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

6       tail - output the last part of files
7

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.   With
14       no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.
15
16       Mandatory  arguments  to  long  options are mandatory for short options
17       too.
18
19       --retry
20              keep trying to open a file even if it is inaccessible when  tail
21              starts  or if it becomes inaccessible later; useful when follow‐
22              ing by name, i.e., with --follow=name
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24       -c, --bytes=N
25              output the last N bytes; alternatively, use +N to  output  bytes
26              starting with the Nth of each file
27
28       -f, --follow[={name|descriptor}]
29              output appended data as the file grows; -f, --follow, and --fol‐
30              low=descriptor are equivalent
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32       -F     same as --follow=name --retry
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34       -n, --lines=N
35              output the last N lines, instead of the last 10; or  use  +N  to
36              output lines starting with the Nth
37
38       --max-unchanged-stats=N
39              with  --follow=name,  reopen  a  FILE which has not changed size
40              after N (default 5) iterations to see if it has been unlinked or
41              renamed (this is the usual case of rotated log files)
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43       --pid=PID
44              with -f, terminate after process ID, PID dies
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46       -q, --quiet, --silent
47              never output headers giving file names
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49       -s, --sleep-interval=S
50              with -f, sleep for approximately S seconds (default 1.0) between
51              iterations.
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53       -v, --verbose
54              always output headers giving file names
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56       --help display this help and exit
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58       --version
59              output version information and exit
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61       If the first character of N (the number of bytes or lines)  is  a  `+',
62       print  beginning  with the Nth item from the start of each file, other‐
63       wise, print the last N items in the file.  N may have a multiplier suf‐
64       fix: b 512, k 1024, m 1024*1024.
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66       With  --follow  (-f),  tail  defaults to following the file descriptor,
67       which means that even if a tail'ed file is renamed, tail will  continue
68       to  track  its  end.   This  default behavior is not desirable when you
69       really want to track the actual name of the file, not the file descrip‐
70       tor (e.g., log rotation).  Use --follow=name in that case.  That causes
71       tail to track the named file by reopening it periodically to see if  it
72       has been removed and recreated by some other program.
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AUTHOR

75       Written  by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim Mey‐
76       ering.
77

REPORTING BUGS

79       Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.
80

82       Copyright © 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
83       This is free software.  You may redistribute copies  of  it  under  the
84       terms       of       the      GNU      General      Public      License
85       <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.  There is NO WARRANTY,  to  the
86       extent permitted by law.
87

SEE ALSO

89       The  full documentation for tail is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
90       the info and tail programs are properly installed  at  your  site,  the
91       command
92
93              info tail
94
95       should give you access to the complete manual.
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99GNU coreutils 6.9                 March 2008                           TAIL(1)
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