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I would like to use a script to find out the username - of the user who is currently on the physical console (who has command of the keyboard, mouse and graphical display)?

I do not just want to know who runs X (as the current console can be switched to another terminal and another user).

To clarify:
Commands like w, who etc. show who is logged at which terminal. This is simple. I would like to know, however, who owns currently the physical console (display, keyboard etc.). For example, if two users run displays :0 and :1, and I can switch between the displays with ctrl+alt+7 and ctrl+alt+8, I would like to know which user currently has the connection between his or her display and the actual, physical screen.

One more clarification:
I am not interested in knowing my own username. I have a script, running as another user or root, that needs to know who uses the physical display. There can be several X sessions running by different users, some of them virtualized, some of them connected to a remote X server, but I am only interested in the one that is actually displaying output on the monitor.

Yet another clarification:
Whatever the command is, the output must be different after pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 (switching to another virtual console).

Mateo
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January
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4 Answers4

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I'm afraid I can't give you a specific answer (because I don't know the tech well), but I believe you can find it out using D-Bus and ConsoleKit.

For example, when I switch from X to a VT and back, I get this listening on dbus-monitor:

$ dbus-monitor --system | grep ConsoleKit
signal sender=:1.16 -> dest=(null destination) serial=19039 path=/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2; interface=org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session; member=ActiveChanged
signal sender=:1.16 -> dest=(null destination) serial=19040 path=/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Seat1; interface=org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Seat; member=ActiveSessionChanged
signal sender=:1.16 -> dest=(null destination) serial=19041 path=/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2; interface=org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session; member=ActiveChanged
signal sender=:1.16 -> dest=(null destination) serial=19042 path=/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Seat1; interface=org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Seat; member=ActiveSessionChanged
   string "/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2"

Specifically, you could use the GetActiveSession method. Here's how with dbus-send (may require sudo):

$ dbus-send --system --type=method_call --print-reply --dest=org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit /org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Seat1 org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Seat.GetActiveSession

Then, depending on your application, you'll want to check out the returned object's properties, which should be an object path to a Session.

nfirvine
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    Very helpful, I think. When I switch sessions the reply switches correspondingly. In particular I could then enter the following command: dbus-send --system --type=method_call --print-reply --dest=org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit /org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2 org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session.GetUser which replies with the current user-id. From there the library function getpwuid can get the username. – John S Gruber Oct 05 '12 at 04:34
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    This is definitely the answer I was looking for. Thank you very much! – January Oct 08 '12 at 10:37
5
[geek@atremis ~]$ w

 20:02:02 up 2 days,  8:37,  3 users,  load average: 0.00, 0.01, 0.00

USER     TTY      FROM              LOGIN@   IDLE   JCPU   PCPU WHAT

geek     tty1     :0               Thu11    2days 35.11s  0.18s pam: gdm-passwo

geek     pts/0    athena           Fri22   21:04m  0.03s  0.03s -bash

geek     pts/1    blackbeauty      20:02    0.00s  0.14s  0.10s w

[geek@atremis ~]$

You can use the w command to see who is logged on. The idle time and what should tell you what is being run - in this case gdm indicates an active log in, and the idle time indicates the user has not been at the system in 2 days. Contrast this with the login from blackbeauty, which has a 0.00 idle time, which indicates its currently in use.

Journeyman Geek
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  • No, this only tells me -- as you wrote -- who is logged in at which terminal. To use with a script, I would like to know which user is owning the physical console (keyboard, display etc.) – January Sep 29 '12 at 12:12
  • P.S. idle time is also non-informative; I'm working on a script fiddling with a screensaver, but I want to know which user is running the screensaver that is actually displayed. – January Sep 29 '12 at 12:21
  • the TTY and 'what' might work here, you'd just need to extract the necessay bits. – Journeyman Geek Sep 29 '12 at 12:22
  • Um, no, because it can run wherever (in background, on another X server, in a virtual machine) – January Sep 29 '12 at 12:26
1

There are many ways:

  • whoami
  • w
  • echo $USER
  • logname
hytromo
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0

Another command is 

whoami

It shows current logeed username

jokerdino
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KK Patel
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