Arch Linux

cb474

Member

Registered: 2009-04-04

Posts: 476

groupadd: GID '20' already exists

When the "filesystem-2011.4" package was upgrading, I got an error:

groupadd: GID '20' already exists

The new vesion of /etc/group had a new entry

utmp:x:20:

But there was already an entry in my group file using the number 20. Is it okay to change the utmp GID to some other unused number? and is it okay to do so by just editing the /etc/group file?

Thanks.

fukawi2

Ex-Administratorino

From: .vic.au

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 6,237

Website

Re: groupadd: GID '20' already exists

Is it okay to change the utmp GID to some other unused number?.

Probably better to change your other '20' to something else. There is likely other packages that could be relying on 20 == utmp, particularly if the packager sets ownership on a file by number instead of name.

and is it okay to do so by just editing the /etc/group file?

Use `vigr`

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cb474

Member

Registered: 2009-04-04

Posts: 476

Re: groupadd: GID '20' already exists

Thanks fukawi2!

And I finally had to learn some vi commands. (I've been more of a nano person.)

The other line that I changed was

dialout:x:23:my-user-name

It has been set at 20. Do you think it's okay that I just changed it to 23? (An unused number.) Or could that create problems with packages too?

Thanks again.

fukawi2

Ex-Administratorino

From: .vic.au

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 6,237

Website

Re: groupadd: GID '20' already exists

And I finally had to learn some vi commands. (I've been more of a nano person.)

export VISUAL=/usr/bin/nano
vigr

The other line that I changed was

dialout:x:23:my-user-name

It has been set at 20. Do you think it's okay that I just changed it to 23? (An unused number.) Or could that create problems with packages too?

If it's currently free, then it should be OK. This page may be relevant:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/De … D_Database

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cb474

Member

Registered: 2009-04-04

Posts: 476

Re: groupadd: GID '20' already exists

Thanks! Super helpful.