OSETC TECH

How to List Users Logged in Linux

This post will guide you how to get current logged in users in Linux. How to see currently logged in users in your current Linux operating systems.

Show Who is Logged on And What They Are Doing


If you want to displays information about the user currently on your Linux system and their processes. And you can use a command called “w” to show who is logged on your system and what they are doing. Type:

$ w

Outputs:

devops@devops:~$ w
04:01:57 up 6:01, 2 users, load average: 0.04, 0.04, 0.01
USER TTY FROM LOGIN@ IDLE JCPU PCPU WHAT
devops pts/3 192.168.3.49 03:45 2.00s 0.10s 0.01s w
devops :0 :0 23:05 ?xdm? 5:41 0.01s /usr/lib/gdm3/gdm-x-session --run-script env GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=ubuntu

The header shows, in this order, the current time, how long the system has been running, how many users are currently logged on, and the system load averages for the past 1, 5, and 15 minutes.

Show Who is Logged on


If you want to print information about users who are currently logged in. and you can type the following “who” command:

$ who

Or

$ who -a

Outputs:

evops@devops:~$ who
devops pts/3 2019-09-09 03:45 (192.168.3.49)
devops :0 2019-09-08 23:05 (:0)

devops@devops:~$ who -a
system boot 2019-09-08 22:00
run-level 5 2019-09-08 22:00
devops + pts/3 2019-09-09 03:45 . 9791 (192.168.3.49)
devops ? :0 2019-09-08 23:05 ? 4562 (:0)

Show who is Currently Logged in


If you want to find out who you are currently logged in your current shell, just using “whoami” command, type:

$ whoami

Outputs:

devops@devops:~$ whoami
devops

You can also use another command to show who you are currently logged in on your Linux system, type:

$ id

Outputs:

devops@devops:~$ id
uid=1000(devops) gid=1000(devops) groups=1000(devops),4(adm),24(cdrom),27(sudo),30(dip),46(plugdev),116(lpadmin),126(sambashare),128(lxd)

If you want to get more information about those commands, and you can see man pages for those commands, type:

$ man w
$ man who
$ man whoami
$ man id

All user names are stored in /etc/passwd file, and you can list all names with cat command, type:

$ cat /etc/passwd

Outputs:

devops@devops:~$ cat /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin
sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/usr/sbin/nologin
man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/usr/sbin/nologin
lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/usr/sbin/nologin
mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/usr/sbin/nologin
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin
uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/nologin
proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/usr/sbin/nologin
backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin
list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/usr/sbin/nologin
irc:x:39:39:ircd:/var/run/ircd:/usr/sbin/nologin
gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
systemd-network:x:100:102:systemd Network Management,,,:/run/systemd/netif:/usr/sbin/nologin
systemd-resolve:x:101:103:systemd Resolver,,,:/run/systemd/resolve:/usr/sbin/nologin
syslog:x:102:106::/home/syslog:/usr/sbin/nologin
messagebus:x:103:107::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
_apt:x:104:65534::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
uuidd:x:105:111::/run/uuidd:/usr/sbin/nologin
avahi-autoipd:x:106:112:Avahi autoip daemon,,,:/var/lib/avahi-autoipd:/usr/sbin/nologin
usbmux:x:107:46:usbmux daemon,,,:/var/lib/usbmux:/usr/sbin/nologin
dnsmasq:x:108:65534:dnsmasq,,,:/var/lib/misc:/usr/sbin/nologin
rtkit:x:109:114:RealtimeKit,,,:/proc:/usr/sbin/nologin
cups-pk-helper:x:110:116:user for cups-pk-helper service,,,:/home/cups-pk-helper:/usr/sbin/nologin
speech-dispatcher:x:111:29:Speech Dispatcher,,,:/var/run/speech-dispatcher:/bin/false
whoopsie:x:112:117::/nonexistent:/bin/false
kernoops:x:113:65534:Kernel Oops Tracking Daemon,,,:/:/usr/sbin/nologin
saned:x:114:119::/var/lib/saned:/usr/sbin/nologin
pulse:x:115:120:PulseAudio daemon,,,:/var/run/pulse:/usr/sbin/nologin
avahi:x:116:122:Avahi mDNS daemon,,,:/var/run/avahi-daemon:/usr/sbin/nologin
colord:x:117:123:colord colour management daemon,,,:/var/lib/colord:/usr/sbin/nologin
hplip:x:118:7:HPLIP system user,,,:/var/run/hplip:/bin/false
geoclue:x:119:124::/var/lib/geoclue:/usr/sbin/nologin
gnome-initial-setup:x:120:65534::/run/gnome-initial-setup/:/bin/false
gdm:x:121:125:Gnome Display Manager:/var/lib/gdm3:/bin/false
devops:x:1000:1000:devops,,,:/home/devops:/bin/bash
sshd:x:122:65534::/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin
mysql:x:123:127:MySQL Server,,,:/nonexistent:/bin/false
lxd:x:124:65534::/var/lib/lxd/:/bin/false
wildfly:x:999:999::/opt/wildfly:/sbin/nologin
couchdb:x:125:129:CouchDB Administrator,,,:/opt/couchdb:/bin/bash
plex:x:126:130::/var/lib/plexmediaserver:/bin/bash
cassandra:x:127:131:Cassandra database,,,:/var/lib/cassandra:/usr/sbin/nologin
ntp:x:128:132::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin