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 ] [-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) 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 inter-
       rupt key, usually control-C) or a SIGQUIT  signal  (gener-
       ated  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.

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

       -n num The same.

       -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.

       -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).

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

AUTHOR
       Miquel van Smoorenburg, miquels@cistron.nl

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

                           May 27, 1997                         1