[gentoo-user] Re: what is /var/log/wtmp ?

[Jörg Schaible]

Philip Webb wrote:

> 110325 Alex Schuster wrote:
>> Philip Webb writes:
>>> In  /var/log/  there is a file  wtmp , which is  24 MB  & owned by  utmp
>>> Can anyone explain what it's for & whether it cb safely deleted ?
>> It tracks logins, you can use the 'last' command to show its contents.
>> If wou want to get the space, I suggest compressing the file,
>> bzip2 -v /var/log/wtmp
>
> Yes! -- it fell from  24 MB  to  444 KB ! -- most of it is repetitious.
> It's just started a new 'wtmp' after a reboot, good for another  4,5 yr .

Simply install logrotate. It delivers already a setup to clean it up once a 
month automatically.

- Jörg