


MULTITAIL(1)                                         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 win-
       dows on your console (with ncurses). It can also monitor wildcards:  if
       another file matching the wildcard has a more recent modification date,
       it will automatically switch to that file. That way you can, for  exam-
       ple,  monitor  a complete directory of files. Merging of 2 or even more
       logfiles is possible. It can also use colors while displaying the  log-
       files  (through regular expressions), for faster recognition of what is
       important and what not. It can also filter lines  (again  with  regular
       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 parame-
              ters.  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  modi-
              fication  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 substite 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").





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MULTITAIL(1)                                         MULTITAIL(1)


       -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 message 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  pro-
              cessed.

       -a x   Write the output also to file 'x' (like 'tee') AFTER it was fil-
              tered by MultiTail.

       -A x   Write the output also to file 'x' (like  'tee')  BEFORE  it  was
              filtered by MultiTail.

       -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.




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MULTITAIL(1)                                         MULTITAIL(1)


       -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.

       -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 parame-
              ter the whole matching line.

       -eX    Like '-ex' but only give the matching  substring  as  parameter.
              This requires a regular 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  every-
              thing 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



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MULTITAIL(1)                                         MULTITAIL(1)


              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  multi-
              tail.conf).

       -Z color
              Specify the color-attributes for the markerline.

       -T     A timestamp will be placed in the markerline.

       -d     Do NOT update statusline.



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MULTITAIL(1)                                         MULTITAIL(1)


       -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 everything starting from  the  right
              of  the line. s = show everything starting with the processname.
              S = show everything starting after the  processname.  o  =  show
              everything 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  hostname, %l with the load of the system, %m with
              "New mail!" when the current user has new mail, %u with the cur-
              rent  effective user, %t timestamp of last changed file, %% with
              a %

       -o configfile-item
              Proces a configurationfile item via the commandline in case  you



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MULTITAIL(1)                                         MULTITAIL(1)


              cannot edit the default configfile.

       --cont Reconnect lines with a '' at the end.

       --mark-interval interval
              When  nothing  comes in, print a '---mark---' line every 'inter-
              val' 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 commands.

       --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.



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MULTITAIL(1)                                         MULTITAIL(1)


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 previous run. That way one can see new connec-
              tions 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 output 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 function-
       ality  sometimes  added  ad-hoc,  some  bugs  may have been introduced.
       Please notify folkert@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@vanheusden.com.  Report bugs in the program to folkert@vanheus-
       den.com.








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