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Under GNU General Public License
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MULTITAIL(1) General Commands Manual MULTITAIL(1)
NAME
MultiTail - browse through several files at once
SYNOPSIS
multitail [options]
options: [-cs|-Cs|-c-] [-s] [-i] inputfile [-i anotherinputfile] [...]
DESCRIPTION
The program MultiTail lets you view one or multiple files like the original tail program.
The difference is that it creates multiple windows on your console (with ncurses). It can
also monitor wildcards: if another file matching the wildcard has a more recent modifica-
tion date, it will automatically switch to that file. That way you can, for example, moni-
tor a complete directory of files. Merging of 2 or even more logfiles is possible. It can
also use colors while displaying the logfiles (through regular expressions), for faster
recognition of what is important and what not. It can also filter lines (again with regu-
lar expressions). It has interactive menus for editing given regular expressions and
deleting and adding windows. One can also have windows with the output of shell scripts
and other software. When viewing the output of external software, MultiTail can mimic the
functionality of tools like 'watch' and such. When new mail arrives for the current user,
the statuslines will become green. To reset this "mail has arrived"-state, press ' ' (a
space). For help at any time, press F1.
OPTIONS
-i file
Select a file to monitor. You can have multiple -i file parameters. You only need
to add -i file in front of a filename if the filename starts with a dash ('-').
-I file
Same as -i file but add the output to the previous window (so the output is
merged).
-iw file interval
-Iw file interval Like '-i'/'-I' but expects the parameter to be a wildcard and the
second(!) an interval. Initially MultiTail will start monitoring the first file
with the most recent modification time. Every interval it will check if any new
files were created (or modified) and start tailing that one. *Don't forget* to put
quotation marks around the filename as otherwhise the shell will try to substitute
them!
-l command
Command to execute in a window. Parameter is the command. Do not forget to use "'s
if the external command needs parameter! (e.g. -l "ping host").
-L command
Same as -l but add the output to the previous window (so the output is merged).
-j Read from stdin (can be used only once as there is only 1 stdin).
-J Same as -j but add the output to the previous window (so the output is merged).
--mergeall
Merge all of the following files into the same window (see '--no-mergeall').
--no-mergeall
Stop merging all files into one window (see '--mergeall');
--no-repeat
When the same line is repeated, it will be suppressed while printing a "Last mes-
sage repeated x times" message.
--mark-interval x
Print every 'x' seconds a mark-line when nothing else was printed.
-q i path
Check path for new files with interval 'i', all in new windows. One can enter paths
here understood by the shell. E.g. "/tmp/*". Note: do not forget to add quotes
around the pathname to prevent the shell from parsing it!
-Q i path
Like -q: but merge them all in one window.
--new-only
For -q/-Q: only create windows for files created after MultiTail was started.
--closeidle x
Close windows when more then 'x' seconds no new data was processed.
-a x Write the output also to file 'x' (like 'tee') AFTER it was filtered by MultiTail.
Note: you need to put "-a file" BEFORE to the file you're monitoring!
-A x Write the output also to file 'x' (like 'tee') BEFORE it was filtered by MultiTail.
Also see the note for "-a".
-g x Send the output also to command 'x' AFTER it was filtered by MultiTail.
-G x Send the output also to command 'x' BEFORE it was filtered by MultiTail.
-S Prepend merged output with subwindow-number.
-t title
With this switch, "title" is displayed in the statusline instead of the filename or
commandline.
-n number_of_lines
Number of lines to tail initially. The default depends on the size of the terminal-
window.
-N number_of_lines
Like -n but this parameter will be used for all files/commands you tail after this
parameter.
-r interval
Restart the command (started with -l/-L) after it has exited. With interval you can
set how long to sleep before restarting.
-R interval
Restarts a command like -r only this one shows the difference in output compared to
the previous run.
-rc / -Rc interval
Like -r / -R but clears the window before each iteration.
-h The help.
-f Follow the following filename, not the descriptor.
--follow-all
For all files after this switch: follow the following filename, not the descriptor.
-fr filter
Use the predefined filter(s) from the configfile.
-e Use the next regular expression on the following file.
-ex Use regular expression on the following file and execute the command when it
matches. The command gets as commandline parameter the whole matching line.
-eX Like '-ex' but only give the matching substring as parameter. This requires a regu-
lar expression with '(' and ')'.
-ec Use regular expression on the following file and display the matches.
-eC Use regular expression on the following file but display everything and display the
matches inverted.
-E Use the next regular expression on the following files.
-v Negate the next regular expression.
-s x Splits the screen vertically in 'x' columns.
-sw x At what position to split the screen. e.g. '-sw 20,40,,10' (=4 columns)
-sn x How many windows per column for vertical split (use with -s or -sw). e.g. '-sn
3,,2'.
-wh x Sets the height of a window (advisory: if it won't fit, the height is adjusted).
-cS scheme
Show the next given file using the colorscheme selected with 'scheme' (as defined
in multitail.conf).
-CS scheme
Show all following files using the colorscheme selected with 'scheme' (as defined
in multitail.conf).
-csn Extra switch for the following switches; do not use reverse (inverted) colors.
-cs Show the next given file in colors (syslog).
-c Show the next given file in colors.
-Cs Show all following files in color (through syslog-scheme).
-C Show all following files in color.
-Cf field_index delimiter
Show all following files in color depending on field selected with field_index.
Fields are delimited by the defined delimiter.
-cf field_index delimiter
Show the next file in color depending on field selected with field_index. Fields
are delimited by the defined delimiter.
-ci color
Use a specific color. Usefull when merging multiple outputs.
-cT terminalmode
Interpret terminal codes. Only ANSI supported at this time.
-c- Do NOT colorize the following file.
-C- Do NOT colorize the following files.
-ts Add a timestamp to each line (format is configurable in multitail.conf).
-Z color
Specify the color-attributes for the markerline.
-T A timestamp will be placed in the markerline.
-d Do NOT update statusline.
-D Do not display a statusline at all.
-du Put the statusline above the data window.
-z Do not display "window closed" windows.
-u Set screen updateinterval (for slow links).
-m nlines
Set buffersize Set nlines to 0 (zero) if you want no limits on the buffering.
-mb x Set scrollback buffer size (in bytes, use xKB/MB/GB).
-M nlines
Set the buffersize on ALL following files.
-p x [y]
Set linewrap: a = print everything including linewrap. l = just show everything
starting at the left until the rightside of the window is reached. r = show every-
thing starting from the right of the line. s = show everything starting with the
processname. S = show everything starting after the processname. o = show every-
thing starting at offset 'y'.
-P x [y]
Like -p but for all following windows.
-ke x Strip parts of the input using regular expression 'x'.
-kr x y
Strip parts of the input starting at offset x and ending (not including!) offset y.
-kc x y
Strip parts of the input: strip column 'y' with delimiter 'x'.
-ks x Use editscheme 'x' from configfile.
-w Do not use colors.
-b n Sets the TAB-width.
--config filename
Load the configuration from given filename.
-x Set xterm-title: %f will be replaced with the last changed file, %h with the host-
name, %l with the load of the system, %m with "New mail!" when the current user has
new mail, %u with the current effective user, %t timestamp of last changed file, %%
with a %
-o configfile-item
Proces a configurationfile item via the commandline in case you cannot edit the de-
fault configfile.
--cont Reconnect lines with a '' at the end.
--mark-interval interval
When nothing comes in, print a '---mark---' line every 'interval' seconds.
--mark-change
When multiple files are merged an multitail switches between two windows, print a
markerline with the filename.
--no-mark-change
Do NOT print the markerline when the file changes (overrides the configfile).
--label text
Put "text" in front of each line. Usefull when merging multiple files and/or com-
mands.
--retry
Keep trying to open the following file if it is inaccessible.
--retry-all
Like --retry but for all following files.
-cv x Use conversion scheme 'x' (see multitail.conf).
--basename
Only display the filename (and not the path) in the statusline.
-F file
Use 'file' as configfile (instead of default configfile).
--no-load-global-config
Do NOT load the global configfile.
--beep-interval x
Let the terminal beep for every x-th line processed. Press 'i' in the main menu to
see how many times it beeped.
--bi x Like '--beep-interval' but only for current (sub-)window. Statistics on the number
of beeps can be found in the statistics for this (sub-)window. Press 't' in the
main menu.
-H Show heartbeat (to keep your sessions alive).
-V Show the version and exit.
KEYS
You can press a couple of keys while the program runs. To see a list of them, press F1
(or ^h). You can press F1 (or ^h) at any time: it gives you context related information.
Press 'q' to exit the program.
EXAMPLES
See http://www.vanheusden.com/multitail/examples.html for more and other examples.
multitail /var/log/apache/access_log logfile -i -filestartingwithdatsh
This creates three windows. One with the contents of /var/log/apache/access_log,
one with the contents of logfile and so on.
multitail -R 2 -l "netstat -t"
This runs netstat every 2 seconds and then shows what has changed since the previ-
ous run. That way one can see new connections being made and closed connections
fading away.
multitail logfile -l "ping 192.168.1.3"
This creates two windows. One with the contents of logfile, one with with the out-
put of 'ping 192.168.1.3'.
multitail /var/log/apache/access_log -I /var/log/apache/error_log
This creates one window with the contents of /var/log/apache/access_log merged with
the contents of /var/log/apache/error_log.
multitail -M 0 /var/log/apache/access_log -I /var/log/apache/error_log
Same as previous example. This example will store all logged entries in a buffer so
that you can later on browse through them (by pressing ' b
').
BUGS
As this program grew larger and larger over the time with new functionality sometimes
added ad-hoc, some bugs may have been introduced. Please notify folkert AT vanheusden.com if
you find any.
Well, except for the resizing of your terminal window. The program might crash when doing
such things. Upgrading the ncurses library to at least version 5.3 might help in that
case.
SEE ALSO
http://www.vanheusden.com/multitail/
NOTES
This page describes MultiTail as found in the multitail-4.3.1 package; other versions may
differ slightly. Mail corrections and additions to folkert AT vanheusden.com. Report bugs
in the program to folkert AT vanheusden.com.
MultiTail 2007-02 MULTITAIL(1)
Generated by $Id: phpMan.php,v 4.55 2007/09/05 04:42:51 chedong Exp $ Author: Che Dong
On Apache
Under GNU General Public License
2025-04-24 19:27 @3.144.124.77 CrawledBy Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)