ARCHIVED: In Unix, why does the finger command sometimes report that I'm still logged into a particular host from which I've really logged out?
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The finger command can sometimes be deceptive, because it
reads the file /etc/utmp
to find out who is currently
logged in. If you are unexpectedly disconnected while logged in, for
example, the utmp
file may not get updated to reflect the
fact that you're no longer logged in. So even though you may not have
any processes running on the host, the finger
command may
still report that you are logged in.
At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see Get help for Linux or Unix at IU.
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Last modified on 2018-01-18 10:14:50.