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Old 01-10-2012, 06:45 AM   #1
abourke
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linux users


Hi,

Just want to ask about the significance of the users field when running "top". My system says there are 5 active users. What does that mean? If I was in work, using linux and my boss asked me to explain, what would you tell him?
 
Old 01-10-2012, 06:48 AM   #2
blue_print
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If you hit 'who' or 'w' command, you can see list of logged in users (Through SSH, terminals etc). The same count you will see while running top command!
 
Old 01-10-2012, 06:51 AM   #3
deep27ak
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abourke View Post
Hi,

Just want to ask about the significance of the users field when running "top". My system says there are 5 active users. What does that mean? If I was in work, using linux and my boss asked me to explain, what would you tell him?
It shows that the particular process is being run on that user's terminal.

Code:
#top
10077 root      16   0  360m  55m  24m S  0.3  5.5   0:52.57 firefox
11928 root      15   0  2164 1008  792 R  0.3  0.1   0:00.06 top
    1 root      15   0  2032  648  552 S  0.0  0.1   0:01.58 init
    2 root      RT   0     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 migration/0
    3 root      34  19     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 ksoftirqd/0
    4 deepak    RT   0     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 watchdog/0
    5 root      10  -5     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.09 events/0
    6 amit      12  -5     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 khelper
    7 root      11  -5     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kthread
   10 root      10  -5     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:02.99 kblockd/0
   11 root      20  -5     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kacpid
  175 root      19  -5     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 cqueue/0
  178 root      10  -5     0    0    0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 khubd
top command shows you the CPU and memory utilization of all the processes which are running on your machine with their relevant PID and the user who is running that process or the terminal where that process is running
 
Old 01-10-2012, 07:12 AM   #4
linuxmen
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the command "w" command will list all the active(logged in users) and from where, how long time etc.

Last edited by Tinkster; 02-24-2012 at 05:41 PM.
 
Old 01-11-2012, 09:07 PM   #5
abourke
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Ok thanks, I got the following output:
Code:
02:46:24 up 4 days, 10:27,  4 users,  load average: 0.28, 0.16, 0.10
USER     TTY        LOGIN@   IDLE   JCPU   PCPU WHAT
root     tty1      Sat16    4days  0.07s  0.07s -bash
aubrey   :0        Sat18   ?xdm?   3:11m  0.02s /usr/lib/gdm/gdm-simple-slave --display-id /org/gnome/Di
aubrey   console   Sat18    4days  0.00s  0.02s /usr/lib/gdm/gdm-simple-slave --display-id /org/gnome/Di
aubrey   pts/1     Tue12    0.00s  0.08s 50.08s gnome-terminal
So its obviously quite normal. But, what is a TTY? I know tty1 must be the Alt-F1 terminal. But I havent a clue what :0 means. Anyone know? Also what is the pts/1?

Regards
Aubrey.
 
Old 01-11-2012, 10:03 PM   #6
gdejonge
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tty stands for Teletype. Which was a brand/type of typewriters that would connect to a computer or other Teletype through a serial connection. You would type your commands in on the keyboard and the computer/Teletype on the other side would send the responses to your printer part. ( and no you don't want to be in a room with 20 or 30 of those devices As is shown here)

As for 0: this is your primary X windows display. You can check this out with the command 'echo $DISPLAY'

pts are virtual terminals. For every xterm/gnome-term you open a pts will be assigned. Also if you login in on a remote system through ssh/telnet a pts will be assigned.

Last edited by gdejonge; 01-11-2012 at 10:05 PM.
 
Old 01-12-2012, 06:24 AM   #7
abourke
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ok, got it thanks!

So that just leaves the console, it has something to do with the primary x display?
Code:
aubrey   console   12:09    9:31   0.00s  0.03s /usr/lib/gdm/gdm-simple-slave --display-id /org/gnome/DisplayManager/Display1
 
  


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