Linux: members Command Examples

I am a new Linux and Unix system user. How do I list the members of a group on Linux or Unix-like systems?

There are various ways to get this information on both Linux and Unix-like system.[donotprint]

Purpose

Outputs members of a group.

Syntax

The basic syntax is as follows:

members groupNameHere

OR

members [options] groupNameHere

members command examples

Buy default members command display all group members on one line. Open the Terminal application and type the following command to display members of ‘webmaster’ group:
$ members webmaster
Sample outputs:

Animated gif 01: Displaying a list of members of a group called webmaster

6

Display only primary group members

Pass the -p option:
$ members -p webmaster

Display only secondary group members

Pass the -s option:
$ members -s webmaster

Query /etc/group file

Use the following grep command:

grep '^webmaster' /etc/group

Use getent command to query groups

Use the following getent command to query group database (such as file or NIS based group database):
$ getent group | grep '^webmaster'

See also

• /etc/group file.
• members(1) Linux/Unix command man page
• Man pages – grep(1)