how add multiple users in a single group

[z_haseeb]

i have many users, suppose userA, userB, userC,userD,userE

i want to add them all in a group name USERS in a single command.

Thanks

[Irithori]

Create a script: group_usersA2E.sh

#!/bin/sh

for USER in userA userB userC userD userE; do
  usermod -G USERS $USER
done

then do
sh ./group_usersA2E.sh
One command, as requested

Ok, a bit more seriously:
There is no command to do that.
So you will need a helper or wrapper script.

[z_haseeb]

thanks for reply,
But you suggested command will add all the users in the USERS group if let suppose i want to add only specific users in the USERS group then what i do,

i think the $USER will add all the users

[Irithori]

I am a bit confused now, your first post:

i want to add them all in a group name USERS

contradicts the second

But you suggested command will add all the users in the USERS group

Could you explain again, what the result should look like?

[z_haseeb]

Ohh sorry you are right
Actually this is my second question
suppose i have 15 users and i only want to add 5 users in the particular group

Thanks in advance

[Irithori]

Is there any way to distinguish these users?
A script needs a hint to pick the right users.

This is an example from /etc/passwd

userA:x:1000:1000:userA Description:/home/userA:/bin/bash

Do these five users have anything in common?

[z_haseeb]

emmmm NO. and i think it not possible to fullfill my query

ok leave it

[svinoba]

you really want to go the script-way? As root you can try,

gpasswd -a <userA> <userB> <userC> ... <GROUP>

[z_haseeb]

as you told me the below command i am not able to use this command...yes i can use the command in the following maner
gpasswd -a user1 group1
but i am not able to add multiple users in a single group in one go, as you told
gpasswd -a user1 user2 user3 user10 user15 group1

.......................

second thing if i delete a user from the /etc/group.. does the user properly delete from the /etc/group via vi /etc/group

[svinoba]

Sorry had not tried the -a option for multiple users. Try

gpasswd -M userA,userB,userC,... <GROUP>

-M or --members is for multiple users. I tried it for dummy users test1 and test2 on group users and this is what i got.

gpasswd -M test1,test2 users
cat /etc/group | grep users
users:x:100:test1,test2

Did not understand second question properly. You mean manually deleting a user's name from a group is as effective/correct as deleting a user from a group via any command? Yes, it may look crude but it works.