Hello,
Santiago Vila wrote (28 Jun 2008 14:28:52 GMT) :
> Hmm, what about this from utmp(5)?
> Unlike various other systems, where utmp logging can be
> disabled by removing the file, utmp must always exist
> on Linux.
Right. As far as my research has gone, this is only true for utmp.
Let’s see the three other files I was pointing to.
,----
| /var/log/wtmp
`----
The very same utmp(5) is quite clear :
wtmp is maintained by login(1), init(8), and some versions of
getty(8) (e.g., mingetty(8) or agetty(8)). Neither of these
programs creates the file, so if it is removed, record-keeping
is turned off.
,----
| /var/log/btmp
`----
lastb(1) states the following :
The files wtmp and btmp might not be found. The system only logs
information in these files if they are present. This is
a local configuration issue. If you want the files to be used,
they can be created with a simple touch(1) command (for example,
touch /var/log/wtmp).
,----
| /var/log/lastlog
`----
I could find no authoritative document saying if it has to exist or
not. Anyway, the default /etc/pam.d/login provided by the login
package enables the pam_lastlog.so module, that not only "prints the
last login info upon successful login" as advertised, but also creates
/var/log/lastlog if it does not exist. So it seems that the programs
that need this file do create it themselves anyway, so creating it
only on initial install as you suggested seems enough to me : no need
to re-create it on every upgrade.
Bye,
--
intrigeri <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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