1MULTITAIL(1) General Commands Manual MULTITAIL(1)
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6 MultiTail - browse through several files at once
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9 MultiTail [options]
10 options: [-cs|-Cs|-c-] [-s] [-i] inputfile [-i anotherinputfile] [...]
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15 The program MultiTail lets you view one or multiple files like the
16 original tail program. The difference is that it creates multiple win‐
17 dows on your console (with ncurses). It can also monitor wildcards: if
18 another file matching the wildcard has a more recent modification date,
19 it will automatically switch to that file. That way you can, for exam‐
20 ple, monitor a complete directory of files. Merging of 2 or even more
21 logfiles is possible. It can also use colors while displaying the log‐
22 files (through regular expressions), for faster recognition of what is
23 important and what not. It can also filter lines (again with regular
24 expressions). It has interactive menus for editing given regular
25 expressions and deleting and adding windows. One can also have windows
26 with the output of shell scripts and other software. When viewing the
27 output of external software, MultiTail can mimic the functionality of
28 tools like 'watch' and such. When new mail arrives for the current
29 user, the statuslines will become green. To reset this "mail has
30 arrived"-state, press ' ' (a space). For help at any time, press F1.
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34 -i file
35 Select a file to monitor. You can have multiple -i file parame‐
36 ters. You only need to add -i file in front of a filename if
37 the filename starts with a dash ('-').
38 -I file
40 Same as -i file but add the output to the previous window (so
41 the output is merged).
42 -iw file interval
44 -Iw file interval Like '-i'/'-I' but expects the parameter to be
45 a wildcard and the second(!) an interval. Initially MultiTail
46 will start monitoring the first file with the most recent modi‐
47 fication time. Every interval it will check if any new files
48 were created (or modified) and start tailing that one. *Don't
49 forget* to put quotation marks around the filename as otherwhise
50 the shell will try to substite them!
51 -l command
53 Command to execute in a window. Parameter is the command. Do not
54 forget to use "'s if the external command needs parameter! (e.g.
55 -l "ping host").
56 -L command
58 Same as -l but add the output to the previous window (so the
59 output is merged).
60 -j Read from stdin (can be used only once as there is only 1
62 stdin).
63 -J Same as -j but add the output to the previous window (so the
65 output is merged).
66 --mergeall
68 Merge all of the following files into the same window (see
69 '--no-mergeall').
70 --no-mergeall
72 Stop merging all files into one window (see '--mergeall');
73 --no-repeat
75 When the same line is repeated, it will be suppressed while
76 printing a "Last message repeated x times" message.
77 --mark-interval x
79 Print every 'x' seconds a mark-line when nothing else was
80 printed.
81 -q i path
83 Check path for new files with interval 'i', all in new windows.
84 One can enter paths here understood by the shell. E.g. "/tmp/*".
85 Note: do not forget to add quotes around the pathname to prevent
86 the shell from parsing it!
87 -Q i path
89 Like -q: but merge them all in one window.
90 --new-only
92 For -q/-Q: only create windows for files created after MultiTail
93 was started.
94 --closeidle x
96 Close windows when more then 'x' seconds no new data was pro‐
97 cessed.
98 -a x Write the output also to file 'x' (like 'tee') AFTER it was fil‐
100 tered by MultiTail.
101 -A x Write the output also to file 'x' (like 'tee') BEFORE it was
103 filtered by MultiTail.
104 -g x Send the output also to command 'x' AFTER it was filtered by
106 MultiTail.
107 -G x Send the output also to command 'x' BEFORE it was filtered by
109 MultiTail.
110 -S Prepend merged output with subwindow-number.
112 -t title
114 With this switch, "title" is displayed in the statusline instead
115 of the filename or commandline.
116 -n number_of_lines
118 Number of lines to tail initially. The default depends on the
119 size of the terminal-window.
120 -r interval
122 Restart the command (started with -l/-L) after it has exited.
123 With interval you can set how long to sleep before restarting.
124 -R interval
126 Restarts a command like -r only this one shows the difference in
127 output compared to the previous run.
128 -rc / -Rc interval
130 Like -r / -R but clears the window before each iteration.
131 -h The help.
133 -f Follow the following filename, not the descriptor.
135 --follow-all
137 For all files after this switch: follow the following filename,
138 not the descriptor.
139 -fr filter
141 Use the predefined filter(s) from the configfile.
142 -e Use the next regular expression on the following file.
144 -ex Use regular expression on the following file and execute the
146 command when it matches. The command gets as commandline parame‐
147 ter the whole matching line.
148 -eX Like '-ex' but only give the matching substring as parameter.
150 This requires a regular expression with '(' and ')'.
151 -ec Use regular expression on the following file and display the
153 matches.
154 -eC Use regular expression on the following file but display every‐
156 thing and display the matches inverted.
157 -E Use the next regular expression on the following files.
159 -v Negate the next regular expression.
161 -s x Splits the screen vertically in 'x' columns.
163 -sw x At what position to split the screen. e.g. '-sw 20,40,,10' (=4
165 columns)
166 -sn x How many windows per column for vertical split (use with -s or
168 -sw). e.g. '-sn 3,,2'.
169 -wh x Sets the height of a window (advisory: if it won't fit, the
171 height is adjusted).
172 -cS scheme
174 Show the next given file using the colorscheme selected with
175 'scheme' (as defined in multitail.conf).
176 -CS scheme
178 Show all following files using the colorscheme selected with
179 'scheme' (as defined in multitail.conf).
180 -csn Extra switch for the following switches; do not use reverse
182 (inverted) colors.
183 -cs Show the next given file in colors (syslog).
185 -c Show the next given file in colors.
187 -Cs Show all following files in color (through syslog-scheme).
189 -C Show all following files in color.
191 -Cf field_index delimiter
193 Show all following files in color depending on field selected
194 with field_index. Fields are delimited by the defined delimiter.
195 -cf field_index delimiter
197 Show the next file in color depending on field selected with
198 field_index. Fields are delimited by the defined delimiter.
199 -ci color
201 Use a specific color. Usefull when merging multiple outputs.
202 -cT terminalmode
204 Interpret terminal codes. Only ANSI supported at this time.
205 -c- Do NOT colorize the following file.
207 -C- Do NOT colorize the following files.
209 -ts Add a timestamp to each line (format is configurable in multi‐
211 tail.conf).
212 -Z color
214 Specify the color-attributes for the markerline.
215 -T A timestamp will be placed in the markerline.
217 -d Do NOT update statusline.
219 -D Do not display a statusline at all.
221 -du Put the statusline above the data window.
223 -z Do not display "window closed" windows.
225 -u Set screen updateinterval (for slow links).
227 -m nlines
229 Set buffersize Set nlines to 0 (zero) if you want no limits on
230 the buffering.
231 -mb x Set scrollback buffer size (in bytes, use xKB/MB/GB).
233 -M nlines
235 Set the buffersize on ALL following files.
236 -p x [y]
238 Set linewrap: a = print everything including linewrap. l = just
239 show everything starting at the left until the rightside of the
240 window is reached. r = show everything starting from the right
241 of the line. s = show everything starting with the processname.
242 S = show everything starting after the processname. o = show
243 everything starting at offset 'y'.
244 -P x [y]
246 Like -p but for all following windows.
247 -ke x Strip parts of the input using regular expression 'x'.
249 -kr x y
251 Strip parts of the input starting at offset x and ending (not
252 including!) offset y.
253 -kc x y
255 Strip parts of the input: strip column 'y' with delimiter 'x'.
256 -ks x Use editscheme 'x' from configfile.
258 -w Do not use colors.
260 -b n Sets the TAB-width.
262 --config filename
264 Load the configuration from given filename.
265 -x Set xterm-title: %f will be replaced with the last changed file,
267 %h with the hostname, %l with the load of the system, %m with
268 "New mail!" when the current user has new mail, %u with the cur‐
269 rent effective user, %t timestamp of last changed file, %% with
270 a %
271 -o configfile-item
273 Proces a configurationfile item via the commandline in case you
274 cannot edit the default configfile.
275 --cont Reconnect lines with a '´ at the end.
277 --mark-interval interval
279 When nothing comes in, print a '---mark---' line every 'inter‐
280 val' seconds.
281 --mark-change
283 When multiple files are merged an multitail switches between two
284 windows, print a markerline with the filename.
285 --no-mark-change
287 Do NOT print the markerline when the file changes (overrides the
288 configfile).
289 --label text
291 Put "text" in front of each line. Usefull when merging multiple
292 files and/or commands.
293 --retry
295 Keep trying to open the following file if it is inaccessible.
296 --retry-all
298 Like --retry but for all following files.
299 -cv x Use conversion scheme 'x' (see multitail.conf).
301 --basename
303 Only display the filename (and not the path) in the statusline.
304 -F file
306 Use 'file' as configfile (instead of default configfile).
307 --no-load-global-config
309 Do NOT load the global configfile.
310 --beep-interval x
312 Let the terminal beep for every x-th line processed. Press 'i'
313 in the main menu to see how many times it beeped.
314 --bi x Like '--beep-interval' but only for current (sub-)window. Sta‐
316 tistics on the number of beeps can be found in the statistics
317 for this (sub-)window. Press 't' in the main menu.
318 -H Show heartbeat (to keep your sessions alive).
320 -V Show the version and exit.
322
325 You can press a couple of keys while the program runs. To see a list
326 of them, press F1 (or ^h). You can press F1 (or ^h) at any time: it
327 gives you context related information. Press 'q' to exit the program.
328
331 See http://www.vanheusden.com/multitail/examples.html for more and
332 other examples.
333 multitail /var/log/apache/access_log logfile -i -filestartingwithdatsh
335 This creates three windows. One with the contents of
336 /var/log/apache/access_log, one with the contents of logfile and
337 so on.
338 multitail -R 2 -l "netstat -t"
340 This runs netstat every 2 seconds and then shows what has
341 changed since the previous run. That way one can see new connec‐
342 tions being made and closed connections fading away.
343 multitail logfile -l "ping 192.168.1.3"
345 This creates two windows. One with the contents of logfile, one
346 with with the output of 'ping 192.168.1.3'.
347 multitail /var/log/apache/access_log -I /var/log/apache/error_log
349 This creates one window with the contents of
350 /var/log/apache/access_log merged with the contents of
351 /var/log/apache/error_log.
352 multitail -M 0 /var/log/apache/access_log -I /var/log/apache/error_log
354 Same as previous example. This example will store all logged
355 entries in a buffer so that you can later on browse through them
356 (by pressing ' b
357 ').
358
361 As this program grew larger and larger over the time with new function‐
362 ality sometimes added ad-hoc, some bugs may have been introduced.
363 Please notify folkert@vanheusden.com if you find any.
364 Well, except for the resizing of your terminal window. The program
366 might crash when doing such things. Upgrading the ncurses library to at
367 least version 5.3 might help in that case.
368
371 http://www.vanheusden.com/multitail/
372
375 This page describes MultiTail as found in the multitail-4.3.1 package;
376 other versions may differ slightly. Mail corrections and additions to
377 folkert@vanheusden.com. Report bugs in the program to folkert@vanheus‐
378 den.com.
379MultiTail 2007-02 MULTITAIL(1)