tail — output the last part of files
tail [OPTION...] [FILE...]
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.
−−retrykeep trying to open a file even if it is
inaccessible when tail starts or if it becomes
inaccessible later; useful when following by name,
i.e., with −−follow=name
−c, −−bytes=Noutput 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
−Fsame as −−follow=name −−retry
−n, −−lines=Noutput the last N lines, instead of the last 10; or use +N to output lines starting with the Nth
−−max−unchanged−stats=Nwith −−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=PIDwith −f, terminate
after process ID, PID dies
−q, −−quiet, −−silentnever output headers giving file names
−s, −−sleep−interval=Swith −f, sleep for
approximately S seconds (default 1.0) between
iterations.
−v, −−verbosealways output headers giving file names
−−helpdisplay this help and exit
−−versionoutput 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, otherwise, print the last N items in the file. N 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 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.
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.
| COPYRIGHT |
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Copyright © 2008 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. |