Master Real-Time Log Monitoring on Linux: tail, multitail, lnav & less

1. tail Command – Monitor Logs in Real Time

As mentioned, the tail command is the most common way to display logs in real time. It has two variants:

tail -f

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/access.log

tailf

sudo tailf /var/log/apache2/access.log

For rotated logs use -F which follows the file name even when the underlying file descriptor changes: sudo tail -F /var/log/apache2/access.log To show only the last two lines while following, combine -n and -f:

sudo tail -n2 -f /var/log/apache2/access.log

2. Multitail Command – Monitor Multiple Log Files in Real Time

Multitail can display several logs simultaneously and lets you scroll back.

Install:

sudo apt install multitail   # Debian & Ubuntu
sudo yum install multitail   # RedHat & CentOS
sudo dnf install multitail   # Fedora 22+

Example showing two logs:

sudo multitail /var/log/apache2/access.log /var/log/apache2/error.log

3. lnav Command – Monitor Multiple Log Files in Real Time

lnav is another tool for real‑time multi‑file monitoring.

Install:

sudo apt install lnav   # Debian & Ubuntu
sudo yum install lnav   # RedHat & CentOS
sudo dnf install lnav   # Fedora 22+

View two logs together:

sudo lnav /var/log/apache2/access.log /var/log/apache2/error.log

4. less Command – Display Real‑Time Output of Log Files

You can also use less and press Shift+F to follow a file, or start it with +F: sudo less +F /var/log/apache2/access.log How do you monitor log files? Share your method in the comments.