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LOGIN(1)		     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
     configurable via pam(8).  Password authentication is the default.

     The following options are available:

     -f      When  a  user  name is specified, this option indicates 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      Specify the host from which the connection  was  received.   It  is
	     used  by  various daemons such as telnetd.  This option may only be
	     used by the super-user.

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

     Login access can be controlled via login.access(5) or the	login  class  in
     login.conf(5), 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.

     Immediately after logging a user in, login displays 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 enters information into the environment (see  environ(7))
     specifying  the  user's home directory (HOME), command interpreter (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 controls the maximum and cur-
     rent 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 identi-
     cal to this utility.  Consult the builtin(1) manual page.

     The login utility will submit an audit record when login succeeds or fails.
     Failure  to  determine  the  current auditing state will result in an error
     exit from login.

FILES
     /etc/fbtab 		  changes device protections
     /etc/login.conf		  login class capabilities database
     /var/run/motd		  message-of-the-day
     /var/mail/user		  system mailboxes
     .hushlogin 		  makes login quieter
     /etc/pam.d/login		  pam(8) configuration file
     /etc/security/audit_user	  user flags for auditing
     /etc/security/audit_control  global flags for auditing

SEE ALSO
     builtin(1), chpass(1), csh(1), newgrp(1), passwd(1), rlogin(1), getpass(3),
     fbtab(5), login.access(5), login.conf(5), environ(7)

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

FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly	December 14, 2025			LOGIN(1)

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