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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.

       --retry
	      keep trying to open a file even if it is inaccessible when  tail
	      starts  or if it becomes inaccessible later; useful when follow‐
	      ing by name, i.e., with --follow=name

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

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

       -F     same as --follow=name --retry

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

       --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)

       --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 for approximately S seconds (default 1.0) 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, other‐
       wise, print the last N items in the file.  N may have a multiplier suf‐
       fix: b 512, k 1024, m 1024*1024.

       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 descrip‐
       tor (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.

`_POSIX2_VERSION' COMPATIBILITY ISSUES:
       On  older  systems, the leading `-' can be replaced by `+' in the obso‐
       lete option syntax with the same meaning as  in	counts,	 and  obsolete
       usage  overrides	 normal	 usage	when  the two conflict.	 This obsolete
       behavior can be enabled or disabled with the `_POSIX2_VERSION' environ‐
       ment  variable, but portable scripts should avoid commands whose behav‐
       ior depends on this variable.
       For example, use `tail -- - main.c' or `tail main.c'  rather  than  the
       ambiguous `tail - main.c', `tail -c4' or `tail -c 10 4' rather than the
       ambiguous `tail -c 4', and `tail ./+4' or `tail -n +4' rather than  the
       ambiguous  `tail +4'.  You can work around those compatibility problems
       by setting `_POSIX2_VERSION=199209' in your environment.

AUTHOR
       Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Ian Lance Taylor, and Jim  Mey‐
       ering.

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

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       This  is	 free  software.   You may redistribute copies of it under the
       terms	  of	  the	   GNU	    General	  Public       License
       <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.	 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 tail

       should give you access to the complete manual.

tail 5.97			  March 2012			       TAIL(1)
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