Hi!

Herez the scenario

1. logged in as user xxxx

$ id
uid=125(xxxx) gid=101(my_grp) groups=0(system),15(users),16(sysadmin),19(adm),110(appl)

$ touch test
$ ls -la test
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx system 0 Mar 7 14:31 test

Why is the group of the file test 'system' and not 'my_grp' as I was expecting it?


Any thoughts?

Thanks!

What version of OS? (Mind didn't show all my groups when I typed just the id command, I had to add a -a).

Check the .profile, .login, .kshrc, .cshrc (it matters which shell you are using) for any lines that are changing your default group to another. It's possible but unlikely that it is in /etc/profile where the change is being made.

That's a start...

Originally files were created with the uid and gid of the process that created them. But when BSD came out they introduced multiple groups. They also decided, for some odd reason, that new files would take the gid of the directory in which they were created.

HP-UX and SunOS both copied multiple groups from BSD. But they have new files get the gid from the creating process just like System V. However they both have a secret way to obtain the old BSD behavior. If a directory has the sgid turned on, then new files are created with the same gid as the directory, not the process.

It's not easy to get that bit turned on. On HP-UX you must be root and "chmod 2755 ." did the trick. With SunOS, not only did I have to be root but also I was forced to use the mystic incantation "chmod g+s ." to turn that bit on. Once I got the bit turned on, both OS'es exhibited the BSD behavior.

So take a look at the directories permissions, I'll bet that is the answer. And I too would like to know which OS you are using. I wonder how far this concept has spread.