maxlogins

[Daniel Carrera]

Hello,

I'm trying to understand the 'maxlogins' option in /etc/security/limits.conf

As usual in Linux world, the documentation is less than stellar. I've 
found a dozen documents and they are really a dozen copies of the same 
document. They all say the same thing:

maxlogins -- Maximum number of logins for this user or group.

Okay... so does that mean that if I set "maxlogins  5" then the user can 
only login 5 times in their life and then they can never login again? Or 
does it mean that they can only do 5 login attempts wrong? If so, does 
the system ever reset to let them them login again? How long does that take?

I would be grateful if anyone here knows the answer and can tell me.

Cheers,
Daniel.
-- 
      /\/`) http://opendocumentfellowship.org
     /\/_/
    /\/_/   ...and starting today, all passwords must
    \/_/    contain letters, numbers, doodles, sign
    /       language and squirrel noises.