1TAIL(1)                          User Commands                         TAIL(1)
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NAME

6       tail - output the last part of files
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SYNOPSIS

9       tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
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DESCRIPTION

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.
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15       With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
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17       Mandatory arguments to long options are  mandatory  for  short  options
18       too.
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20       -c, --bytes=[+]NUM
21              output  the  last  NUM  bytes; or use -c +NUM to output starting
22              with byte NUM of each file
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24       -f, --follow[={name|descriptor}]
25              output appended data as the file grows;
26
27              an absent option argument means 'descriptor'
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29       -F     same as --follow=name --retry
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31       -n, --lines=[+]NUM
32              output the last NUM lines, instead of the last  10;  or  use  -n
33              +NUM to output starting with line NUM
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35       --max-unchanged-stats=N
36              with --follow=name, reopen a FILE which has not
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38              changed  size  after  N  (default 5) iterations to see if it has
39              been unlinked or renamed (this is the usual case of rotated  log
40              files); with inotify, this option is rarely useful
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42       --pid=PID
43              with -f, terminate after process ID, PID dies
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45       -q, --quiet, --silent
46              never output headers giving file names
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48       --retry
49              keep trying to open a file if it is inaccessible
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51       -s, --sleep-interval=N
52              with -f, sleep for approximately N seconds (default 1.0) between
53              iterations; with inotify and --pid=P, check process P  at  least
54              once every N seconds
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56       -v, --verbose
57              always output headers giving file names
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59       -z, --zero-terminated
60              line delimiter is NUL, not newline
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62       --help display this help and exit
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64       --version
65              output version information and exit
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67       NUM may have a multiplier suffix: b 512, kB 1000, K 1024, MB 1000*1000,
68       M 1024*1024, GB 1000*1000*1000, G 1024*1024*1024, and so on for  T,  P,
69       E, Z, Y.  Binary prefixes can be used, too: KiB=K, MiB=M, and so on.
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71       With  --follow  (-f),  tail  defaults to following the file descriptor,
72       which means that even if a tail'ed file is renamed, tail will  continue
73       to  track its end.  This default behavior is not desirable when you re‐
74       ally want to track the actual name of the file, not the file descriptor
75       (e.g.,  log  rotation).   Use  --follow=name in that case.  That causes
76       tail to track the named file in a way that accommodates  renaming,  re‐
77       moval and creation.
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AUTHOR

80       Written  by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim Mey‐
81       ering.
82

REPORTING BUGS

84       GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
85       Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
86

88       Copyright © 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.   License  GPLv3+:  GNU
89       GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
90       This  is  free  software:  you  are free to change and redistribute it.
91       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
92

SEE ALSO

94       head(1)
95
96       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/tail>
97       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) tail invocation'
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101GNU coreutils 9.1                  May 2023                            TAIL(1)
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