Linux last and lastb command
On Unix-like operating systems, the last command displays a list of the most recently logged in users.
On Linux operating systems, the supplemental lastb command displays a list of bad (failed) logins.
This page describes the GNU/Linux version of last and lastb.
Description
The last command 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 shows 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 INTerrupt or SIGnals INTelligence) signal (generated by the interrupt key, usually control-C) or a SIGQUIT signal (generated by the quit key, usually control-\), last shows how far it has searched through the file; in the case of the SIGINT signal, last then terminates.
The pseudo-user "reboot" logs in each time the system is rebooted. Thus, last reboot shows a log of all reboots since the log file was created.
The lastb command functions similarly to last. By default, lastb lists the contents of file /var/log/btmp, which contains all bad login attempts made on the system.
Syntax
last [-R] [-num] [ -n num ] [-adFiowx] [ -f file ] [ -t YYYYMMDDHHMMSS ] [
name...] [tty...]
lastb [-R] [-num] [ -n num ] [ -f file ] [-adFiowx] [name...] [tty...]
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 | Same as above; display num lines. |
| -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 flag -d. |
| -d | For non-local logins, Linux stores not only the hostname of the remote host, but its IP (Internet Protocol) 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). |
| -w | Display full user and domain names in the output. |
| -x | Display the system shutdown entries and run level changes. |
Examples
last
Running last with no arguments displays results similar to the example below. Each line starts with the account name (in this case, "root" and "mrhope").
root pts/1 55.98.0.130 Fri Nov 14 18:52 - 22:16 (03:23) root pts/0 c-57-161-249-108 Fri Nov 14 05:45 - 03:09 (1+21:23) mrhope pts/0 c-57-161-249-109 Wed Nov 12 06:51 - 03:14 (1+20:22) root pts/1 c-57-161-249-108 Tue Nov 11 19:53 - 05:03 (09:09) root pts/1 55.98.0.130 Wed Nov 5 07:35 - 11:14 (03:39) root pts/0 c-57-161-249-108 Wed Nov 5 06:20 - 21:10 (6+14:49) root pts/0 55.98.0.130 Tue Nov 4 13:32 - 14:02 (00:30) root tty7 Tue Nov 4 12:24 - down (31+12:37)
last reboot | less
Display last reboot times similar to the example below.
reboot system boot 3.6.12-502.el6.x Sun May 31 03:59 - 12:01 (08:02) reboot system boot 3.6.12-502.el6.x Fri May 29 07:17 - 12:01 (2+04:43) reboot system boot 3.6.12-502.el6.x Wed May 27 02:37 - 12:01 (4+09:23) reboot system boot 3.6.12-502.el6.x Tue May 26 16:42 - 16:43 (00:00) reboot system boot 3.6.12-502.el6.x Tue May 5 22:04 - 16:41 (20+18:36)
last -x | less
Display last shutdown times similar to the example below.
root pst/0 c-124-12-121-132 Sun May 31 10:17 still logged in run level (to lvl 3) 3.6.12-502.el6.x Sun May 31 03:59 - 12:02 (08:03) reboot system boot 3.6.12-502.el6.x Sun May 31 03:59 - 12:02 (08:03) root pts/0 c-124-12-121-132 Fri May 29 07:42 - crash (1+20:16) root pts/0 control.comphope Fri May 29 07:24 - 07:27 (00:03) runlevel (to lvl 3) 3.6.12-502.el6.x Fri May 29 07:17 - 03:59 (1+20:41) reboot system boot 3.6.12-502.el6.x Fri May 29 07:17 - 12:02 (2+04:45) root pts/1 c-124-12-121-132 Thu May 28 01:25 - crash (1+05:51) hope pts/0 c-124-12-121-132 Wed May 27 03:18 - crash (2+03:59) runlevel (to lvl 3) 3.6.12-502.el6.x Wed May 27 02:37 - 07:17 (2+04:39) reboot system boot 3.6.12-502.el6.x Wed May 27 02:37 - 12:02 (4+09:25) shutdown system down 3.6.12-502.el6.x Tue May 26 16:43 - 02:37 (09:54)
Related commands
who — Report which users are logged in to the system.