[gentoo-user] what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[gentoo-user] what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[Philip Webb]

In  /var/log/  there is a file  wtmp , which is  24 MB  & owned by  utmp .
It is in binary format & is updated when I reboot.

Can anyone explain what it's for & whether it cb safely deleted ?

-- 
========================,,============================================
SUPPORT     ___________//___,   Philip Webb
ELECTRIC   /] [] [] [] [] []|   Cities Centre, University of Toronto
TRANSIT    `-O----------O---'   purslowatchassdotutorontodotca

Re: [gentoo-user] what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[Einux]

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this file stores previous login sessions since the system existed.
It's OK to delete that file if only for regular use.

On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 9:28 PM, Philip Webb <purslow@ca.inter.net> wrote:

> In  /var/log/  there is a file  wtmp , which is  24 MB  & owned by  utmp .
> It is in binary format & is updated when I reboot.
>
> Can anyone explain what it's for & whether it cb safely deleted ?
>
> --
> ========================,,============================================
> SUPPORT     ___________//___,   Philip Webb
> ELECTRIC   /] [] [] [] [] []|   Cities Centre, University of Toronto
> TRANSIT    `-O----------O---'   purslowatchassdotutorontodotca
>
>
>


-- 
Best Regards,
Einux

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Re: [gentoo-user] what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[Alex Schuster]

Philip Webb writes:

> In  /var/log/  there is a file  wtmp , which is  24 MB  & owned by  utmp
> . It is in binary format & is updated when I reboot.

> Can anyone explain what it's for & whether it cb safely deleted ?

It tracks logins, you can use the 'last' command to show its contents. I'm 
pretty sure it's safe to delete it, but you should create it as empty file 
afterwards (touch /var/log/wtmp), otherwise the system will not make use of 
it again.
If wou want to get the space, I suggest compressing the file, it will be 
much much smaller then:

  bzip2 -v /var/log/wtmp
  touch /var/log/wtmp

Also see the man pages for wtmp and last.

	Wonko

Re: [gentoo-user] what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[Philip Webb]

110325 Alex Schuster wrote:
> Philip Webb writes:
>> In  /var/log/  there is a file  wtmp , which is  24 MB  & owned by  utmp
>> . It is in binary format & is updated when I reboot.
>> Can anyone explain what it's for & whether it cb safely deleted ?
> It tracks logins, you can use the 'last' command to show its contents.
> I'm pretty sure it's safe to delete it,
> but you should create it as empty file afterwards
> -- 'touch /var/log/wtmp' -- ,
> otherwise the system will not make use of it again.
> If wou want to get the space, I suggest compressing the file,
> it will be much much smaller then:
> 
>   bzip2 -v /var/log/wtmp
>   touch /var/log/wtmp
> 
> Also see the man pages for wtmp and last.

Thanks & to the other respondent.  I'll decide how to handle it.

-- 
========================,,============================================
SUPPORT     ___________//___,   Philip Webb
ELECTRIC   /] [] [] [] [] []|   Cities Centre, University of Toronto
TRANSIT    `-O----------O---'   purslowatchassdotutorontodotca

Re: [gentoo-user] what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[Paul Hartman]

On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Philip Webb <purslow@ca.inter.net> wrote:
> 110325 Alex Schuster wrote:
>> Philip Webb writes:
>>> In  /var/log/  there is a file  wtmp , which is  24 MB  & owned by  utmp
>>> . It is in binary format & is updated when I reboot.
>>> Can anyone explain what it's for & whether it cb safely deleted ?
>> It tracks logins, you can use the 'last' command to show its contents.
>> I'm pretty sure it's safe to delete it,
>> but you should create it as empty file afterwards
>> -- 'touch /var/log/wtmp' -- ,
>> otherwise the system will not make use of it again.
>> If wou want to get the space, I suggest compressing the file,
>> it will be much much smaller then:
>>
>>   bzip2 -v /var/log/wtmp
>>   touch /var/log/wtmp
>>
>> Also see the man pages for wtmp and last.
>
> Thanks & to the other respondent.  I'll decide how to handle it.

"man wtmp" will also give you much detailed info about what's in the
file, which programs write to it, how to use it in your own programs,
etc. in case you're interested in that.

Re: [gentoo-user] what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[Philip Webb]

110325 Alex Schuster wrote:
> Philip Webb writes:
>> In  /var/log/  there is a file  wtmp , which is  24 MB  & owned by  utmp
>> Can anyone explain what it's for & whether it cb safely deleted ?
> It tracks logins, you can use the 'last' command to show its contents.
> If wou want to get the space, I suggest compressing the file,
>   bzip2 -v /var/log/wtmp

Yes! -- it fell from  24 MB  to  444 KB ! -- most of it is repetitious.
It's just started a new 'wtmp' after a reboot, good for another  4,5 yr .

-- 
========================,,============================================
SUPPORT     ___________//___,   Philip Webb
ELECTRIC   /] [] [] [] [] []|   Cities Centre, University of Toronto
TRANSIT    `-O----------O---'   purslowatchassdotutorontodotca

[gentoo-user] Re: what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[Jörg Schaible]

Philip Webb wrote:

> 110325 Alex Schuster wrote:
>> Philip Webb writes:
>>> In  /var/log/  there is a file  wtmp , which is  24 MB  & owned by  utmp
>>> Can anyone explain what it's for & whether it cb safely deleted ?
>> It tracks logins, you can use the 'last' command to show its contents.
>> If wou want to get the space, I suggest compressing the file,
>> bzip2 -v /var/log/wtmp
> 
> Yes! -- it fell from  24 MB  to  444 KB ! -- most of it is repetitious.
> It's just started a new 'wtmp' after a reboot, good for another  4,5 yr .

Simply install logrotate. It delivers already a setup to clean it up once a 
month automatically.

- Jörg