Monitoring Tools
- 0
- Add a Comment
- No Related Post
Monitoring Tools
Whether you’re a system administrator or a home user, it’s useful to know and understand the tools for monitoring your system. While some might see it as intrusive, the ability to monitor users is a great tools for managing the resources of your system. In the end, if resources are allocated accordingly and everyone’s usage experience is enhanced, then monitoring the usage patterns of your users is a benefit for all.
One of the tools in Linux for monitoring user activity is last. last works by parsing through the /var/log/wtmp file for all users who have logged in since the file was created. Given that this can be a huge list, list also recognizes several command line options for filtering the returned data. The syntax for the last command is:
last [option] [name] [tty]
The following is a list of the options available to the last command:
| Option | Action |
| -num or -n | Indicates how many last lines of the wtmp file to display |
| -R | Suppresses the display of the hostname field |
| -a | Displays the hostname |
| -d | Translates remote IP number back to domain name |
| -i | Displays remote IP in dots-and-numbers notation |
| -o | Reads an old style wtmp file |
| -x | Displays only system shutdown and run level change entries |
Using the last command, you’ll be able to get a good picture of usage patterns on your Linux system.