process.initgroups

History

process.initgroups(user, extraGroup): void

Attributes

user:string | number

The user name or numeric identifier.

extraGroup:string | number

A group name or numeric identifier.

The process.initgroups() method reads the /etc/group file and initializes the group access list, using all groups of which the user is a member. This is a privileged operation that requires that the Node.js process either have root access or the CAP_SETGID capability.

Use care when dropping privileges:

import { getgroups, initgroups, setgid } from 'node:process';

console.log(getgroups());         // [ 0 ]
initgroups('nodeuser', 1000);     // switch user
console.log(getgroups());         // [ 27, 30, 46, 1000, 0 ]
setgid(1000);                     // drop root gid
console.log(getgroups());         // [ 27, 30, 46, 1000 ]

JavaScript

const { getgroups, initgroups, setgid } = require('node:process');

console.log(getgroups());         // [ 0 ]
initgroups('nodeuser', 1000);     // switch user
console.log(getgroups());         // [ 27, 30, 46, 1000, 0 ]
setgid(1000);                     // drop root gid
console.log(getgroups());         // [ 27, 30, 46, 1000 ]

JavaScript

This function is only available on POSIX platforms (i.e. not Windows or Android). This feature is not available in Worker threads.