If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line
             are followed and hence unaffected by the command.  (Symbolic
             links encountered during traversal are not followed.)

     -L      If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.

     -P      If the -R option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
             This is the default.  Use -h to change the group ID of a symbolic
             link.

     -R      Change the group ID of the file hierarchies rooted in the files,
             instead of just the files themselves.  Beware of unintentionally
             matching the “..” hard link to the parent directory when using
             wildcards like “.*”.

     -f      The force option ignores errors, except for usage errors and does
             not query about strange modes (unless the user does not have
             proper permissions).

     -h      If the file is a symbolic link, the group ID of the link itself
             is changed rather than the file that is pointed to.

     -n      Interpret the group ID as numeric, avoiding the name lookup.

     -v      Cause chgrp to be verbose, showing files as the group is
             modified.  If the -v flag is specified more than once, chgrp will
             print the filename, followed by the old and new numeric group ID.

     -x      File system mount points are not traversed.

     The -H, -L and -P options are ignored unless the -R option is specified.
     In addition, these options override each other and the command's actions
     are determined by the last one specified.

     The group operand can be either a group name from the group database, or
     a numeric group ID.  If a group name is also a numeric group ID, the
     operand is used as a group name.

     The user invoking chgrp must belong to the specified group and be the
     owner of the file, or be the super-user.

     If chgrp receives a SIGINFO signal (see the status argument for stty(1)),
     then the current filename as well as the old and new group names are
     displayed.

FILES
     /etc/group  group ID file

EXIT STATUS
     The chgrp utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

COMPATIBILITY
     In previous versions of this system, symbolic links did not have groups.

     The -v and -x options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not
     recommended.

SEE ALSO
     chown(2), fts(3), group(5), passwd(5), symlink(7), chown(8)

STANDARDS
     The chgrp utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”)
     compatible.

macOS 15.2                      January 7, 2017                     macOS 15.2