reboot
and shutdown
are pseudo-users for system reboot and shutdown, respectively. That's the mechanism for logging that information, with kernel versions to same place, without creating any special formats for the wtmp binary file.
Quote from man wtmp
:
The wtmp
file records all logins and logouts. Its format is exactly like utmp
except that a null username indicates a logout on the associated terminal. Furthermore, the terminal name ~
with username shutdown
or reboot
indicates a system shutdown or reboot and the pair of terminal names |
/ }
logs the old/new system time when date(1) changes it.
wtmp binary file do not save other than timestamp for events. For example, last
calculates additional things, such as login times.
reboot system boot 2.6.32-28-generi Mon Feb 21 17:02 - 18:09 (01:07)
...
user pts/0 :0.0 Sat Feb 12 18:52 - 18:52 (00:00)
user tty7 :0 Sat Feb 12 18:52 - 20:53 (02:01)
reboot system boot 2.6.32-28-generi Sat Feb 12 08:31 - 18:09 (9+09:37)
The last column (in parentheses) is the length of event. For the user reboot
, it's uptime.
After the latest reboot, time is current uptime. For earlier reboots, time is uptime after that reboot (so in the last line of my example it's uptime until the first line; there were no reboots in between). Number(s) before + means number of days. In the last line, it's 9 days, 9 hours and 37 minutes, and in the first line current uptime is 1 hour and 7 minutes.
Note, however, that this time is not always accurate — for example, after a system crash and unusual restart sequence. last
calculates it as the time between it and next reboot/shutdown.