How to Install and Use uptimed to Track Linux System Uptime

Uptimed is a daemon that records system uptime, longest run, and reboot timestamps, providing a concise summary via the uprecords command.

Installation

Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S uptimed Debian/Ubuntu/Linux Mint (universe repository must be enabled on Ubuntu): sudo apt-get install uptimed Enable the universe repository on Ubuntu if needed: sudo add-apt-repository universe Fedora: sudo dnf install uptimed CentOS 7 (requires EPEL):

sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum install uptimed

If a package is unavailable, compile from source:

# wget https://github.com/rpodgorny/uptimed/archive/v0.4.2.zip -O uptimed.zip
# unzip uptimed.zip
# cd uptimed-0.4.2/
# ./configure
# make
# make install

Enable and start the daemon:

# systemctl enable uptimed
# systemctl start uptimed

Verify that the service is running:

# systemctl status uptimed
● uptimed.service - Uptime record tracking daemon
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/uptimed.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) …
   Docs: man:uptimed(8) man:uprecords(1)
   Main PID: 1435 (uptimed)

Using uptimed

Display the recorded uptime summary: # uprecords Common uprecords options: -b – sort records by boot time (oldest first). -B – sort by boot time (newest first). -m COUNT – limit output to the most recent COUNT entries (default 10). -w – wide output, showing full kernel information. -d – display shutdown time instead of kernel info. -? – show the full help message.

Examples:

Sort by boot time ascending: # uprecords -b Sort by boot time descending: # uprecords -B Show the latest 20 records: # uprecords -m 20 Wide output with full kernel version: # uprecords -w Display shutdown timestamps: # uprecords -d Full list of flags (output of uprecords -?):

usage: uprecords [OPTION]...
  -?      this help
  -a      do not print ansi codes
  -b      sort by boottime
  -B      reverse sort by boottime
  -k      sort by sysinfo
  -K      reverse sort by sysinfo
  -d      print downtime instead of system
  -c      do not show current entry if not in top entries
  -f      run continuously in a loop
  -s      do not print extra statistics
  -w      wide output (more than 80 cols per line)
  -i INTERVAL  use INTERVAL seconds for loop instead of 5, implies -f
  -m COUNT    show a maximum of top COUNT entries instead of 10
  -M      show next milestone
  -v      version information

For detailed usage, consult the manual page:

# man uprecords