Broadcast message

Question

I had a ssh connection to a remote server and just got a message

Broadcast message from foo@foo
(/dev/tty2) at 19:17 ...

The system is going down for reboot NOW!
Connection to foo closed by remote host.
Connection to foo closed.

I just wonder if this message is automatically sent by the server when it is rebooted or by the administrator himself in person?

Thanks and regards!

Answer 1

shutdown(8) sent the message.

shutdown provides an automated shutdown procedure for superusers to nicely notify users when the system is shutting down, saving them from system administrators, hackers, and gurus, who would otherwise not bother with such niceties.