Adding the user to a new group doesn't take effect on logout and back in

[Will Cooke]

Steps to reproduce:

Log in to a GNOME session
Use adduser to add yourself to an existing group
Log out and back in
Open a terminal, run "groups" and notice that your user isn't in the new group.
Reboot and log in, and you user is now in the group.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

As far back as I remember this has been the case...

I think it's an OS feature that the currently running process does not inherit the new group list from /etc/group. It's only when the process starts that the group list is read.

I'm not sure this is a bug, but it's really about the state of the process. So it's a kernel issue if at all.

[Ubuntu Kernel Bot (ubuntu-kernel-bot)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. While running an Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline or third-party kernel) please enter the following command in a terminal window:

apport-collect 1771308

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Daniel, what do you mean by "running process"? The steps involve login out and back in, so starting a new session, group changes should be active on a new login no?

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

By "running process" I mean any process.

But you're right; I misread "doesn't take effect on logout" as "doesn't take effect until logout".

One should indeed reasonably expect group changes to apply after the next login.