Databases accessible through pyutmpxΒΆ

pyutmpx allows accessing a number of databases within the system:

  • utmp is a minimal list of events that allows a user to understand the current system status.

  • wtmp is a full list of events, and acts like a historical utmp.

  • btmp is a list of failed login attempts.

  • lastlog is a list of last logins.

These files are available through formats varying between systems, even within systems where one file can be available with the POSIX compliant format and the historic format. pyutmpx makes use of the C APIs to abstract these difficulties away from your code.

Descriptions for these files can be found on the following pages:

  • utmp, from Wikipedia.

  • utmpx.h, from the Single Unix Specification.

  • lastlog(5), from the FreeBSD 5.0 manpages.