# lastcomm

## NAME



           lastcomm -  print out information about previously executed
           commands.
    


## SYNOPSIS



           **lastcomm**
                  [ _command-name ..._  ]
                  [ _user-name ..._  ]
                  [ _terminal-name ..._  ]
                  [ OPTION ... ]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           **lastcomm** prints  out  information  about previously executed com‐
           mands.  If no arguments are specified, **lastcomm** will  print  info
           about  all  of  the commands in _acct_ (the record file).  If called
           with one or more of _command-name, user-name,_ or _terminal-name,_ on‐
           ly records containing those items will be displayed.  For example,
           to find out which users used command `a.out' and which users  were
           logged into `tty0', type:
                                  lastcomm a.out tty0
    
           This  will  print any entry for which `a.out' or `tty0' matches in
           any of the record's fields (command, name, or terminal).   If  you
           want  to  find only items that match *all* of the arguments on the
           command line, you must use the '-strict-match' option.  For  exam‐
           ple,  to  list all of the executions of command _a.out_ by user _root_
           on terminal _tty0,_ type:
             lastcomm --strict-match --command a.out --user root --tty tty0
    
           The order of the arguments is not important.
    
           For each entry the following information is printed:
              + command name of the process
              + flags, as recorded by the system accounting routines:
                   S -- command executed by super-user
                   F -- command executed after a fork but without a following
           exec
                   C -- command run in PDP-11 compatibility mode (VAX only)
                   D -- command terminated with the generation of a core file
                   X -- command was terminated with the signal SIGTERM
              + the name of the user who ran the process
              + time the process started
    


## OPTIONS



           **--strict-match**
                  Print only entries that match *all* of the arguments on the
                  command line.
           **--print-controls**
                  Print control characters.
           **--user** _name_
                  List records for user with _name._  This is useful if you're
                  trying to match a username that happens to be the same as a
                  command (e.g., _ed_ ).
           **--command** _name_
                  List records for command _name._
           **--tty** _name_
                  List records for tty _name._
           **--forwards**
                  Read file forwards instead of backwards. This avoids trying
                  to seek on the file and can be used to read from a pipe.
                  This must be specified prior to any **-f** arguments.
           **-f** _filename,_ **--file** _filename_
                  Read from the file _filename_ instead of _acct._  A filename of
                  "-" will result in reading from stdin. This must either be
                  the first **-f** option, or **--forwards** must precede all **-f** op‐
                  tions.
           **--ahz** _hz_
                  Use this flag to tell the program what **AHZ** should be (in
                  hertz).  This option is useful if you are trying to view an
                  _acct_ file created on another machine which has the same
                  byte order and file format as your current machine, but has
                  a different value for **AHZ.**
           **-p, --show-paging**
                  Print paging statistics.
           **--pid** Show PID and PPID of the process if acct version 3 format
                  is supported by kernel.
           **--pid** Add pid of the process and pid of the process parent to the
                  output (pid is the last but one and parent pid the last
                  column).  These values are shown only when they are gener‐
                  ated by acct function (depends on the version of kernel)
           **--debug**
                  Print verbose internal information.
           **-V, --version**
                  Print the version number of **lastcomm.**
           **-h, --help**
                  Prints the usage string and default locations of system
                  files to standard output and exits.
    


## FILES



           _acct_
                  The system wide process accounting file. See acct(5) (or
                  **pacct**(5)) for further details.  _/var/log/account_
                         This directory contains pacct files which contain
                         the binary process accounting data as written by the
                         kernel.
    


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