tail(1) [redhat man page]
TAIL(1) FSF TAIL(1) 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. --retry keep trying to open a file even if it is inaccessible when tail starts or if it becomes inaccessible later -- useful only with -f -c, --bytes=N output the last N bytes -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 --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 -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 If the first character of N (the number of bytes or lines) is a `+', print beginning with the Nth item from the start of each file, other- wise, print the last N items in the file. N may have a multiplier suffix: b for 512, k for 1024, m for 1048576 (1 Meg). With --follow (-f), tail defaults to following the file descriptor, which means that even if a tail'ed 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 descrip- tor (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 bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>. COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICU- LAR PURPOSE. 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 tail should give you access to the complete manual. tail (coreutils) 4.5.3 February 2003 TAIL(1)
Check Out this Related Man Page
TAIL(1) User Commands TAIL(1) 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=[+]NUM output the last NUM bytes; or use -c +NUM to output starting with byte NUM of each file -f, --follow[={name|descriptor}] output appended data as the file grows; an absent option argument means 'descriptor' -F same as --follow=name --retry -n, --lines=[+]NUM output the last NUM lines, instead of the last 10; or use -n +NUM to output starting with line NUM --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); with inotify, this option is rarely useful --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 if it is inaccessible -s, --sleep-interval=N with -f, sleep for approximately N seconds (default 1.0) between iterations; with inotify and --pid=P, check process P at least once every N seconds -v, --verbose always output headers giving file names -z, --zero-terminated line delimiter is NUL, not newline --help display this help and exit --version output version information and exit NUM may have a multiplier suffix: b 512, kB 1000, K 1024, MB 1000*1000, M 1024*1024, GB 1000*1000*1000, G 1024*1024*1024, and so on for T, P, E, Z, Y. With --follow (-f), tail defaults to following the file descriptor, which means that even if a tail'ed 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 descrip- tor (e.g., log rotation). Use --follow=name in that case. That causes tail to track the named file in a way that accommodates renaming, removal and creation. AUTHOR
Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim Meyering. REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> Report tail translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/> COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2017 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
head(1) Full documentation at: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/tail> or available locally via: info '(coreutils) tail invocation' GNU coreutils 8.28 January 2018 TAIL(1)