The output comes in time order, latest first, each line showing the time of the reboot and the uptime from then to shutdown. Using last -x reboot shutdown to show the shutdown time, here's an illustration
Code:
shutdown system down 2.6.29.6-smp Sun Mar 7 15:35 - 03:02 (11:27)
reboot system boot 2.6.29.6-smp Sun Mar 7 09:35 (05:59)
09:35 until 15:35 is 05:59.
When the uptime exceeds 24 hours it is shown as (+
Code:
shutdown system down 2.6.29.6-smp Sun Feb 21 12:39 - 13:20 (00:40)
reboot system boot 2.6.29.6-smp Sat Feb 20 09:39 (1+02:59)
09:39 until 12:39 the next day is 1 day 02:59.
The time in parentheses at the end of the shutdown lines is normally the time until the next shutdown.
So far so good. The incorrect output is for the last reboot and shutdown of an old wtmp file. Here's the output of last /var/log/wtmp -x reboot shutdown; last -f /var/log/wtmp.1 -x reboot shutdown
Code:
[snip]
reboot system boot 2.6.29.6-smp Fri Mar 12 07:42 (01:54)
shutdown system down 2.6.29.6-smp Fri Mar 12 01:31 - 09:37 (08:05)
wtmp begins Thu Mar 11 08:25:26 2010
[snip]
reboot system boot 2.6.29.6-smp Wed Mar 10 14:12 (15+01:42)
shutdown system down 2.6.29.6-smp Wed Mar 10 12:41 - 15:54 (15+03:13)
[snip]
The boot started at "Wed Mar 10 14:12" which had an actual uptime of 1 day 11:20 is reported as 15 days 03:13 which is the time from then until the last -f /var/log/wtmp.1 -x reboot shutdown command was issued. The time from shutdown to shutdown is similarly affected.
