Command to check Last Login or Reboot History of Users and TTYs

last is the command that you can make use of the get details of last login or reboots for users and ttys on a Unix or Linux distributions.

Example on macOS:

% last
code2care  ttys001                   Mon Nov  7 17:02   still logged in
code2care  ttys001                   Mon Nov  7 16:04 - 16:04  (00:00)
code2care  console                   Mon Nov  7 11:38   still logged in
reboot    ~                         Mon Nov  7 11:36 
code2care  ttys000                   Sat Nov  5 16:08 - 16:08  (00:00)
code2care  console                   Thu Nov  3 11:33 - 23:41 (3+12:08)
reboot    ~                         Thu Nov  3 11:31 
code2care  ttys001                   Wed Nov  2 18:13 - 18:13  (00:00)
code2care  console                   Tue Nov  1 11:05 - 01:09 (1+14:04)
reboot    ~                         Tue Nov  1 11:02 
shutdown  ~                         Tue Nov  1 01:07 
code2care  ttys002                   Mon Oct 31 19:10 - 19:10  (00:00)

wtmp begins Fri Oct 21 16:08

Command to know a specific user details

To find details for a specific user, you can pass in the username as a parameter,

Example on Ubuntu Linux Server:

# last root

last code2care
root  ttys001                   Mon Nov  7 17:02   still logged in
root  ttys001                   Mon Nov  7 16:04 - 16:04  (00:00)
root  ttys000                   Mon Nov  7 13:02   still logged in
root  ttys001                   Mon Nov  7 12:56 - 12:56  (00:00)
root  ttys000                   Mon Nov  7 11:46 - 11:46  (00:00)
root  console                   Mon Nov  7 11:38   still logged in
root  ttys000                   Sat Nov  5 16:08 - 16:08  (00:00)

wtmp begins Fri Oct 21 16:08

Command to know Last reboot times

# last reboot

reboot    ~                         Mon Nov  7 11:36 
reboot    ~                         Thu Nov  3 11:31 
reboot    ~                         Tue Nov  1 11:02 
reboot    ~                         Thu Oct 27 11:29 
reboot    ~                         Mon Oct 24 10:29 
reboot    ~                         Fri Oct 21 16:08

Facing issues? Have Questions? Post them here! I am happy to answer!

Author Info:

Rakesh is a seasoned developer with over 10 years of experience in web and app development, and a deep knowledge of operating systems. Author of insightful How-To articles for Code2care.

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