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TAIL(1)                                                   TAIL(1)

NAME
       tail - output the last part of files

SYNOPSIS
       tail  [-c  [+]N[bkm]] [-n [+]N] [-fqv] [--bytes=[+]N[bkm]]
       [--lines=[+]N] [--follow] [--quiet] [--silent] [--verbose]
       [--help] [--version] [file...]

       tail [{-,+}Nbcfklmqv] [file...]

DESCRIPTION
       This  documentation  is no longer being maintained and may
       be inaccurate or incomplete.  The Texinfo documentation is
       now the authoritative source.

       This  manual page documents the GNU version of tail.  tail
       prints the last part (10 lines by default) of  each  given
       file;  it  reads from standard input if no files are given
       or when a filename of `-' is encountered.   If  more  than
       one  file  is  given, it prints a header consisting of the
       file's name enclosed in `==>' and `<==' before the  output
       for each file.

       The  GNU  tail  can  output any amount of data, unlike the
       Unix version, which uses a fixed size buffer.  It  has  no
       -r  option (print in reverse).  Reversing a file is really
       a different job from printing the end of a file;  the  BSD
       tail  can  only reverse files that are at most as large as
       its buffer, which is typically 32k.  A reliable  and  more
       versatile way to reverse files is the GNU tac command.

   OPTIONS
       tail  accepts  two  option  formats: the new one, in which
       numbers are arguments to the option letters, and  the  old
       one, in which a `+' or `-' and optional number precede any
       option letters.

       If a number (`N') starts with a `+', tail begins  printing
       with  the Nth item from the start of each file, instead of
       from the end.

       -c N, --bytes N
              Tail by N bytes.  N is a nonzero  integer,  option-
              ally followed by one of the following characters to
              specify a different unit.

              b      512-byte blocks.

              k      1-kilobyte blocks.

              m      1-megabyte blocks.

       -f, --follow
              Loop forever trying to read more characters at  the

FSF                     GNU Text Utilities                      1

TAIL(1)                                                   TAIL(1)

              end of the file, on the assumption that the file is
              growing.  Ignored if reading from a pipe.  If  more
              than  one file is given, tail prints a header when-
              ever it gets output from a different file, to indi-
              cate which file that output is from.

       -l, -n N, --lines N
              Tail  by  N lines.  -l is only recognized using the
              old option format.

       -q, --quiet, --silent
              Never print filename headers.

       -v, --verbose
              Always print filename headers.

       --help Print a usage message and exit with a  status  code
              indicating success.

       --version
              Print  version  information on standard output then
              exit.

FSF                     GNU Text Utilities                      2