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

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

       -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 lines 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 even when it is or becomes inaccessible; useful when following by name, i.e., with --fol‐
	      low=name

       -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.

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

REPORTING BUGS
       Report tail bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org
       GNU coreutils home page: 
       General help using GNU software: 
       Report tail translation bugs to 

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright   ©   2011   Free   Software	Foundation,   Inc.    License	GPLv3+:   GNU	GPL    version	  3    or    later
       .
       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 8.12.197-032bb				  September 2011						   TAIL(1)