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GETUTXENT(3) FreeBSD Library Functions Manual GETUTXENT(3)
NAME
endutxent, getutxent, getutxid, getutxline, getutxuser, pututxline,
setutxdb, setutxent - user accounting database functions
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <utmpx.h>
void
endutxent(void);
struct utmpx *
getutxent(void);
struct utmpx *
getutxid(const struct utmpx *id);
struct utmpx *
getutxline(const struct utmpx *line);
struct utmpx *
getutxuser(const char *user);
struct utmpx *
pututxline(const struct utmpx *utmpx);
int
setutxdb(int type, const char *file);
void
setutxent(void);
DESCRIPTION
These functions operate on the user accounting database which stores
records of various system activities, such as user login and logouts, but
also system startups and shutdowns and modifications to the system's
clock. The system stores these records in three databases, each having a
different purpose:
/var/run/utx.active
Log of currently active user login sessions. This file is
similar to the traditional utmp file. This file only contains
process related entries, such as user login and logout records.
/var/log/utx.lastlogin
Log of last user login entries per user. This file is similar to
the traditional lastlog file. This file only contains user login
records for users who have at least logged in once.
/var/log/utx.log
Log of all entries, sorted by date of addition. This file is
similar to the traditional wtmp file. This file may contain any
type of record described below.
Each entry in these databases is defined by the structure utmpx found in
char ut_user[]; /* User login name. */
char ut_line[]; /* Device name. */
char ut_host[]; /* Remote hostname. */
};
The ut_type field indicates the type of the log entry, which can have one
of the following values:
EMPTY No valid user accounting information.
BOOT_TIME Identifies time of system boot.
SHUTDOWN_TIME Identifies time of system shutdown.
OLD_TIME Identifies time when system clock changed.
NEW_TIME Identifies time after system clock changed.
USER_PROCESS Identifies a process.
INIT_PROCESS Identifies a process spawned by the init process.
LOGIN_PROCESS Identifies the session leader of a logged-in user.
DEAD_PROCESS Identifies a session leader who has exited.
Entries of type INIT_PROCESS and LOGIN_PROCESS are not processed by this
implementation.
Other fields inside the structure are:
ut_tv The time the event occurred. This field is used for all types
of entries, except EMPTY.
ut_id An identifier that is used to refer to the entry. This
identifier can be used to remove or replace a login entry by
writing a new entry to the database containing the same value
for ut_id. This field is only applicable to entries of type
USER_PROCESS, INIT_PROCESS, LOGIN_PROCESS and DEAD_PROCESS.
ut_pid The process identifier of the session leader of the login
session. This field is only applicable to entries of type
USER_PROCESS, INIT_PROCESS, LOGIN_PROCESS and DEAD_PROCESS.
ut_user The user login name corresponding with the login session. This
field is only applicable to entries of type USER_PROCESS and
INIT_PROCESS. For INIT_PROCESS entries this entry typically
contains the name of the login process.
ut_line The name of the TTY character device, without the leading /dev/
prefix, corresponding with the device used to facilitate the
user login session. If no TTY character device is used, this
field is left blank. This field is only applicable to entries
of type USER_PROCESS and LOGIN_PROCESS.
ut_host The network hostname of the remote system, connecting to perform
a user login. If the user login session is not performed across
a network, this field is left blank. This field is only
applicable to entries of type USER_PROCESS.
accounting database.
The getutxid() function searches for the next entry in the database of
which the behaviour is based on the ut_type field of id. If ut_type has
a value of BOOT_TIME, SHUTDOWN_TIME, OLD_TIME or NEW_TIME, it will return
the next entry whose ut_type has an equal value. If ut_type has a value
of USER_PROCESS, INIT_PROCESS, LOGIN_PROCESS or DEAD_PROCESS, it will
return the next entry whose ut_type has one of the previously mentioned
values and whose ut_id is equal.
The getutxline() function searches for the next entry in the database
whose ut_type has a value of USER_PROCESS or LOGIN_PROCESS and whose
ut_line is equal to the same field in line.
The getutxuser() function searches for the next entry in the database
whose ut_type has a value of USER_PROCESS and whose ut_user is equal to
user.
The previously mentioned functions will automatically try to open the
user accounting database if not already done so. The setutxdb() and
setutxent() functions allow the database to be opened manually, causing
the offset within the user accounting database to be rewound. The
endutxent() function closes the database.
The setutxent() database always opens the active sessions database. The
setutxdb() function opens the database identified by type, whose value is
either UTXDB_ACTIVE, UTXDB_LASTLOGIN or UTXDB_LOG. It will open a custom
file with filename file instead of the system-default if file is not
null. Care must be taken that when using a custom filename, type still
has to match with the actual format, since each database may use its own
file format.
The pututxline() function writes record utmpx to the system-default user
accounting databases. The value of ut_type determines which databases
are modified.
Entries of type SHUTDOWN_TIME, OLD_TIME and NEW_TIME will only be written
to /var/log/utx.log.
Entries of type USER_PROCESS will also be written to /var/run/utx.active
and /var/log/utx.lastlogin.
Entries of type DEAD_PROCESS will only be written to /var/log/utx.log and
/var/run/utx.active if a corresponding USER_PROCESS, INIT_PROCESS or
LOGIN_PROCESS entry whose ut_id is equal has been found in the latter.
In addition, entries of type BOOT_TIME and SHUTDOWN_TIME will cause all
existing entries in /var/run/utx.active to be discarded.
All entries whose type has not been mentioned previously, are discarded
by this implementation of pututxline(). This implementation also ignores
the value of ut_tv.
RETURN VALUES
The getutxent(), getutxid(), getutxline(), and getutxuser() functions
return a pointer to an utmpx structure that matches the mentioned
constraints on success or NULL when reaching the end-of-file or when an
error occurs.
The setutxdb() function returns 0 if the user accounting database was
opened successfully. Otherwise, -1 is returned and the global variable
errno is set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
In addition to the error conditions described in open(2), fdopen(3),
fopen(3), fseek(3), the pututxline() function can generate the following
errors:
[ESRCH] The value of ut_type is DEAD_PROCESS, and the process
entry could not be found.
[EINVAL] The value of ut_type is not supported by this
implementation.
In addition to the error conditions described in fopen(3), the setutxdb()
function can generate the following errors:
[EINVAL] The type argument contains a value not supported by
this implementation.
[EFTYPE] The file format is invalid.
SEE ALSO
last(1), write(1), getpid(2), gettimeofday(2), tty(4), ac(8),
newsyslog(8), utx(8)
STANDARDS
The endutxent(), getutxent(), getutxid(), getutxline() and setutxent()
functions are expected to conform to IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 ("POSIX.1").
The pututxline() function deviates from the standard by writing its
records to multiple database files, depending on its ut_type. This
prevents the need for special utility functions to update the other
databases, such as the updlastlogx() and updwtmpx() functions which are
available in other implementations. It also tries to replace
DEAD_PROCESS entries in the active sessions database when storing
USER_PROCESS entries and no entry with the same value for ut_id has been
found. The standard always requires a new entry to be allocated, which
could cause an unbounded growth of the database.
The getutxuser() and setutxdb() functions, the ut_host field of the utmpx
structure and SHUTDOWN_TIME are extensions.
HISTORY
These functions appeared in FreeBSD 9.0. They replaced the <utmp.h>
interface.
AUTHORS
Ed Schouten <ed@FreeBSD.org>
FreeBSD 14.0-RELEASE-p11 October 27, 2011 FreeBSD 14.0-RELEASE-p11