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LOGIN(1)                FreeBSD General Commands Manual               LOGIN(1)

NAME
     login -- log into the computer

SYNOPSIS
     login [-fp] [-h hostname] [user]

DESCRIPTION
     The login utility logs users (and pseudo-users) into the computer system.

     If no user is specified, or if a user is specified and authentication of
     the user fails, login prompts for a user name.  Authentication of users
     is done via passwords.

     The options are as follows:

     -f      The -f option is used when a user name is specified to indicate
             that proper authentication has already been done and that no
             password need be requested.  This option may only be used by the
             super-user or when an already logged in user is logging in as
             themselves.

     -h      The -h option specifies the host from which the connection was
             received.  It is used by various daemons such as telnetd(8).
             This option may only be used by the super-user.

     -p      By default, login discards any previous environment.  The -p
             option disables this behavior.

     If the file /var/run/nologin exists, login displays its contents to the
     user and exits.  This is used by shutdown(8) to prevent users from log-
     ging in when the system is about to go down.

     If the file /etc/login.access exists, login checks to see if the user and
     host pair are specifically allowed or denied access.  Login access may
     also be controlled via the login class, which provides allow and deny
     records based on time, tty and remote host name.

     If the file /etc/fbtab exists, login changes the protection and ownership
     of certain devices specified in this file.

     If the file /etc/skeykeys exists, login will offer S/key password valida-
     tion if the user has an entry in the file.  /etc/skey.access controls
     from which hosts and/or networks the use of S/key passwords are obli-
     gated.

     Immediately after logging a user in, login displays the system copyright
     notice, the date and time the user last logged in, the message of the day
     as well as other information.  If the file ``.hushlogin'' exists in the
     user's home directory, all of these messages are suppressed.  This is to
     simplify logins for non-human users, such as uucp(1).  The login utility
     then records an entry in the wtmp(5) and utmp(5) files and executes the
     user's command interpreter.

     The login utility enters information into the environment (see
     environ(7)) specifying the user's home directory (HOME), command inter-
     preter (SHELL), search path (PATH), terminal type (TERM) and user name
     (both LOGNAME and USER).  Other environment variables may be set due to
     entries in the login class capabilities database, for the login class
     assigned in the user's system passwd record.  The login class also con-
     trols the maximum and current process resource limits granted to a login,
     process priorities and many other aspects of a user's login environment.

     Some shells may provide a builtin login command which is similar or iden-
     tical to this utility.  Consult the builtin(1) manual page.

FILES
     /etc/fbtab         changes device protections
     /etc/login.access  login access control table
     /etc/login.conf    login class capabilities database
     /etc/motd          message-of-the-day
     /var/run/nologin   disallows logins
     /etc/skey.access   skey password control table
     /etc/skeykeys      skey password database
     /var/run/utmp      current logins
     /var/log/lastlog   last login account records
     /var/log/wtmp      login account records
     /var/mail/user     system mailboxes
     .hushlogin         makes login quieter
     /etc/auth.conf     configure authentication services
     /etc/pam.conf      if login is configured with PAM support, it uses
                        /etc/pam.conf entries with service name ``login''

SEE ALSO
     builtin(1), chpass(1), csh(1), passwd(1), rlogin(1), skey(1), getpass(3),
     fbtab(5), login.access(5), login.conf(5), nologin(5), skey.access(5),
     utmp(5), environ(7), nologin(8), pam(8)

HISTORY
     A login utility appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

FreeBSD 4.10                      May 5, 1994                     FreeBSD 4.10

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | FILES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY

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