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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 ] [-adiox] [name...]  [tty...]

Last searches back through the file /var/log/wtmp (or the file designated by the -f flag) and dis-plays 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 created. 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.


last reboot | less



last -x|grep shutdown



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 particular 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 dis-
              plays the IP number in numbers-and-dots notation.

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

       -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 configuration 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).

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Page last modified on April 11, 2009, at 04:11 PM