group Table

The group table stores information about UNIX user groups. The group table has four columns:

Earlier Solaris releases used a +/- syntax in local /etc/group files to incorporate or overwrite entries in the NIS group maps. Since the Solaris environment uses the name service switch file to specify a workstation's sources of information, this is no longer necessary. All you have to do in Solaris Release 2x systems is edit a client's /etc/nsswitch.conf file to specify files, followed by nisplus as the sources for the group information. This effectively adds the contents of the group table to the contents of the client's /etc/group file.