How to view multiple files in single terminal?

Question

Sometimes I may need to access multiple log files for troubleshooting , but I don't want to open them in different terminals.

What I want is to open them in same terminal.

Is there any way I can view tail part of the multiple log files in a same terminal window ?

Answer 1

If you have for example /var/log/syslog, /var/log/auth.log log files, you can view them both in one terminal by executing tail -f command .

Open terminal and add the following command:

tail -f /var/log/syslog  /var/log/auth.log

The output:

==> /var/log/syslog <==
Mar  4 17:44:15 client AptDaemon: INFO: Quitting due to inactivity
    Mar  4 17:44:15 client dbus[815]: [system] Activating service name='org.debian.apt' (using servicehelper)


==> /var/log/auth.log <==
Mar  4 16:17:01 client CRON[13628]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Mar  4 16:17:01 client CRON[13628]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root

Answer 2

To view tail part of multiple files in the single terminal window you can install multitail :

sudo apt-get install multitail

Usage: multitail <filename1> <filename2>.

So the output will be part of file1 and part of file2 in the same terminal.

hope that helps.

Answer 3

If you have to ssh into a remote machine to watch the logs there, you can run tmux (or screen) there , and tail the logs in split windows. Works local as well.

Answer 4

In the default gnome-terminal, you can just use tabs - 'File' -> 'New Tab'

You can switch between the tabs with Alt+TAB NUMBER , each tab behaves similar to a new terminal. You can also switch with Ctrl+PgUp/PgDwn .

You can also detach one of the tabs into a new terminal window with 'Terminal' -> 'Detach Tab' .

Answer 5

You can use tabnew <filename> in vim. To switch between tabs you can use Ctrl+PgUp and Ctrl+PgDwn.

You can jump to the end of file by pressing G in Terminal.