Re: [RFC] Modernizing Linux authentication logs (lastlog, btmp, utmp, wtmp) with SQLite

[Roman Bakshansky <bakshansky.lists@gmail.com>]

On 3/13/26 4:59 PM, Adhemerval Zanella Netto wrote:
>  From the glibc standpoint my plan is just to make the accounting database
> function no-op [1] (I hopefully to get this in the next 2.44 release).
>
> And I think Thorsten Kukuk already adapted most of the usages in current
> distros [2][3] using similar strategy, along with a better systemd
> integration.  I am not sure if/when distros are incorporating his work.
>
> [1] https://patchwork.sourceware.org/project/glibc/list/?series=37271
> [2] https://www.thkukuk.de/blog/Y2038_glibc_lastlog_64bit/
> [3] https://www.thkukuk.de/blog/Y2038_glibc_utmp_64bit/
Thank you for the links and information.

I have been following Thorsten Kukuk's work. I know that liblastlog2 is 
already integrated into util-linux and successfully solves the Y2038 
problem for lastlog. I am also aware of his wtmpdb project. These are 
important steps in the right direction.

My RFC proposes to go further and provide a unified solution for all 
four files: lastlog, btmp, utmp, wtmp. The idea is to create a set of 
public libraries (liblastlog2, libbtmp2, libutmp2, libwtmp2) with a 
consistent C interface, built on SQLite. This would provide 64-bit 
timestamps, indexes for fast queries, ACID transactions, and schema 
extensibility without breaking backward compatibility.