How to Install Multitail 6.4.2 on Ubuntu

How to Install Multitail on Ubuntu

Tail is a program in Linux which is used to read a few lines from the end of a large file. Multi-tail, on the other hand, is a similar program to Tail. The only difference is that with Multi-tail, you can read multiple files - the log files at once. It also displays every opened file in a single terminal window nicely. You can also follow multiple files for changes at once. With Multi-tail you can open the different file with different colors. It is a very useful tool for Linux System Administrators.

It is so simple to install Multitail on Ubuntu and this tutorial covers the ground on the same process.

Installing Multitail

First, make sure you update your system by making use of the following command.

root@localhost:~# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease 
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Hit:4 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease
Reading package lists... Done

You shall now install multitail by making use of the following command.

root@localhost:~# apt-get install multitail
Reading package lists... Done
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Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up multitail (6.4.2-1build1) ...

Once Multitail has been installed, you shall know about the version of Multi-tail by making use of the following command.

root@localhost:~# multitail -V
 --*- multitail 6.4.2 (C) 2003-2014 by folkert@vanheusden.com -*--
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do not hesitate to contact me at folkert@vanheusden.com
Website is available at: http://www.vanheusden.com/multitail/

You can now use multitail to view single log file with Multi-tail.

root@localhost:~# multitail /var/log/auth.log 

You can also view multiple log files with multi-tail in a vertical manner.

root@localhost:~# multitail /var/log/auth.log  /var/log/kern.log 

You can also view multiple log files with multi-tail in a horoizontal manner.

root@localhost:~# multitail -s 2 /var/log/auth.log  /var/log/kern.log 

You can press ‘ b’ to open a list of the opened files as shown in the screenshot below. I have 2 files opened, the first one /var/log/auth.log is numbered 00 and the second one /var/log/kern.log is numbered 01. If you don’ t want to select any file, just press < Ctrl> and < g> to cancel the selection menu.

As you can see from the screenshot below, I selected the first file /var/log/auth.log and it’ s displayed in a separate section. Now you can press < Up> and < Down> arrow keys to navigate the file.

If you want to view multiple files with different colors in a vertical manner, run the following command.

root@localhost:~# multitail -ci green /var/log/auth.log -ci blue /var/log/kern.log 

You can also view multiple files with different colors in horizontal manner.

root@localhost:~# multitail -s 2 -ci green /var/log/auth.log -ci red /var/log/kern.log 

With this, the tutorial comes to an end.