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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)

       --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
              --follow=name

       -s, --sleep-interval=N
              with -f, sleep for approximately N 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 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: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
       Report tail translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright  ©  2010  Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
       GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       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.