Provided by: acct_6.5.5-2.1ubuntu1_amd64 bug

NAME

       ac -  print statistics about users' connect time

SYNOPSIS

       ac     [ -d | --daily-totals ] [ -y | --print-year ]
              [ -p | --individual-totals ] [ people ]
              [ -f | --file filename ] [ -a | --all-days ]
              [ --complain ] [ --reboots ] [ --supplants ]
              [ --timewarps ] [ --compatibility ]
              [ --tw-leniency num ] [ --tw-suspicious num ]
              [ -z | --print-zeros ] [ --debug ]
              [ -V | --version ] [ -h | --help ]

DESCRIPTION

       ac  prints  out  a  report  of  connect time (in hours) based on the logins/logouts in the
       current wtmp file.  A total is also printed out.

       The accounting file wtmp is maintained by init(8) and  login(1).   Neither  ac  nor  login
       creates  the wtmp if it doesn't exist, no accounting is done.  To begin accounting, create
       the file with a length of zero.

       NOTE:  The wtmp file can get really big, really fast.  You might want  to  trim  it  every
       once and a while.

       GNU  ac  works  nearly the same u*x ac, though it's a little smarter in several ways.  You
       should therefore expect differences in the output of GNU ac and  the  output  of  ac's  on
       other systems.  Use the command info accounting to get additional information.

OPTIONS

       -d, --daily-totals
              Print  totals  for  each day rather than just one big total at the end.  The output
              looks like this:
                      Jul  3  total     1.17
                      Jul  4  total     2.10
                      Jul  5  total     8.23
                      Jul  6  total     2.10
                      Jul  7  total     0.30
       -p, --individual-totals
              Print time totals for each user in addition to the usual everything-lumped-into-one
              value.  It looks like:
                      bob       8.06
                      goff      0.60
                      maley     7.37
                      root      0.12
                      total    16.15
       people Print  out  the  sum total of the connect time used by all of the users included in
              people.  Note that people is a space separated list of valid user names;  wildcards
              are not allowed.
       -f, --file filename
              Read from the file filename instead of the system's wtmp file.
       --complain
              When  the wtmp file has a problem (a time-warp, missing record, or whatever), print
              out an appropriate error.
       --reboots
              Reboot records are NOT written at the  time  of  a  reboot,  but  when  the  system
              restarts;  therefore,  it  is  impossible to know exactly when the reboot occurred.
              Users may have been logged into the system at the time of the reboot, and many ac's
              automatically  count  the  time between the login and the reboot record against the
              user (even though all of that time shouldn't be, perhaps, if the system is down for
              a  long  time,  for  instance).   If you want to count this time, include the flag.
              *For vanilla ac compatibility, include this flag.*
       --supplants
              Sometimes, a logout record is not written for a specific terminal, so the time that
              the  last  user accrued cannot be calculated.  If you want to include the time from
              the user's login to the next login on the  terminal  (though  probably  incorrect),
              include  this  you want to include the time from the user's login to the next login
              on the terminal (though probably incorrect), include this flag.   *For  vanilla  ac
              compatibility, include this flag.*
       --timewarps
              Sometimes,  entries  in a wtmp file will suddenly jump back into the past without a
              clock change record occurring.  It is impossible to know how long a user was logged
              in  when this occurs.  If you want to count the time between the login and the time
              warp against the user, include this flag.  *For vanilla ac  compatibility,  include
              this flag.*
       --compatibility
              This is shorthand for typing out the three above options.
       -a, --all-days
              If  we're  printing  daily totals, print a record for every day instead of skipping
              intervening days where there is no login activity.  Without this flag, time accrued
              during  those  intervening days gets listed under the next day where there is login
              activity.
       --tw-leniency num
              Set the time warp leniency to num seconds.  Records in wtmp files might be slightly
              out  of  order (most notably when two logins occur within a one-second period - the
              second one gets written first).  By default, this value  is  set  to  60.   If  the
              program  notices this problem, time is not assigned to users unless the --timewarps
              flag is used.
       --tw-suspicious num
              Set the time warp suspicious value to num seconds.  If two records in the wtmp file
              are  farther  than  this  number of seconds apart, there is a problem with the wtmp
              file (or your machine hasn't been used in a year).  If  the  program  notices  this
              problem, time is not assigned to users unless the --timewarps flag is used.
       -y, --print-year
              Print year when displaying dates.
       -z, --print-zeros
              If  a total for any category (save the grand total) is zero, print it.  The default
              is to suppress printing.
       --debug
              Print verbose internal information.
       -V, --version
              Print the version number of ac to standard output and quit.
       -h, --help
              Prints the usage string and default locations of system files  to  standard  output
              and exits.

FILES

       wtmp
              The system wide login record file. See wtmp(5) for further details.

AUTHOR

       The  GNU  accounting  utilities  were written by Noel Cragg <noel@gnu.ai.mit.edu>. The man
       page was adapted from the accounting texinfo page by Susan Kleinmann <sgk@sgk.tiac.net>.

SEE ALSO

       login(1), wtmp(5), init(8), sa(8)

                                          2010 August 16                                    AC(1)