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NAME

       last, lastb - show listing of last logged in users

SYNOPSIS

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

OPTIONS

       -f file
              Tells last to use a specific file instead of /var/log/wtmp.

       -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.

       -F     Print full login and logout times and dates.

       -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
              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).

FILES

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

AUTHOR

       Miquel van Smoorenburg, miquels@cistron.nl

SEE ALSO

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

                                 Jul 31, 2004                    LAST,LASTB(1)