NAME

wall − write to all users

SYNOPSIS

/etc/wall

HP-UX COMPATIBILITY

Level: HP-UX/STANDARD

Origin: System V

Native Language Support:
8−bit data.

Remarks: Not supported on the Integral Personal Computer. 

DESCRIPTION

Wall reads its standard input until an end-of-file.  It then sends this message to all currently logged-in users preceded by:

Broadcast Message from ...

It is used to warn all users, typically prior to shutting down the system. 

The sender must be super-user to override any protections the users may have invoked (see mesg(1)).

Wall has timing delays, and will take at least 30 seconds to complete. 

FILES

/dev/tty∗

SEE ALSO

mesg(1), write(1). 

DIAGNOSTICS

“Cannot send to ...” when the open on a user’s tty file fails. 

Hewlett-Packard  —  last mod. May 11, 2021