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 giving the file  name.   With
       no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

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

       -c, --bytes=K
              output the last K bytes; or use -c +K to output  bytes  starting
              with the Kth of each file

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

              an absent option argument means 'descriptor'

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

       -n, --lines=K
              output the last K lines, instead of the last 10; or use -n +K to
              output starting with the Kth

       --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); with inotify, this option is rarely useful

       --pid=PID
              with -f, terminate after process ID, PID dies

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

       --retry
              keep trying to open a file if it is inaccessible

       -s, --sleep-interval=N
              with -f, sleep for approximately N seconds (default 1.0) between
              iterations;  with  inotify and --pid=P, check process P at least
              once every N seconds

       -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 K (the number of bytes or lines)  is  a  '+',
       print  beginning  with the Kth item from the start of each file, other-
       wise, print the last K items in the file.  K may have a multiplier suf-
       fix:   b   512,  kB  1000,  K  1024,  MB  1000*1000,  M  1024*1024,  GB
       1000*1000*1000, G 1024*1024*1024, and so on for T, P, E, Z, Y.

       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 descrip-
       tor (e.g., log rotation).  Use --follow=name in that case.  That causes
       tail  to  track  the  named  file  in a way that accommodates renaming,
       removal and creation.

AUTHOR
       Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim  Mey-
       ering.

REPORTING BUGS
       GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report tail translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  (C) 2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
       GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free  to  change  and  redistribute  it.
       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       Full documentation at: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/tail>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) tail invocation'



GNU coreutils 8.23                March 2015                           TAIL(1)
