TAIL(L)                        FSF                        TAIL(L)



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.

       --retry
              keep trying to open a file even if it is inaccessi-
              ble  when tail starts or if it becomes inaccessible
              later -- useful only with -f

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

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

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

       --max-unchanged-stats=N
              see the texinfo documentation (the default is 5)

       --max-consecutive-size-changes=N
              see the texinfo documentation (the default is 200)

       --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 S seconds 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 for  512,  k  for
       1024,  m for 1048576 (1 Meg).  A first OPTION of -VALUE or
       +VALUE is treated like -n VALUE or -n +VALUE unless  VALUE
       has  one of the [bkm] suffix multipliers, in which case it
       is treated like -c VALUE or -c +VALUE.

       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  Taylor,
       and Jim Meyering.

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

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This  is  free software; see the source for copying condi-
       tions.  There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY
       or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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 tail

       should give you access to the complete manual.



GNU textutils 2.0         November 2001                   TAIL(L)