pyutmpx 0.2.2

utmp, wtmp and btmp reader module for Python 3.x

This project is a binary Python 3.x module using POSIX-compliant and/or system-specific headers for reading utmp/wtmp/btmp entries. It aims at being compatible with multiple UNIX-like systems.

The format of these files have been standardized as utmpx, wtmpx and btmpx in the Single Unix Specification, although their location depends on the system. The systems/paths correspondances are not hardcoded in order to be able to interface with this module by reproducing one of the known behaviours without having to fork and add an entry to the code.

Usage

The module defines at least the utmp object, and at most it and two other databases, which are wtmp and btmp. The three objects behave the same, so in the rest of the description, I’ll only deal with utmp.

utmp is both an iterator and iterable, using itself as the iterator, which allows you to use tools such as list comprehensions with it. You can also use the .reset() and .next() methods with it.

Every return entry will be a utmp_entry, which has the following properties:

type

The entry type, among the following:

BOOT_TIME

Time of system boot.

OLD_TIME

Time before system clock change.

NEW_TIME

Time after system clock change.

USER_PROCESS

Normal process.

INIT_PROCESS

Process spawned by init(8).

LOGIN_PROCESS

Session leader process for user login.

DEAD_PROCESS

Terminated process.

id

The terminal name suffix, or inittab(5) ID (as a string).

user

The username (as a string).

line

The line on which the user is logged in, usually the device name of the tty minus the “/dev/” part (as a string).

date

The date of the event (as a datetime.datetime instance).

pid

The process identifier (as an integer).

What is left to do

• Implement other interfaces, standard and non-standard, as explained in the “Compatibility” section in utmp.c.

• Add the wtmp and btmp objects.

• Add utmp filename getting and setting for these objects.

• Add a list-like interface, with length and index.

• Add methods to add an event, such as login or logout events.