---
name: "mtail"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "monkeytail"
version: "0.3.2-3"
release: "Debian 8 (Jessie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/mtail"
---

# mtail(1)

tail variant designed for web developers monitoring logfiles

## NAME

mtail - tail variant designed for web developers monitoring logfiles

## SYNOPSIS

**mtail** \[*options*\]  *\<file\>*...

## DESCRIPTION

MonkeyTail allows a user to tail multiple files on both local and remote hosts and clearly marks inactivity by putting 5 newlines in the output whenever a pause in output over 3 seconds is detected.

MonkeyTail is implemented a fairly simple wrapper script around standard tail, ssh, and sudo.

## OPTIONS

- **-q**

  Quiet mode

- **--quiet**

  "    "

- **-n**

  Output the last N lines of each file before tailing (defaults to 0)

- \<file\>...

  Files to tail.

-

  These can specified in the following ways:

- @\<groupname\>

  \- expands the group (from .mtailrc) to a list of

-

  files to tail

- \<filename\>

  \- tails a local file.

- \+\<filename\> - attempts to sudo and tail a local file (will

  prompt for pwd if required).

- \<remotehost\>:\<filename\>

  \- attempts to invoke tail via ssh on a remote

-

  host.

- \+\<remotehost\>:\<filename\> - attempts to invoke sudo tail via ssh on a

  remote host (will prompt for pwd if required).

## SEE ALSO

[**mtailrc**(5)](/mtailrc/5.md), [**tail**(1)](/tail/1.md)

## AUTHOR

Martyn Smith \<martyn@dollyfish.net.nz\>