LAST,LASTB(1)

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

SYNOPSIS
last [-R] [-num] [ -n num ] [-adx] [ -f file ] [name...] [tty...]
lastb [-R] [-num] [ -n num ] [ -f file ] [-adx] [name...] [tty...]

DESCRIPTION
Last searches back through the file /var/log/wtmp (or the file designated by the -f flag) to show a list of all users logged in (and out) since that file was created. Names of users and tty's can be given, and then 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 (generated by the interrupt key, usually control-C) or a SIGQUIT (generated by the quit key, usually control-\) last will show how far it was searching through the file and in the case of SIGINT last will 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 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 howmany lines to show.

-n num
    The same.

-R  With this flag, the hostname field will not be shown.

-a  Makes last show 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 to a hostname.

-x  This flag causes last to also show 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 command (for example, touch /var/log/wtmp).

AUTHOR
Miquel van Smoorenburg, miquels@cistron.nl

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