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=[+]NUM
              output the last NUM bytes; or use -c +NUM to output starting with
              byte NUM 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=[+]NUM
              output the last NUM lines, instead of the last 10; or use -n +NUM
              to output starting with line NUM

       --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

       -z, --zero-terminated
              line delimiter is NUL, not newline

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

       NUM 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.  Binary prefixes can be used, too: KiB=K, MiB=M, and so on.

       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 re‐
       ally 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.

AUTHOR
       Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim Meyer‐
       ing.

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

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU GPL
       version 3 or later <https://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
       head(1)

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

GNU coreutils 9.1                 January 2024                          TAIL(1)