bsd man page for last

LAST(1) 						      General Commands Manual							   LAST(1)

NAME
       last - indicate last logins of users and teletypes

SYNOPSIS
       last [ -f filename ] [ -N ] [ name ...  ] [ tty ...  ]

DESCRIPTION
       Last  will  look  back in the wtmp file which records all logins and logouts for information about a user, a teletype or any group of users
       and teletypes.  Arguments specify names of users or teletypes of interest.  Names of teletypes may be  given  fully  or	abbreviated.   For
       example	`last  0'  is  the same as `last tty0'.  If multiple arguments are given, the information which applies to any of the arguments is
       printed.  For example `last root console' would list all of "root's" sessions as well as all sessions on the console terminal.	Last  will
       print  the  sessions of the specified users and teletypes, most recent first, indicating the times at which the session began, the duration
       of the session, and the teletype which the session took place on.  If the session is still continuing or was cut short by a reboot, last so
       indicates.

       The pseudo-user reboot logs in at reboots of the system, thus

	    last reboot

       will give an indication of mean time between reboot.

       Last  with  no arguments prints a record of all logins and logouts, in reverse order.  The -f filename option allows the user to examine an
       alternate wtmp file.  The -N option limits the report to N lines.

       If last is interrupted, it indicates how far the search has progressed in wtmp.	If interrupted with a quit signal  (generated  by  a  con-
       trol-) last indicates how far the search has progressed so far, and the search continues.

FILES
       /usr/adm/wtmp	   login data base
       /usr/adm/shutdownlog	which records shutdowns and reasons for same

SEE ALSO
       wtmp(5), ac(8), lastcomm(1)

AUTHOR
       Howard Katseff

4th Berkeley Distribution					  April 29, 1985							   LAST(1)