Why is lastlog so huge?
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).
Why is lastlog a sparse file?
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. The full block size is written to disk as the actual size only when the block contains “real” (non-empty) data.
What is the lastlog file in Linux?
/var/log/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.
Can I remove Lastlog in Linux?
Task: Clear last login information by deleting /var/log/lastlog. Press CTR+D to save the changes.
Can we delete Lastlog?
Can I delete wtmp file?
You can delete it. The next time somebody logs in/out the wtmp will be updated.
What is the wtmp file?
Wtmp is a file on the Linux, Solaris, and BSD operating systems that keeps a history of all logins and logouts. On Linux systems, it is located at /var/log/wtmp. Various commands access wtmp to report login statistics, including the who and lastb commands. Log, Operating system, Operating System terms.
How do I view a wtmp file?
We can also use the last command to read the content of the files wtmp, utmp and btmp as well. For example: # last -f /var/log/wtmp ### To open wtmp file and view its content use blow command. # last -f /var/run/utmp ### To see still logged in users view utmp file use last command.
What does wtmp and utmp files maintain?
utmp, wtmp and btmp utmp maintains a full accounting of the current status of the system, system boot time (used by uptime), recording user logins at which terminals, logouts, system events etc.
How big is the lastlog file in ESX?
The /var/log/lastlog file has very large size on a ESX host (1025579) The size of /var/log/lastlog file is very large, to the point of possible being larger than the underlying file system. [root@esx41vm log]# df -h .
How big is the lastlog file size in GB?
The partition is 4G (/var/log), however ls -lh /var/log/lastlog believes it is 465GB (four hundred and sixty-five GB). However, a df -PhT /var/log shows only 65M (sixty-five MB) being actually used. The /var/log is on an xfs local file system.
How to correct the improper file size of / var / log / lastlog?
To correct the improper file size of the /var/log/lastlog file, it needs to be recreated. To recreate the lastlog file, run this command: > /var/log/lastlog. Note: This command deletes any data on the lastlog file. This command deletes the previous file and removes any record of log in to the system.
What is a lastlog file in Windows 10?
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. You should ensure that the file is included in your “logrotate” configuration and that “logrotate” is enabled.