1TAIL(1) User Commands TAIL(1)
2
6 tail - output the last part of files
7
9 tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
10
12 Print the last 10 lines of each FILE to standard output. With more
13 than one FILE, precede each with a header giving the file name. With
14 no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
15 Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options
17 too.
18 -c, --bytes=K
20 output the last K bytes; alternatively, use -c +K to output
21 bytes starting with the Kth of each file
22 -f, --follow[={name|descriptor}]
24 output appended data as the file grows; -f, --follow, and --fol‐
25 low=descriptor are equivalent
26 -F same as --follow=name --retry
28 -n, --lines=K
30 output the last K lines, instead of the last 10; or use -n +K to
31 output lines starting with the Kth
32 --max-unchanged-stats=N
34 with --follow=name, reopen a FILE which has not changed size
35 after N (default 5) iterations to see if it has been unlinked or
36 renamed (this is the usual case of rotated log files). With
37 inotify, this option is rarely useful.
38 --pid=PID
40 with -f, terminate after process ID, PID dies
41 -q, --quiet, --silent
43 never output headers giving file names
44 --retry
46 keep trying to open a file even when it is or becomes inaccessi‐
47 ble; useful when following by name, i.e., with --follow=name
48 -s, --sleep-interval=N
50 with -f, sleep for approximately N seconds (default 1.0) between
51 iterations.
52 With inotify and --pid=P, check process P at least once every N
54 seconds.
55 -v, --verbose
57 always output headers giving file names
58 --help display this help and exit
60 --version
62 output version information and exit
63 If the first character of K (the number of bytes or lines) is a `+',
65 print beginning with the Kth item from the start of each file, other‐
66 wise, print the last K items in the file. K may have a multiplier suf‐
67 fix: b 512, kB 1000, K 1024, MB 1000*1000, M 1024*1024, GB
68 1000*1000*1000, G 1024*1024*1024, and so on for T, P, E, Z, Y.
69 With --follow (-f), tail defaults to following the file descriptor,
71 which means that even if a tail'ed file is renamed, tail will continue
72 to track its end. This default behavior is not desirable when you
73 really want to track the actual name of the file, not the file descrip‐
74 tor (e.g., log rotation). Use --follow=name in that case. That causes
75 tail to track the named file in a way that accommodates renaming,
76 removal and creation.
77
79 Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim Mey‐
80 ering.
81
83 Report tail bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org
84 GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
85 General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
86 Report tail translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>
87
89 Copyright © 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
90 GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
91 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
92 There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
93
95 The full documentation for tail is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If
96 the info and tail programs are properly installed at your site, the
97 command
98 info coreutils 'tail invocation'
100 should give you access to the complete manual.
102GNU coreutils 8.4 June 2018 TAIL(1)