lastlog - reports the most recent login of all users or of a given user
Contents
Caveats
Large gaps in UID numbers will cause the lastlog program to run longer with no output to the screen (i.e.
if in lastlog database there is no entries for users with UID between 170 and 800 lastlog will appear to
hang as it processes entries with UIDs 171-799).
shadow-utils 4.8.1 02/06/2024 LASTLOG(8)
Configuration
The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the behavior of this tool:
LASTLOG_UID_MAX (number)
Highest user ID number for which the lastlog entries should be updated. As higher user IDs are
usually tracked by remote user identity and authentication services there is no need to create a huge
sparse lastlog file for them.
No LASTLOG_UID_MAX option present in the configuration means that there is no user ID limit for
writing lastlog entries.
Description
lastlog formats and prints the contents of the last login log /var/log/lastlog file. The login-name,
port, and lastlogintime will be printed. The default (no flags) causes lastlog entries to be printed,
sorted by their order in /etc/passwd.
Files
/var/log/lastlog
Database times of previous user logins.
Name
lastlog - reports the most recent login of all users or of a given user
Note
The lastlog file is a database which contains info on the last login of each user. You should not rotate
it. It is a sparse file, so its size on the disk is usually much smaller than the one shown by "ls-l"
(which can indicate a really big file if you have in passwd users with a high UID). You can display its
real size with "ls-s".
Options
The options which apply to the lastlog command are:
-b, --beforeDAYS
Print only lastlog records older than DAYS.
-C, --clear
Clear lastlog record of a user. This option can be used only together with -u (--user)).
-h, --help
Display help message and exit.
-R, --rootCHROOT_DIR
Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR
directory.
-S, --set
Set lastlog record of a user to the current time. This option can be used only together with -u
(--user)).
-t, --timeDAYS
Print the lastlog records more recent than DAYS.
-u, --userLOGIN|RANGE
Print the lastlog record of the specified user(s).
The users can be specified by a login name, a numerical user ID, or a RANGE of users. This RANGE of
users can be specified with a min and max values (UID_MIN-UID_MAX), a max value (-UID_MAX), or a min
value (UID_MIN-).
If the user has never logged in the message **Neverloggedin** will be displayed instead of the port
and time.
Only the entries for the current users of the system will be displayed. Other entries may exist for users
that were deleted previously.
Synopsis
lastlog [options]
