Linux loginctl Guide - ryzendew/Linux-Tips-and-Tricks GitHub Wiki

Linux loginctl Guide

Complete beginner-friendly guide to loginctl on Linux, covering Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions including user session management, login control, and session information.

Table of Contents

  1. Understanding loginctl
  2. loginctl Basics
  3. Session Management
  4. User Sessions
  5. Troubleshooting

Understanding loginctl

What is loginctl?

loginctl controls user sessions (systemd).

Uses:

  • List sessions: Show user sessions
  • Session management: Manage sessions
  • User information: Get user session info
  • Login control: Control user logins

Why it matters:

  • Session management: Manage user sessions
  • User information: Get session details
  • System administration: Administer user sessions

loginctl Basics

List Sessions

Basic usage:

# List all sessions
loginctl list-sessions

# Shows active sessions

List Users

Active users:

# List logged in users
loginctl list-users

# Shows users with sessions

Session Management

Session Information

Get details:

# Session information
loginctl show-session SESSION_ID

# Shows session details

User Sessions

User's sessions:

# User sessions
loginctl list-sessions --user username

# Shows sessions for user

User Sessions

User Information

User details:

# User information
loginctl show-user username

# Shows user session details

Lock Session

Lock user:

# Lock user session
sudo loginctl lock-session SESSION_ID

# Locks session

Troubleshooting

loginctl Not Found

Check systemd:

# loginctl is part of systemd
# Usually pre-installed on systemd systems

# Check systemd
systemctl --version

Summary

This guide covered loginctl usage, session management, and user session control for Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other distributions.

Next Steps

This guide covers Arch Linux, CachyOS, and other Linux distributions. For distribution-specific details, refer to your distribution's documentation.