NAME
tail - output the last part of files
SYNOPSIS
tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
DESCRIPTION
Print the last 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name. With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-c, --bytes=N | |
output the last N bytes; alternatively, use +N to output bytes starting with the Nth of each file | |
-f, --follow[={name|descriptor}] | |
output appended data as the file grows; -f, --follow, and --follow=descriptor are equivalent | |
-F | same as --follow=name --retry |
-n, --lines=N | |
output the last N lines, instead of the last 10; or use +N to output lines starting with the Nth | |
--max-unchanged-stats=N | |
with --follow=name, reopen a FILE which has not changed size after N (default 5) iterations to see if it has been unlinked or renamed (this is the usual case of rotated log files) | |
--pid=PID | |
with -f, terminate after process ID, PID dies | |
-q, --quiet, --silent | |
never output headers giving file names | |
--retry | keep trying to open a file even when it is or becomes inaccessible; useful when following by name, i.e., with --follow=name |
-s, --sleep-interval=S | |
with -f, sleep for approximately S seconds (default 1.0) between iterations | |
-v, --verbose | |
always output headers giving file names | |
--help | display this help and exit |
--version | |
output version information and exit | |
With --follow (-f), tail defaults to following the file descriptor, which means that even if a tailed file is renamed, tail will continue to track its end. This default behavior is not desirable when you really want to track the actual name of the file, not the file descriptor (e.g., log rotation). Use --follow=name in that case. That causes tail to track the named file by reopening it periodically to see if it has been removed and recreated by some other program.
AUTHOR
Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim Meyering.
REPORTING BUGS
Report tail bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for tail is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and tail programs are properly installed at your site, the command
info coreutils 'tail invocation' | |