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, usu-
       ally 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 partic-
              ular 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 translates
              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 infor-
       mation in these files if they are present. This is a  local  configura-
       tion  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)