tail

🦒 tail Command in Linux

The tail command is used to display the end of a file. It's useful for monitoring logs and large files.

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🧰 Common Options

Option	Description
-n [lines]	Show the last [lines] lines (default is 10)
-f	Follow the file as it grows (useful for logs)
-c [bytes]	Show the last [bytes] bytes
-q	Suppress headers when multiple files are being tailed
-v	Show the header when multiple files are being tailed

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📋 Basic Syntax

tail [options] [file]

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📝 Common Commands

Show the Last 10 Lines (Default)

tail /path/to/file

Show the Last N Lines

tail -n 20 /path/to/file  # Show the last 20 lines

Follow a File for Real-Time Updates

tail -f /path/to/logfile

• This is commonly used for monitoring log files in real time.

Show the Last N Bytes

tail -c 50 /path/to/file  # Show the last 50 bytes

Show Multiple Files at Once

tail -n 10 -q file1.txt file2.txt  # Show last 10 lines of file1 and file2 without headers

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💡 Additional Tips

• Using tail -f with multiple files: The -f option allows you to view real-time updates, which is great for log files or watching a file being written to.

• Combining with grep: You can pipe the output of tail to grep to filter the results.

  tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep "error"

• Use Ctrl + C to stop following the file when using tail -f.

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