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

1. tail Command – Monitor Logs in Real Time

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

Using -f option

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

Using tailf (built‑in -f)

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

For rotated logs, use -F to follow new files: $ sudo tail -F /var/log/apache2/access.log To view only the last two lines in real‑time, 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 monitor several logs simultaneously and allows scrolling.

Install Multitail:

$ sudo apt install multitail   [On Debian & Ubuntu]
$ sudo yum install multitail   [On RedHat & CentOS]
$ sudo dnf install multitail   [On Fedora 22+ version]

Example to display 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 lnav:

$ sudo apt install lnav   [On Debian & Ubuntu]
$ sudo yum install lnav   [On RedHat & CentOS]
$ sudo dnf install lnav   [On Fedora 22+ version]

Example usage:

$ 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 (or start with +F) to follow a file:

sudo less +F /var/log/apache2/access.log

Additional articles on log monitoring and management are listed:

Manage Files Effectively using head, tail and cat Commands in Linux

How to Setup and Manage Log Rotation Using Logrotate in Linux

Petiti – An Open Source Log Analysis Tool for Linux SysAdmins

How to Query Audit Logs Using ‘ausearch’ Tool on CentOS/RHEL

Manage Log Messages Under Systemd Using Journalctl {Comprehensive Guide}