The tail command prints the last ten lines of a file.
Example:
tail filename.txt
Syntax:
tail [OPTION] [FILENAME]
Use the -n option with a number(should be an integer) of lines to display.
Example:
tail -n 10 foo.txt
This command will display the last ten lines of the file foo.txt.
It is possible to let tail output any new line added to the file you are looking into. So, if a new line is written to the file, it will immediately be shown in your output. This can be done using the --follow or -f option. This is especially useful for monitoring log files.
Example:
tail -f foo.txt
Syntax:
tail -n <number> foo.txt
| Short Flag | Long Flag | Description |
|---|---|---|
-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 rename (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 |