utmp, utmpx, wtmp, wtmpx..... without rebooting system

[babeo]

According to the manual, when emptying the files:
/var/adm/utmp
/var/adm/utmpx
/var/adm/wtmp
/var/adm/wtmpx
the system has to be reboot.
I usually do it without reboot. Is there any potential problems in future? and is there any way to do it without rebooting the system? Is there different way to do for each version?
Thanks

 

[americancurly]

For 2.6,

I had corrupted files and all I did was make a backup copy of the files and then /dev/null > /var/adm/wtmpx and all the rest of the files without booting the system.

Then open up another terminal and sign in. Test the file by using the last command.

Hope this helps.

 

[babeo]

I will try next time. Thanks.

However, if I have multiple sessions of Xwindows log in as the same user, but I use one session to empty the files, will it affect other sessions? I mean is it worthed to log out only that session and no affect on others?

Another question do you mean you make a backup copy of those files after yours are corrupted? (Don't understand)