Introduction
The ‘tail’ command in Linux is a handy utility used to display the last few lines of a file. It is commonly used to monitor log files or any other files that are constantly updating. The ‘tail’ command is available in most Linux distributions and is part of the GNU Core Utilities.
Syntax
The basic syntax for the ‘tail’ command is:
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tail [OPTION]... [FILE]...
Here, the options can include flags like -n (specifying the number of lines to display), -f (to continuously display new lines as they are added to the file), and others for formatting control.
Example Usage
- Display the last 10 lines of a file:
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tail file.txt
This command will show the last 10 lines of ‘file.txt’.
- Display the last 20 lines of a file and continuously update as new lines are added:
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tail -f 20 file.txt
This command will display the last 20 lines of ‘file.txt’ and keep updating with new lines.
- Display the last 5 lines of multiple files:
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tail -n 5 file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
This command will show the last 5 lines of ‘file1.txt’, ‘file2.txt’, and ‘file3.txt’.
Versions
The ‘tail’ command has been a part of the GNU Core Utilities for a long time and is available in all major Linux distributions including Ubuntu, CentOS, and Debian. Different versions may have slight variations in the options available, but the basic functionality remains the same.
Conclusion
The ‘tail’ command in Linux is a powerful tool for monitoring the end of files, especially log files or any other files that are continuously updated. Understanding its syntax and various options can help you efficiently use this command for various purposes. Whether you need to quickly check the end of a file or continuously monitor it for changes, ‘tail’ is a versatile command that every Linux user should be familiar with.