DOC HOME SITE MAP MAN PAGES GNU INFO SEARCH PRINT BOOK
 
Performing basic system monitoring and tuning

The wall command

When you really need to get in touch with users fast, use the wall command to write to all who are logged on.

Reserve the wall command for those times when you need to ask users to log off quickly. For example, you can warn users of unexpected shutdowns:

   # wall
   The system is coming down in ten minutes for unexpected maintenance.
   Please log off soon in order to save your files.
   <CTRL-d>
   #
While wall is unmatched for getting urgent information out quickly, some users dislike having their work interrupted by an uninvited message. Many users guard against this by including the command mesg -n in their .profile. This command blocks the output of wall sent by ordinary users. But a user with appropriate authorizations can execute the wall command and override the mesg -n command. See wall(1M) for more information.
Next topic: Changing the maximum allowed file size (ulimit)
Previous topic: Message of the day

© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 22 April 2004