finger Command in Linux - With examples ?

finger command allows you to check the information of all the users logged into the system. This command is often used by system administrators to make it easy to capture user information.

finger command provides information such as login name, user name, directory the current user is in, sometimes even the user's email… This command is not available in Linux so we must install it to use it.

Here at LinuxAPT, as part of our Server Management Services, we regularly help our Customers to perform related Linux command system queries.

In this context, we shall look into how to use the finger command in Linux.


How to install finger on your Linux system ?

To do this, simply run the below apt command:

$ sudo apt install finger


What is the syntax of finger command ?

It is given below:

$ finger [user]

For example, to check the information of ubuntu user, run the command:

$ finger ubuntu


finger command Options

  • -s check idle status and login details: $ finger -s ubuntu
  • -l using the long listing option: $ finger -l ubuntu.
  • -p skip Plan and Project information: $ finger -p ubuntu.
  • -m Prevent matching of usernames. The user is usually a login name; however, matching is also done on the users' real names, unless the -m option is supplied. All name matching performed by finger is case insensitive.


[Need assistance in installing any Software on your Linux system ? We can help you. ]

This article covers how to use the finger command in Linux. In fact, the finger command looks up and displays information about system users.

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