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How to use psacct or acct Tools in Linux

786

To Monitor User Activity with psacct or acct Tools in Linux

Steps to monitor User Activity with psacct or acct Tools is explained in this article. This application runs in the background that track the each users activity in the system.

Features

ac - used to prints the statistics of user logins/logouts in hours.
lastcomm - used to prints the previously executed commands information.
accton - used to turn on/off accounting process.
sa - to get information of commands, which is previously executed.
last and lastb - it shows the list of user' s last logged.

To Install psacct or acct Packages

Run the following command to install psacct package.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# dnf install psacct
Last metadata expiration check performed 0:16:28 ago on Wed May 25 12:19:21 2016.
Dependencies resolved.
================================================================================
 Package         Arch            Version                  Repository       Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 psacct          x86_64          6.6.2-3.fc23             fedora           98 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install  1 Package
Total download size: 98 k
Installed size: 203 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
[MIRROR] psacct-6.6.2-3.fc23.x86_64.rpm: Curl error (7): Couldn' t connect to server for http://kartolo.sby.datautama.net.id/fedora/releases/23/Everything/x86_64/os/Packages/p/psacct-6.6.2-3.fc23.x86_64.rpm [Failed to connect to kartolo.sby.datautama.net.id port 80: Connection refused]
psacct-6.6.2-3.fc23.x86_64.rpm                   62 kB/s |  98 kB     00:01    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                            28 kB/s |  98 kB     00:03     
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
  Installing  : psacct-6.6.2-3.fc23.x86_64                                  1/1 
  Verifying   : psacct-6.6.2-3.fc23.x86_64                                  1/1 
Installed:
  psacct.x86_64 6.6.2-3.fc23                                                    
Complete!

To Start psacct or acct service

Start psacct service manually and check the status of service by using the following command.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# systemctl start psacct.service
[root@linuxhelp ~]# systemctl status psacct.service
? psacct.service - Kernel process accounting
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/psacct.service  disabled  vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (exited) since Wed 2016-05-25 12:38:41 BST  1min 6s ago
  Process: 3891 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/accton /var/account/pacct (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
  Process: 3888 ExecStartPre=/usr/libexec/psacct/accton-create (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
 Main PID: 3891 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)

May 25 12:38:41 linuxhelp systemd[1]: Starting Kernel process accounting...
May 25 12:38:41 linuxhelp accton[3891]: Turning on process accounting, file ....
May 25 12:38:41 linuxhelp systemd[1]: Started Kernel process accounting.
May 25 12:39:07 linuxhelp systemd[1]: Started Kernel process accounting.
Hint: Some lines were ellipsized, use -l to show in full.

To Display Statistics of Users Connect Time

The total statistics of connect time in hours based on the user logins/logouts from the current wtmp file will be displayed by using the ' ac' command without specifying any argument.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# ac
    total       29.49

To Display Statistics of Users Day-wise

To list out the total login time in hours by day-wise use ' ac -d' command.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# ac -d
May 18    total       11.20
May 21    total       17.83
Today    total        0.48

To Display Time Totals for each User

Print the total login time of each user in hours, run the ' ac -p' command.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# ac -p
    user1                               29.51
    total       29.51

To Display Individual User Time

Use the following command, to get the users total login statistics time.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# ac user1
    total       29.04

To Display Day-Wise Logn Time of User

Print the users day-wise total login time in hours by using the following command.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# ac -d user1
May 18    total       11.20
May 21    total       17.83
Today    total        0.02

To Print All Account Activity Information

List all the summary of commands which is executed by users, use the ' sa' command.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sa
     262      18.69re       0.12cp         0avio     25393k
       2      18.63re       0.11cp         0avio         0k   kworker/dying*
       2       0.01re       0.01cp         0avio     90672k   dnf
     117       0.02re       0.00cp         0avio     22032k   pkla-check-auth
      96       0.00re       0.00cp         0avio     30144k   bash*
      19       0.00re       0.00cp         0avio     31344k   sed
       6       0.00re       0.00cp         0avio      2375k   lastcomm
       5       0.00re       0.00cp         0avio      1081k   ac
       4       0.01re       0.00cp         0avio     67454k   ***other*
       4       0.00re       0.00cp         0avio      2118k   sa
       3       0.01re       0.00cp         0avio     33312k   systemctl
       2       0.00re       0.00cp         0avio       522k   accton
       2       0.00re       0.00cp         0avio      2738k   systemd-cgroups

To Print Individual User Information

Execute the options ' -u' to know the information of individual user.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sa -u
root       0.00 cpu     1044k mem      0 io accton          
root       0.00 cpu     4376k mem      0 io systemd-tty-ask 
root       0.00 cpu    71152k mem      0 io pkttyagent      
root       0.00 cpu    33312k mem      0 io systemctl        
root       0.00 cpu    30144k mem      0 io bash            *
root       0.00 cpu    30144k mem      0 io bash            *
polkitd    0.01 cpu    22032k mem      0 io pkla-check-auth 
polkitd    0.01 cpu    22032k mem      0 io pkla-check-auth 
.
.
.
.
root       0.00 cpu    30144k mem      0 io bash            *
root       0.00 cpu    31344k mem      0 io sed             
root       0.00 cpu    30144k mem      0 io bash            *
root       0.00 cpu    30144k mem      0 io bash            *
root       0.00 cpu    30144k mem      0 io bash            *
root       0.00 cpu    30144k mem      0 io bash            *
root       0.00 cpu    33312k mem      0 io systemctl       
root       0.00 cpu        0k mem      0 io accton   

To Print Number of Processes

Execute the below command to print the total number of processes and CPU minutes.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sa -m
                                      262      18.69re       0.12cp         0avio     25393k
root                                  145      18.67re       0.12cp         0avio     28104k
polkitd                               117       0.02re       0.00cp         0avio     22032k

To Print Sort by Percentage

To print the highest percentage of users then execute the ' sa -c' command.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# sa -c
     262  100.00%      18.69re  100.00%       0.12cp  100.00%         0avio     25393k
       2    0.76%      18.63re   99.69%       0.11cp   86.72%         0avio         0k   kworker/dying*
       2    0.76%       0.01re    0.07%       0.01cp    9.89%         0avio     90672k   dnf
     117   44.66%       0.02re    0.10%       0.00cp    3.39%         0avio     22032k   pkla-check-auth
      96   36.64%       0.00re    0.02%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio     30144k   bash*
      19    7.25%       0.00re    0.00%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio     31344k   sed
       6    2.29%       0.00re    0.00%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio      2375k   lastcomm
       5    1.91%       0.00re    0.00%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio      1081k   ac
       4    1.53%       0.01re    0.05%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio     67454k   ***other*
       4    1.53%       0.00re    0.00%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio      2118k   sa
       3    1.15%       0.01re    0.05%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio     33312k   systemctl
       2    0.76%       0.00re    0.00%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio       522k   accton
       2    0.76%       0.00re    0.00%       0.00cp    0.00%         0avio      2738k   systemd-cgroups

To List Last Executed Commands of User

Previously executed user commands information can be searched and viewed by using the ' lastcomm' command.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# lastcomm root
accton                 root     __         0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
systemctl        S     root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
.
.
.
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
systemctl        S     root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
pkttyagent           X root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
systemd-tty-ask        root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
accton           S     root     __         0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22

To Search Logs for Commands

View the individual use of an each commands by using the ' lastcomm' command.

[root@linuxhelp ~]# lastcomm bash
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:28
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:27
.
.
.
.
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22
bash              F    root     pts/0      0.00 secs Wed May 25 12:22

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Frequently asked questions ( 5 )

Q

how to monitor the users who were logged in my linux server?

A

To monitor the users who were logged in use "w" or "who" command.

Q

How to start Start psacct or acct service ?

A

Start psacct service manually and check the status of service by using the following command.

systemctl start psacct.service
systemctl status psacct.service

Q

How to To Display Statistics of Users Connect Time?

A

The total statistics of connect time in hours based on the user logins/logouts from the current wtmp file will be displayed by using the ' ac' command without specifying any argument.

Q

How To Display Statistics of Users Day-wise using psacct or acct Tools in Linux?

A

To list out the total login time in hours by day-wise use ' ac -d' command.

Q

How to List Last Executed Commands of User using psacct or acct Tools?

A

Previously executed user commands information can be searched and viewed by using the ' lastcomm' command using psacct or acct Tools

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