Linux Shells by Example

tail—displays the tail end of a file

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

When a plus sign precedes the number, tail displays blocks, characters, or lines counting from the beginning of the file. If a hyphen precedes the number, tail counts from the end of the file. Unlike the UNIX version, which uses a fixed size buffer, the Gnu version can output any amount of data.

Example A.57.

1 tail +50 filex 2 tail -20 filex 3 tail filex

Explanation

1. Displays contents of filex starting at line 50.

2. Displays the last 20 lines of filex.

3. Displays the last 10 lines of filex.