tail - check the end of the file
when dealing with logs, getting to the end of a huge file is a huge pain. Thats why tail was created.
tail is on most machines and can be used as such
tail filename[ENTER]
by default that shows the last 5 lines of the file.
tail -n 1000 filename
will show the last -n # of lines.
tail also has another useful feature, which is show the log file as it’s written to:
so
tail -f filename
will stay active showing you the log file as it’s written to on the screen. You can press Control and C at the same time to break out.
Give it a try on a web log file and hit a site, you’ll see your visit!