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Linux loginctl Guide

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Mattscreative edited this page Nov 20, 2025 · 2 revisions

👤 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.

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