TAIL(1)                  User Commands                  TAIL(1)





NAME
       tail - output the last part of files

SYNOPSIS
       tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION
       Print the last 10 lines of each FILE to standard output.
       With more than one FILE, precede each with a header giv-
       ing  the  file  name.   With no FILE, or when FILE is -,
       read standard input.

       Mandatory arguments to long options  are  mandatory  for
       short options too.

       --retry
              keep trying to open a file even if it is inacces-
              sible when tail starts or if it becomes  inacces-
              sible later; useful when following by name, i.e.,
              with --follow=name

       -c, --bytes=N
              output the last N bytes

       -f, --follow[={name|descriptor}]
              output appended  data  as  the  file  grows;  -f,
              --follow, and --follow=descriptor are equivalent

       -F     same as --follow=name --retry

       -n, --lines=N
              output the last N lines, instead of the last 10

       --max-unchanged-stats=N
              with  --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=PID
              with -f, terminate after process ID, PID dies

       -q, --quiet, --silent
              never output headers giving file names

       -s, --sleep-interval=S
              with  -f,  sleep  for  approximately  S   seconds
              (default 1.0) between iterations.

       -v, --verbose
              always output headers giving file names

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output 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, k 1024, m 1024*1024.

       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.

AUTHOR
       Written  by  Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Tay-
       lor, and Jim Meyering.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This is free software; see the source for copying condi-
       tions.  There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABIL-
       ITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO
       The full documentation for tail is maintained as a  Tex-
       info 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.



tail 5.3.0               December 2004                  TAIL(1)