Ubuntu Manpage: MultiTail - browse through several files at once

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.

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.