Creating the /var/run/utmp, /var/log/wtmp and /var/log/btmp
files
Programs like login, shutdown, uptime and others want to read from and
write to the /var/run/utmp, /var/log/btmp and /var/log/wtmp. These files contain
information about who is currently logged in. They also contain information
on when the computer was last booted and shutdown and a record of the
bad login attempts.
Create these files with their proper permissions by running the
following commands:
touch /var/run/utmp /var/log/{btmp,lastlog,wtmp} &&
chmod 644 /var/run/utmp /var/log/{btmp,lastlog,wtmp}