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.
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 per‐
mitted 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 November 2016 TAIL(1)
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