LASTB linux command manual

LAST,LASTB(1)      Linux System Administrator's Manual        LAST,LASTB(1)



NAME
       last, lastb - show listing of last logged in users

SYNOPSIS
       last [-R] [-num] [ -n num ] [-adiox] [ -f file ] [ -t YYYYMMDDHHMMSS ]
       [name...]  [tty...]
       lastb [-R] [-num] [ -n num ]  [  -f  file  ]  [  -t  YYYYMMDDHHMMSS  ]
       [-adiox] [name...]  [tty...]

DESCRIPTION
       Last  searches back through the file /var/log/wtmp (or the file desig-
       nated by the -f flag) and displays a list of all users logged in  (and
       out)  since  that  file  was created.  Names of users and tty's can be
       given, in which case last will show only those  entries  matching  the
       arguments.   Names of ttys can be abbreviated, thus last 0 is the same
       as last tty0.

       When last catches a SIGINT signal (generated  by  the  interrupt  key,
       usually  control-C)  or  a  SIGQUIT signal (generated by the quit key,
       usually control-\), last will show how far it has searched through the
       file; in the case of the SIGINT signal last will then terminate.

       The pseudo user reboot logs in each time the system is rebooted.  Thus
       last reboot will show a log of all reboots since the log file was cre-
       ated.

       Lastb  is  the  same as last, except that by default it shows a log of
       the file /var/log/btmp, which contains all the bad login attempts.

OPTIONS
       -num   This is a count telling last how many lines to show.

       -n num The same.

       -t YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
              Display the state of logins as of the specified time.  This  is
              useful,  e.g.,  to determine easily who was logged in at a par-
              ticular time -- specify that time with -t and look  for  "still
              logged in".

       -R     Suppresses the display of the hostname field.

       -a     Display  the hostname in the last column. Useful in combination
              with the next flag.

       -d     For non-local logins, Linux stores not only the  host  name  of
              the  remote  host but its IP number as well. This option trans-
              lates the IP number back into a hostname.

       -i     This option is like -d in that it displays the IP number of the
              remote  host, but it displays the IP number in numbers-and-dots
              notation.

       -o     Read an old-type wtmp file  (written  by  linux-libc5  applica-
              tions).

       -x     Display the system shutdown entries and run level changes.

NOTES
       The  files  wtmp  and  btmp  might  not be found. The system only logs
       information in these files if they are present. This is a  local  con-
       figuration  issue.  If  you  want  the  files  to be used, they can be
       created  with  a  simple  touch(1)   command   (for   example,   touch
       /var/log/wtmp).

FILES
       /var/log/wtmp
       /var/log/btmp

AUTHOR
       Miquel van Smoorenburg, miquels@cistron.nl

SEE ALSO
       shutdown(8), login(1), init(8)



                                 Jul 29, 1999                   LAST,LASTB(1)