LAST(1) | General Commands Manual | LAST(1)

# NAME

`last` — indicate last logins of users, ttys, and hosts

# SYNOPSIS

`last` | [`-csT`] [`-d` date] [`-f` file] [`-h` host] [`-n` number] [`-t` tty] [user ...]

# DESCRIPTION

The `last` utility will either list the sessions of specified users, ttys, and hosts, in reverse time order, or list the users logged in at a specified snapshot date and time in reverse time order. Each line of output contains the user name, the tty from which the session was conducted, any hostname, the start and stop times for the session, and the duration of the session. If the session is still continuing or was cut short by a crash or shutdown, `last` will so indicate.

The options are as follows:

`-c`
  Calculates the total time displayed and prints it after the output.
`-d` date
  Specify the snapshot date and time. All users logged in at the snapshot date and time will be reported. This may be used with the `-f` option to derive the results from stored wtmp files. When this argument is provided, all other options except for `-f` and `-n` are ignored. The argument should be in the form “[[[CC]YY]MMDD]hhmm[.SS]” where each pair of letters represents the following:

  CC
    The first two digits of the year (the century).
  YY
    The second two digits of the year. If “YY” is specified, but “CC” is not, a value for “YY” between 69 and 99 results in a “CC” value of 19. Otherwise, a “CC” value of 20 is used.
  MM
    Month of the year, from 1 to 12.
  DD
    Day of the month, from 1 to 31.
  hh
    Hour of the day, from 0 to 23.
  mm
    Minute of the hour, from 0 to 59.
  SS
    Second of the minute, from 0 to 61.

  All but the “hh” and “mm” letter pairs are optional. If the “CC” and “YY” letter pairs are not specified, the values default to the current year. If the “MM” and “DD” letter pairs are not specified, the values default to the current month and day. If the “SS” letter pair is not specified, the value defaults to 0.

`-f` file
  `last` reads the file file instead of the default, /var/log/wtmp.
`-h` host
  host names may be names or internet numbers.
`-n` number
  Limits the report to number lines. The format `-`number is also supported, but is deprecated.
`-s`
  Display time values in seconds since the Epoch, instead of formatted dates.
`-T`
  Display better time information, including seconds.
`-t` tty
  Specify the tty. tty names may be given fully or abbreviated, for example, `last -t 03` is equivalent to `last -t tty03`.

If multiple arguments are given, and a snapshot time is not specified, the information which applies to any of the arguments is printed, e.g., `last root -t console` would list all of `root`'s sessions as well as all sessions on the console terminal. If no users, hostnames, or terminals are specified, `last` prints a record of all logins and logouts.

The pseudo-user “reboot” logs in at reboots of the system; thus `last reboot` will give an indication of mean time between reboot.

If `last` is interrupted, it indicates to what date the search has progressed. If interrupted with a quit signal, `last` indicates how far the search has progressed and then continues.

# FILES

/var/log/wtmp
  login database

# SEE ALSO

lastcomm(1), utmp(5), ac(8)

# HISTORY

The `last` utility first appeared in 1BSD.

# AUTHORS

The original version was written by Howard P. Katseff; Keith Bostic rewrote it in 1986/87 to add functionality and to improve code quality.

December 31, 2011 | Debian