What is lastlog in var log?
/var/log/lastlog is a binary file that holds information about the last time that users logged in to the system. The lastlog file is a sparse file, which means that the apparent size reported by “ls -l” is larger than the actual disk usage of the file(du), because not all blocks in the file are allocated on disk.
Can I remove var log lastlog?
On the Linux systems there are three standard commands that show the information about last logged in users: last , lastb , and lastlog ….HowTo: Clear or Remove Last Login History in Linux.
| Command | Logfile | Description |
|---|---|---|
| lastb | /var/log/btmp | Shows the bad login attempts |
| lastlog | /var/log/lastlog | Shows the most recent login |
Why is the VAR log lastlog file so large?
Answer. The file is a sparse file and is not actually taking up as much physical space as it shows. lastlog records the last login of each user. The large size merely shows you the potential size of the file if there were a maximum amount of users (around 2^32 users).
How do I disable lastlog?
how do i disable writing to /var/log/lastlog file. In our system we had to use a vfat file system for /var/log and since it doesn’t support sparse files, our lastlog file gets real huge….1 Answer
- Make the file immutable with chattr.
- ln -s it to /dev/null.
- Delete it and create a directory with the same name.
What type of file is lastlog?
lastlog is a program available on most Linux distributions. It formats and prints the contents of the last login log file, /var/log/lastlog (which is a usually a very sparse file), including the login name, port, and last login date and time.
How do I turn off lastlog?
What is lastlog command in Linux?
What files are in var log?
The main log file a) /var/log/messages – Contains global system messages, including the messages that are logged during system startup. There are several things that are logged in /var/log/messages including mail, cron, daemon, kern, auth, etc.
What does var log messages show?
/var/log/messages – This file has all the global system messages located inside, including the messages that are logged during system startup. Depending on how the syslog config file is sent up, there are several things that are logged in this file including mail, cron, daemon, kern, auth, etc.
How do I view VAR logs?
/var/log. This is such a crucial folder on your Linux systems. Open up a terminal window and issue the command cd /var/log. Now issue the command ls and you will see the logs housed within this directory (Figure 1).
How do I find var log messages?
Linux logs will display with the command cd/var/log. Then, you can type ls to see the logs stored under this directory. One of the most important logs to view is the syslog, which logs everything but auth-related messages.
How do I get var log messages?
Firstly, you need to open the command-line shell via the shortcut key “Ctrl+Alt+T”. After opening it, we will be utilizing the “tail” command with the “-f” flag to check the logs in the “/var/log/messages”.
How do I get the command prompt log?
Open Run window using the shortcut Windows+ R. Type “cmd” and click enter to open Command Prompt window. Type “eventvwr” in the prompt and click enter.
What is lastlog file?
07-04-2008 05:38 AM That file is a log for sessions on your system, and you examine it by using lastlog. Every time a users login/logout from your system, the file is updated.
Why can’t Pam_lastlog update lastlog?
For the login service, it is the postlogin line with silent, noupdate & showfailed that is used. noupdate apparently means that pam_lastlog should not update any file. So this line does not allow pam_lastlog to update lastlog.
How do I fix a log file that keeps logging?
The best fix is to find and fix the problem causing all those log messages. Another way to avoid the problem is Stop the logging service, use lsof to ensure no other processes have the file open, then truncate the file, and restart logging.
How to fix a sparse log file?
By “truncating the file”, without informing (or restarting) the programs that are writing to the log file, YOU have caused the sparse file. The best fix is to find and fix the problem causing all those log messages.