help, "usermod -G" wiped my groups

[sasho]

While trying to install VirtualBox I typed

'usermod -G vboxusers {myusername}'

following instructions from some internet site.

Next thing I knew my audio wasn't working, other things too. Well, after some google searches it turns out the command as typed removed all my other groups instead of adding vboxusers to them ( from this forum - https : / / bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/shadow/+bug/317647, sorry the link is garbled but the site gives me some error that I can't post links).

Now I can't figure out how to restore my groups because I don't know what groups they used to be.

I hope someone tells me how to find out what my groups used to be so I can add myself to them.

[reed9]

Yeah, usermod is dangerous. You needed to add the append flag (-a).

You're using Debian, so you should have a root account enabled?

You can get a list of groups with

cat /etc/group

I always use gpasswd to add users to groups.

gpasswd -a user group

As for which groups you should add yourself back to, I'm not sure what they're all called in Debian. Different distros have different names.

Look for these groups:
users
cdrom
floppy
plugdev
audio
video
power
network

There may be more that you'll want. If you post your /etc/group file, I'm sure someone can help point out which ones you'll want to belong to.

[sasho]

> You're using Debian, so you should have a root account enabled?

Yes, I have a root account. I just need to know which groups to add.


> There may be more that you'll want. If you post your /etc/group file, I'm sure someone can help point out which ones you'll want to belong to.

Here's my /etc/group. So far I've added myself to vboxusers, netdev and audio.

root:x:0:
daemon:x:1:
bin:x:2:
sys:x:3:
adm:x:4:
tty:x:5:
disk:x:6:
lp:x:7:
mail:x:8:
news:x:9:
uucp:x:10:
man:x:12:
proxy:x:13:
kmem:x:15:
dialout:x:20:
fax:x:21:
voice:x:22:
cdrom:x:24:
floppy:x:25:
tape:x:26:
sudo:x:27:
audio:x:29:alexander
dip:x:30:
www-data:x:33:
backup:x:34:
operator:x:37:
list:x:38:
irc:x:39:
src:x:40:
gnats:x:41:
shadow:x:42:
utmp:x:43:
video:x:44:
sasl:x:45:
plugdev:x:46:
staff:x:50:
games:x:60:
users:x:100:
nogroup:x:65534:
libuuid:x:101:
crontab:x:102:
Debian-exim:x:103:
mlocate:x:104:
ssh:x:105:
alexander:x:1000:alexander
messagebus:x:106:
haldaemon:x:108:
powerdev:x:109:
avahi:x:110:
netdev:x:111:alexander
ssl-cert:x:112:
lpadmin:x:113:
scanner:x:114:saned
saned:x:115:
gdm:x:107:
toni:x:1001:
milko:x:1002:
sambashare:x:116:
nobody:x:1003:
sambamachines:x:1004:
stb-admin:x:117:
vboxusers:x:118:alexander

[reed9]

I don't know Debian groups too well, but I think you should add yourself to video, cdrom, powerdev, and users.

Others you may want are lp (for printing), scanner, floppy (if you have a floppy drive), I'm not sure what the disk group is for Debian, but I think you'll want it, and if you plan to set up sudo, you likely need the adm and/or sudo groups.

If you find yourself unable to do something as your user that you used to be able to, or think you should be able to, you can always google around and see if you should add yourself to a pertinent group as well.

[sasho]

I added myself to these groups.

audio:x:29:alexander
video:x:44:alexander
users:x:100:alexander
alexander:x:1000:alexander
powerdev:x:109:alexander
netdev:x:111:alexander
vboxusers:x:118:alexander

Any other groups I should add myself to?

[reed9]

Any other groups I should add myself to?

If you're not running into weird permissions problems, you're probably good.