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, otherwise, print the last K items in the file.
       K may have a multiplier suffix: 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
       descriptor (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.

       GNU  coreutils  online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> Report tail transla-
       tion bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

AUTHOR
       Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim Meyering.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright } 2013 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
       The full documentation for tail is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the info  and  tail
       programs are properly installed at your site, the command

              info coreutils 'tail invocation'

       should give you access to the complete manual.



GNU coreutils 8.22                         October 2018                                   TAIL(1)