---
name: "faillog"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "shadow"
version: "4.20.0.arch1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/faillog"
---

# faillog(8)

display faillog records or set login failure limits

## NAME

faillog - display faillog records or set login failure limits

## SYNOPSIS

**faillog** \[*options*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**faillog** displays the contents of the failure log database (/var/log/faillog). It can also set the failure counters and limits. When **faillog** is run without arguments, it only displays the faillog records of the users who had a login failure.

## OPTIONS

The options which apply to the **faillog** command are:

- **-a**, **--all**

  Display (or act on) faillog records for all users having an entry in the faillog database.

  The range of users can be restricted with the **-u** option.

  In display mode, this is still restricted to existing users but forces the display of the faillog entries even if they are empty.

  With the **-l**, **-m**, **-r**, **-t** options, the users' records are changed, even if the user does not exist on the system. This is useful to reset records of users that have been deleted or to set a policy in advance for a range of users.

- **-h**, **--help**

  Display help message and exit.

- **-l**, **--lock-secs** *SEC*

  Lock account for *SEC* seconds after failed login.

  Write access to /var/log/faillog is required for this option.

- **-m**, **--maximum** *MAX*

  Set the maximum number of login failures after the account is disabled to *MAX*.

  Selecting a *MAX* value of 0 has the effect of not placing a limit on the number of failed logins.

  The maximum failure count should always be 0 for *root* to prevent a denial of services attack against the system.

  Write access to /var/log/faillog is required for this option.

- **-r**, **--reset**

  Reset the counters of login failures.

  Write access to /var/log/faillog is required for this option.

- **-R**, **--root** *CHROOT\_DIR*

  Apply changes in the *CHROOT\_DIR* directory and use the configuration files from the *CHROOT\_DIR* directory. Only absolute paths are supported. No SELINUX support.

- **-t**, **--time** *DAYS*

  Display faillog records more recent than *DAYS*.

- **-u**, **--user** *LOGIN*\|*RANGE*

  Display faillog record or maintains failure counters and limits (if used with **-l**, **-m** or **-r** options) only for the specified user(s).

  The users can be specified by a login name, a numerical user ID, or a *RANGE* of users. This *RANGE* of users can be specified with a min and max values (*UID\_MIN-UID\_MAX*), a max value (*-UID\_MAX*), or a min value (*UID\_MIN-*).

When none of the **-l**, **-m**, or **-r** options are used, **faillog** displays the faillog record of the specified user(s).

## CAVEATS

**faillog** only prints out users with no successful login since the last failure. To print out a user who has had a successful login since their last failure, you must explicitly request the user with the **-u** flag, or print out all users with the **-a** flag.

## FILES

/var/log/faillog

Failure logging file.

## SEE ALSO

[**login**(1)](/login/1.md), [**faillog**(5)](/faillog/5.md).