trusty (1) multitail.1.gz

Provided by: multitail_6.0-1_amd64 bug

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 modification date, it will automatically switch to
       that file. That way you can, for example, monitor 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  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 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 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 processed.

       -a x   Write the output also to file 'x' (like 'tee') AFTER it was filtered 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.

       -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 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  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 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 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  default
              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 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.

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 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 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 functionality 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@vanheusden.com.