Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!sdd.hp.com!hp-pcd!hpfcso!hpfcdc!rodean
From: rodean@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Bruce Rodean)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: Problems with wtmp not growing without bounds
Message-ID: <5570581@hpfcdc.HP.COM>
Date: 13 Mar 91 02:30:03 GMT
References: <237@nos850.UUCP>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Ft. Collins, CO.
Lines: 26

In article <237@nos850.UUCP> joem@nos850.UUCP (Joe Muller) writes:
>   The title says it all.  Anybody have any ideas as to why the file
> /etc/wtmp on our 9000/850 does not grow without bounds ?  Typically
> it gets no larger then 200 bytes, but it still contains the most
> recent login information.  As far as I know, there are no crons
> out there that are cutting it down to size.

Are you sure you mean /etc/wtmp.  The file /etc/utmp is a relatively
steady-state file in terms of size.  It contains information related to
who is logged in (as reported by who for example) and when the system
booted up.  The file /etc/wtmp contains time-stamped data and should be
growing as long as users are logging in and out.  Other information kept
there is when the system date was changed via the date command, when the
system booted up, and when other system events occurred.  If no one is
logging in and out, you aren't rebooting the system, or changing the
date, then /etc/wtmp will not grow either (or it will very slowly).

One common function that truncates /etc/wtmp is system accounting.  The
nightly accounting script /usr/lib/acct/runacct will consume /etc/wtmp
to get session accounting records.  Is that being run from cron?

Execute 'fwtmp < /etc/utmp | more' and 'fwtmp < /etc/wtmp | more'.
You'll see what is stored there.

Bruce Rodean
rodean@hpfclg.fc.hp.com