How to use the command 'ac' (with examples)

The ‘ac’ command is used to print statistics on how long users have been connected. It provides useful information about user activity and can be used for monitoring purposes or to determine the current user’s connection time.

Use case 1: Print how long the current user has been connected in hours

Code:

ac

Motivation: This use case is beneficial when the user wants to know their own connection time. It provides a quick way to check the duration of the current session.

Explanation: The ‘ac’ command without any options or arguments simply prints the connection time for the current user in hours.

Example output:

        total         root             0.00          
        total         john             1.50          
        total         jane             2.75

In this example output, the connection time for the current user, “root”, is 0.00 hours.

Use case 2: Print how long users have been connected in hours

Code:

ac -p

Motivation: This use case is useful for obtaining the connection time for all users. It allows for an overview of the duration that users have been connected.

Explanation: The ‘-p’ option in the ‘ac’ command is used to print the connection time for all users in hours.

Example output:

        total         root             0.00          
        total         john             1.50          
        total         jane             2.75          

In this example output, the connection time for three users, “root”, “john”, and “jane”, is displayed in hours.

Use case 3: Print how long a particular user has been connected in hours

Code:

ac -p username

Motivation: This use case is helpful when the user wants to find out the connection time for a specific user. It allows for monitoring the activity of individual users.

Explanation: The ‘-p’ option in the ‘ac’ command, followed by the desired username as an argument, is used to print the connection time for a particular user in hours.

Example output:

        total         john             1.50          

In this example output, the connection time for the user “john” is 1.50 hours.

Use case 4: Print how long a particular user has been connected in hours per day (with total)

Code:

ac -dp username

Motivation: This use case is useful for gaining more detailed information about a specific user’s connection time. It provides the duration of each day’s connection and an overall total.

Explanation: The ‘-dp’ options in the ‘ac’ command, along with the desired username as an argument, are used to print the connection time for a particular user in hours per day, including a total.

Example output:

        total         jane           
  0.75  Mon Jan  1 00:00
  0.75  Tue Jan  2 00:00
  0.25  Wed Jan  3 00:00
  0.75  Thu Jan  4 00:00
        total              2.50

In this example output, the connection time for the user “jane” is displayed for each day separately, along with a total of 2.50 hours.

Conclusion:

The ‘ac’ command provides valuable information about user connection times. By utilizing different options and arguments, users can retrieve connection data for themselves or other users. Whether for monitoring purposes or personal knowledge, the ‘ac’ command comes in handy when it comes to tracking user activity.