{"id":111937,"date":"2023-02-09T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T03:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/data-flair.training\/blogs\/?p=111937"},"modified":"2023-02-09T09:38:25","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T04:08:25","slug":"w-command-in-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/data-flair.training\/blogs\/w-command-in-linux\/","title":{"rendered":"W Command in Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article, we will learn everything about the w command in Linux. First, we will look at what the w command is, why it is used, and understand the output of the w command as we take a closer look at the fields in the output, the syntax of the w command, and the options used along with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, we will also look at some practical examples of the w command by pairing it with various options to understand its working. So pay attention, take notes, and read to the end for the best benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Linux w command?<\/span><\/h2>\n

W is a command-line utility in Linux-based operating systems that allows administrators to view information about users currently logged in. This command is a sheer boon for System administrators, and they use this command quite frequently for\u00a0 many purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The w command prints out the username, where the <\/span>users are logged in from, and what they are currently doing. We shall get a better picture of the output of the w command in one of the later sections of this article.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The w command also gives various other information like how long the system has been running, the current time, the system load average, and a few others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Syntax of the w command in Linux<\/span><\/h3>\n

The simple syntax of the w command is shown below:<\/span><\/p>\n

w <options> <username><\/pre>\n
Let us look at the options used along with the w command.<\/span><\/p>\n
<options><\/strong><\/p>\n
This field takes in a range of options that specify how the w command functions, formats, and prints the output. You can specify multiple options in this field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<username><\/strong><\/p>\n
This field takes in the user’s name you want to print information.<\/span><\/p>\n
Options used with Linux w command<\/span><\/h3>\n
Unlike most of the commands in Linux, the w command has only a few associated options. Let us take a brief look at each one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n
1. -h<\/p>\n
This option does not print the headers. You can also write this option as “–no-header.”<\/span><\/p>\n
2. <\/span>-u<\/p>\n
This option<\/span> ignores the name of the user while figuring out the current process and CPU times. You can also write this option as “–no-current.”<\/span><\/p>\n
3. -s<\/p>\n
This option displays the abbreviated output. It also does not <\/span>print the login time, PCPU or JCPU times. You can also write this option as “–short.”<\/span><\/p>\n
4. -f<\/p>\n
This option prints the “from” field. The default setting of the w command is not to print the “from” field. You can also write this option as “–short.”<\/span><\/p>\n
5. <\/span>-o<\/p>\n
This option prints the output in the old style, meaning it will print blank space for idle times less than one minute. You can also write this option as “–old-style.”<\/span><\/p>\n
6. –help<\/p>\n
This option prints the help menu of the w command, as shown below:<\/span><\/p>\n
\"help<\/a><\/p>\n
7. -V<\/p>\n
This option prints information about the current version of the w command.<\/span><\/p>\n
\"version<\/a><\/p>\n
Understanding the output of the w command<\/span><\/h3>\n
We get the following output if we run the w command by not pairing it with any other option.<\/span><\/p>\n
\"output<\/a><\/p>\n
The output shown above contains a lot of valuable information. So let us look at what each field is and what information it shows.<\/span><\/p>\n
The output of the w command is split into two parts. The first line consists of the following fields:<\/span><\/p>\n