'\" te
.\" Copyright 1989 AT&T
.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"   Copyright (c) 2000, Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
.TH FINGER 1 "Nov 9, 2015"
.SH NAME
finger \- display information about local and remote users
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
\fBfinger\fR [\fB-bfhilmpqsw\fR] [\fIusername\fR]...
.fi

.LP
.nf
\fBfinger\fR [\fB-l\fR]
     [\fIusername@hostname\fR 1 [\fI@hostname\fR 2 \fI\&..\fR \fI\&.@hostname\fR n]...]
.fi

.LP
.nf
\fBfinger\fR [\fB-l\fR] [\fI@hostname\fR 1 [\fI@hostname\fR 2 \fI\&..\fR \fI\&.@hostname\fR n]...]
.fi

.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
By default, the \fBfinger\fR command displays in multi-column format the
following information about each logged-in user:
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
user name
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
user's full name
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
terminal name (prepended with a `*\|' (asterisk)  if write-permission is
denied)
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
idle time
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
login time
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
host name, if logged in remotely
.RE
.sp
.LP
Idle time is in minutes if it is a single integer, in hours and minutes if a
`:\|' (colon)  is present, or in days and hours if a `d' is present.
.sp
.LP
When one or more \fIusername\fR arguments are given, more detailed information
is given for each \fIusername\fR specified, whether they are logged in or not.
\fIusername\fR must be that of a local user, and may be a first or last name,
or an account name. Information is presented in multi-line format as follows:
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
the user name and the user's full name
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
the user's home directory and login shell
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
time the user logged in if currently logged in, or the time the user last
logged in; and the terminal or host from which the user logged in
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
last time the user received mail, and the last time the user read mail
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
the first line of the \fB$HOME/.project\fR file, if it exists
.RE
.RS +4
.TP
.ie t \(bu
.el o
the contents of the \fB$HOME/.plan\fR file, if it exists
.RE
.sp
.LP
Note: when the comment (GECOS) field in \fB/etc/passwd\fR includes a comma,
\fBfinger\fR does not display the information following the comma.
.sp
.LP
If the arguments
\fIusername@hostname\fR1[\fI@hostname\fR2\fI\|.\|.\|.@hostname\fRn] or
\fI@hostname\fR1[\fI@hostname\fR2\fI\|.\|.\|.@hostname\fRn] are used, the
request is sent first to \fBhostname\fRn and forwarded through each
\fBhostname\fRn-1 to  \fBhostname\fR1. The program uses the \fBfinger user
information protocol\fR (see RFC 1288) to query that remote host for
information about the named user (if  \fIusername\fR is specified), or about
each logged-in user. The information displayed is server dependent.
.sp
.LP
As required by RFC 1288, \fBfinger\fR passes only printable, 7-bit \fBASCII\fR
data. This behavior may be modified by a system administrator by using the
\fBPASS\fR option in \fB/etc/default/finger\fR. Specifying \fBPASS=low\fR
allows all characters less than decimal 32 ASCII. Specifying \fBPASS=high\fR
allows all characters greater than decimal 126 \fBASCII\fR. \fBPASS=low,high\fR
or \fBPASS=high,low\fR allows both characters less than 32 and greater than 126
to pass through.
.SH OPTIONS
.LP
The following options are supported, except that the  \fIusername@hostname\fR
form supports only the \fB-l\fR option:
.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-b\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Suppresses printing the user's home directory and shell in a long format
printout.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-f\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Suppresses printing the header that is normally printed in a non-long format
printout.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-h\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Suppresses printing of the \fB\&.project\fR file in a long format printout.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-i\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Forces "idle" output format, which is similar to short format except that only
the login name, terminal, login time, and idle time are printed.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-l\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Forces long output format.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-m\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Matches arguments only on user name (not first or last name).
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-p\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Suppresses printing of the \fB\&.plan\fR file in a long format printout.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-q\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Forces quick output format, which is similar to short format except that only
the login name, terminal, and login time are printed.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-s\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Forces short output format.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB-w\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 7n
Suppresses printing the full name in a short format printout.
.RE

.SH FILES
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB$HOME/.plan    \fR \fR
.ad
.RS 24n
user's plan
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB$HOME/.project\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 24n
user's projects
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB/etc/default/finger\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 24n
\fBfinger\fR options file
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB/etc/passwd\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 24n
password file
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB/var/log/lastlog.v2\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 24n
time of last login
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fB\fB/var/log/utmpx\fR \fR
.ad
.RS 24n
accounting
.RE

.SH SEE ALSO
.LP
\fBpasswd\fR(1), \fBwho\fR(1), \fBwhois\fR(1), \fBpasswd\fR(4),
\fBattributes\fR(5)
.sp
.LP
Zimmerman, D., \fIThe Finger User Information Protocol\fR, RFC 1288, Center for
Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS), Rutgers
University, December 1991.
.SH NOTES
.LP
The \fBfinger user information protocol\fR limits the options that may be used
with the remote form of this command.