# tail

## 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 skip NUM-1 lines at the start
    
           **--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; can be
                  repeated to watch multiple processes
    
           **-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, R, Q.  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 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.
    


* * *