LL2_NEW_CONTEXT(3)

💖 LL2_NEW_CONTEXT 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the Programmers Manual section for ll2_new_context(3) — yes it's a section 3 page, we're in library-call territory, and honestly? it's giving main character energy for the whole lastlog2 universe. sit down, hydrate, let's go ✨

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✨ NAME ✨

ll2_new_context — allocates the context that defines the whole lastlog2 environment. no cap, this is the little object everything else hangs off of. 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <lastlog2.h>

*ll2_context * ll2_new_context(const char *db_path);

that's the whole vibe check. include the header, call the function, get a context. periodt. 💅

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so basically, this function defines your lastlog2 context — think of it like the ✨situation✨ that holds the database file — and that context is what literally every other lastlog2 call is gonna use. it's the shared group chat everybody's in. 🎀

if db_path is NULL, then the default path defined in LL2_DEFAULT_DATABASE gets taken instead. she'll pick for you if you don't wanna pick. lowkey considerate. 🙈

like, for example:

const   char *db_path = "/var/lib/lastlog/lastlog2.db";
ll2_context *context = ll2_new_context(db_path);

okay but look at that code block — that's you, that's the move. 💖

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⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

she returns the context — and that context is what all your other lastlog2 library calls are gonna be using. so keep it safe. 👑

when you're done with it (and not a second later, bestie) you should release it with ll2_unref_context — that's the breakup, and it needs to happen. and if something goes wrong? she returns NULL on an error. NULL is the "it's not me, it's a memory issue" of return values. 💀

real talk: a NULL return is your error signal. check for it, don't just vibe past it. ✋

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🌈 AUTHORS 🌈

Thorsten Kukuk <kukuk@suse.de> — the icon, the legend, the one who wrote this. we stan. 🫶

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

go read these next, bestie, they're the extended universe:

• lastlog2(3)
• ll2_unref_context(3)
• ll2_read_all(3)
• ll2_write_entry(3)
• ll2_read_entry(3)
• ll2_remove_entry(3)
• ll2_update_login_time(3)
• ll2_import_lastlog(3)

iykyk 💜

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🍓 REPORTING BUGS 🍓

found a bug? for bug reports, use the issue tracker at <https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues>. do NOT just suffer in silence, that's not the move. 🐛

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👑 AVAILABILITY 👑

the liblastlog2 library is part of the util-linux package since version 2.40. you can download it from the Linux Kernel Archive at <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>. slay, it's right there. ✨

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this one's from util-linux 2.42.4, dated 2026-09-21, and it lives in section 3 of the manual. go forth and allocate your context responsibly, mwah 💅💖