Also, reword some things for better flow, improve some markup, and combine username and tty to [username|tty]... in the synopsis, as this better indicates that the two identifiers can be mixed. Furthermore, use quotes around the time formats that contain a space, as otherwise the time would be understood as a user name / tty name. Drop the "tomorrow" and "+5min" examples, as they don't make sense here. And change the "-5days" example to a true format that covers most possibilities, and give a few examples of it after the table. Signed-off-by: Benno Schulenberg <bensberg@xxxxxxxxxx> --- login-utils/last.1.adoc | 77 +++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------- 1 file changed, 47 insertions(+), 30 deletions(-) diff --git a/login-utils/last.1.adoc b/login-utils/last.1.adoc index 8da52c766..adf82ae73 100644 --- a/login-utils/last.1.adoc +++ b/login-utils/last.1.adoc @@ -29,15 +29,21 @@ last, lastb - show a listing of last logged in users == SYNOPSIS -*last* [options] [_username_...] [_tty_...] +*last* [options] [_username_|_tty_]... -*lastb* [options] [_username_...] [_tty_...] +*lastb* [options] [_username_|_tty_]... == DESCRIPTION -*last* searches back through the _/var/log/wtmp_ file (or the file designated by the *-f* option) and displays a list of all users logged in (and out) since that file was created. One or more _usernames_ and/or _ttys_ can be given, in which case *last* will show only the entries matching those arguments. Names of _ttys_ can be abbreviated, thus *last 0* is the same as *last tty0*. +*last* searches back through the _/var/log/wtmp_ file (or the file given with the *-f* option) +and displays a list of all users who logged in (and out) since that file was created. +One or more _usernames_ and/or _ttys_ can be given, in which case *last* will show only +the entries matching those arguments. (Names of _ttys_ can be abbreviated, thus *last 0* +is the same as *last tty0*.) -When catching a *SIGINT* signal (generated by the interrupt key, usually control-C) or a *SIGQUIT* signal, *last* will show how far it has searched through the file; in the case of the *SIGINT* signal *last* will then terminate. +When catching a *SIGINT* or *SIGQUIT* signal, *last* will show how far it has searched through +the file, and in case of the *SIGINT* signal (generated by the interrupt key, usually control-C) +*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 the reboots since the log file was created. @@ -46,32 +52,37 @@ The pseudo user *reboot* logs in each time the system is rebooted. Thus *last re == OPTIONS *-a*, *--hostlast*:: -Display the hostname in the last column. Useful in combination with the *--dns* option. +Display the hostname in the last column. Useful in combination with the *-d* option. *-d*, *--dns*:: 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*, *--file* _file_:: -Tell *last* to use a specific _file_ instead of _/var/log/wtmp_. The *--file* option can be given multiple times, and all of the specified files will be processed. +Tell *last* to use a specific _file_ instead of _/var/log/wtmp_. The *-f* option +can be given multiple times, and all of the specified files will be processed. *-F*, *--fulltimes*:: Print full login and logout times and dates. *-i*, *--ip*:: -Like *--dns ,* but displays the host's IP number instead of the name. +Like *-d*, but displays the host's IP number instead of the name. -**-**__number__; *-n*, *--limit* _number_:: -Tell *last* how many lines to show. +*-n*, *--limit* _number_:: +The maximum amount of logins to show. + +**-**_number_:: +The same as *-n* _number_. *-p*, *--present* _time_:: -Display the users who were present at the specified time. +Display the users who were present at the specified _time_. +For ways to specify _time_, see the section *TIME FORMATS* below. *-R*, *--nohostname*:: Suppresses the display of the hostname field. *-s*, *--since* _time_:: Display the state of logins since the specified _time_. -The option is often combined with *-t*/*--until* to cover a period. +The option can be combined with *-t* to cover a period. *-t*, *--until* _time_:: Display the state of logins until the specified _time_. @@ -80,10 +91,18 @@ Display the state of logins until the specified _time_. Use ASCII *tab* characters to separate the columns in the output instead of spaces. *--time-format* _format_:: -Define the output timestamp _format_ to be one of _notime_, _short_, _full_, or _iso_. The _notime_ variant will not print any timestamps at all, _short_ is the default, and _full_ is the same as the *--fulltimes* option. The _iso_ variant will display the timestamp in ISO-8601 format. The ISO format contains timezone information, making it preferable when printouts are investigated outside of the system. +Define the appearance of the timestamp to be one of: *notime*, *short*, *full*, or *iso*. +The *notime* variant will not print any timestamps at all, *short* is the default, +and *full* is the same as the *--fulltimes* option. +The *iso* variant will display the timestamp in ISO-8601 format. +The ISO format contains timezone information, making it preferable when +printouts are investigated outside of the system. *-w*, *--fullnames*:: -Display full user names and domain names / IP addresses in the output. Domain names and IP addresses are truncated to 16 characters, and user names are truncated to 8 characters when this flag is not specified. An asterisk is set as the last character of truncated fields. +Display full user names and domain names / IP addresses. +When this option is not specified, user names are truncated to 8 characters, +and domain names and IP addresses to 16 characters. +An asterisk is shown as the last character of truncated fields. *-x*, *--system*:: Display the system shutdown entries and run level changes. @@ -92,23 +111,21 @@ include::man-common/help-version.adoc[] == TIME FORMATS -The options that take the _time_ argument understand the following formats: - -[cols=",",] -|=== -|YYYYMMDDhhmmss | -|YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss | -|YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm |(seconds will be set to 00) -|YYYY-MM-DD |(time will be set to 00:00:00) -|hh:mm:ss |(date will be set to today) -|hh:mm |(date will be set to today, seconds to 00) -|now | -|yesterday |(time is set to 00:00:00) -|today |(time is set to 00:00:00) -|tomorrow |(time is set to 00:00:00) -|+5min | -|-5days | -|=== +The argument _time_ allows the following forms: +.... + YYYYMMDDhhmmss + "YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss" + "YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm" (seconds is 00) + YYYY-MM-DD (time is 00:00:00) + hh:mm:ss (date is today) + hh:mm (date is today, seconds is 00) + now + today (time is 00:00:00) + yesterday (time is 00:00:00) + -number[smhd] (seconds/minutes/hours/days before now) +.... +Examples of the **-**_number_[*smhd*] format are: *-5m*, *-6h*, *-2d*. +The unit specifier may be longer: *-5min*, *-6hours*, *-2days*. == FILES -- 2.48.1
