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https://github.com/kilianc/rtail

rtail(1) - Terminal output to the browser in seconds, using UNIX pipes.
https://github.com/kilianc/rtail

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rtail(1) - Terminal output to the browser in seconds, using UNIX pipes.

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# `rtail(1)`



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## Terminal output to the browser in seconds, using UNIX pipes.



`rtail` is a command line utility that grabs every line in `stdin` and broadcasts it over **UDP**. That's it. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Tail log files, app output, or whatever you wish, using `rtail` broadcasting to an `rtail-server` – See multiple streams in the browser, in realtime.



## Installation



    $ npm install -g rtail



## Web app



![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/rtail/github/dark.png)



![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/rtail/github/light.png)



## Rationale



Whether you deploy your code on remote servers using multiple environments or simply have multiple projects, **you must `ssh` to each machine running your code, in order to monitor the logs in realtime**.



There are many log aggregation tools out there, but few of them are realtime. **Most other tools require you to change your application source code to support their logging protocol/transport**.



`rtail` is meant to be a replacement of [logio](https://github.com/NarrativeScience/Log.io/commits/master), which isn't actively maintained anymore, doesn't support node v0.12., and uses *TCP. (TCP requires strict client / server handshaking, is resource-hungry, and very difficult to scale.)*



**The `rtail` approach is very simple:**

* pipe something into `rtail` using [UNIX I/O redirection](http://www.westwind.com/reference/os-x/commandline/pipes.html) [[2]](http://www.codecoffee.com/tipsforlinux/articles2/042.html)

* broadcast every line using UDP

* `rtail-server`, **if listening**, will dispatch the stream into your browser, using [socket.io](http://socket.io/).



`rtail` is a realtime debugging and monitoring tool, which can display multiple aggregate streams via a modern web interface. **There is no persistent layer, nor does the tool store any data**. If you need a persistent layer, use something like [loggly](https://www.loggly.com/).



## Examples



In your app init script:



    $ node server.js 2>&1 | rtail --id "api.myproject.com"



    $ mycommand | rtail > server.log



    $ node server.js 2>&1 | rtail --mute



Supports JSON5 lines:



    $ while true; do echo [1, 2, 3, "hello"]; sleep 1; done | rtail

    $ echo { "foo": "bar" } | rtail

    $ echo { format: 'JSON5' } | rtail



Using log files (log rotate safe!):



    $ node server.js 2>&1 > log.txt

    $ tail -F log.txt | rtail



For fun and debugging:



    $ cat ~/myfile.txt | rtail

    $ echo "Server rebooted!" | rtail --id `hostname`



## Params



    $ rtail --help

    Usage: cmd | rtail [OPTIONS]



    Options:

      --host, -h     The server host                 [string] [default: "127.0.0.1"]

      --port, -p     The server port                        [string] [default: 9999]

      --id, --name   The log stream id                 [string] [default: (moniker)]

      --mute, -m     Don't pipe stdin with stdout                          [boolean]

      --tty          Keeps ansi colors                     [boolean] [default: true]

      --parse-date   Looks for dates to use as timestamp   [boolean] [default: true]

      --help         Show help                                             [boolean]

      --version, -v  Show version number                                   [boolean]



    Examples:

      server | rtail > server.log         localhost + file

      server | rtail --id api.domain.com  Name the log stream

      server | rtail --host example.com   Sends to example.com

      server | rtail --port 43567         Uses custom port

      server | rtail --mute               No stdout

      server | rtail --no-tty             Strips ansi colors

      server | rtail --no-date-parse      Disable date parsing/stripping



## `rtail-server(1)`



`rtail-server` receives all messages broadcast from every `rtail` client, displaying all incoming log streams in a realtime web view. **Under the hood, the server uses [socket.io](http://socket.io) to pipe every incoming UDP message to the browser.**



There is little to no configuration – The default UDP/HTTP ports can be changed, but that's it.



## Examples



Use default values:



    $ rtail-server



Always use latest, stable webapp:



    $ rtail-server --web-version stable



Use custom ports:



    $ rtail-server --web-port 8080 --udp-port 9090



Set debugging on:



    $ DEBUG=rtail:* rtail-server



Open your browser and start tailing logs!



## Params



    $ rtail-server --help

    Usage: rtail-server [OPTIONS]



    Options:

    --udp-host, --uh  The listening UDP hostname            [default: "127.0.0.1"]

    --udp-port, --up  The listening UDP port                       [default: 9999]

    --web-host, --wh  The listening HTTP hostname           [default: "127.0.0.1"]

    --web-port, --wp  The listening HTTP port                      [default: 8888]

    --web-version     Define web app version to serve                     [string]

    --help, -h        Show help                                          [boolean]

    --version, -v     Show version number                                [boolean]



    Examples:

    rtail-server --web-port 8080         Use custom HTTP port

    rtail-server --udp-port 8080         Use custom UDP port

    rtail-server --web-version stable    Always uses latest stable webapp

    rtail-server --web-version unstable  Always uses latest develop webapp

    rtail-server --web-version 0.1.3     Use webapp v0.1.3



## UDP Broadcasting



To scale and broadcast on multiple servers, instruct the `rtail` client to stream to the broadcast address. Every message will then be delivered to all servers in your subnet.



## Authentication layer



For the time being, the webapp doesn't have an authentication layer; it assumes that you will run it behind a VPN or reverse proxy, with a simple `Authorization` header check.



# How to contribute



This project follows the awesome [Vincent Driessen](http://nvie.com/about/) [branching model](http://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/).



* You must add a new feature on its own branch

* You must contribute to hot-fixing, directly into the master branch (and pull-request to it)



This project uses JSCS to enforce a consistent code style. Your contribution must be pass jscs validation.



The test suite is written on top of [mochajs/mocha](http://mochajs.org/). Use the tests to check if your contribution breaks some part of the library and be sure to add new tests for each new feature.



    $ npm test



## Contributors



* [Kilian Ciuffolo](https://github.com/kilianc)

* [Luca Orio](https://www.behance.net/lucaorio)

* [Sandaruwan Silva](https://github.com/s-silva)

* [Sorel Mihai](https://dribbble.com/sorelmihai)

* [Tim Riot](https://www.linkedin.com/in/timriot)



## Roadmap (aka where you can help)



* Write a rock solid test suite

* Allow use of DTLS (waiting for node to support this https://github.com/joyent/node/pull/6704)

* Add GitHub OAuth and basic auth for teams (join proposal convo here: https://github.com/kilianc/rtail/issues/44)

* Implement infinite-scroll like behavior in the webapp to support bigger backlogs and make it future proof.

* Publish base rtail docker image to DockerHub

* Create a catch all docker logs image

* Rewrite webapp using ng2



## Sponsors

❤ rTail? Consider sponsoring this project to keep it alive and free for the community.



* Lukibear (domain)

* ? (wildcard TLS cert)

* ? (.io domain)



[![PayPal donate button](https://img.shields.io/badge/$_paypal-one_time_donation_➝-04cd7e.svg?style=flat-square)](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=info%40rtail%2eorg&lc=US&item_name=rtail&item_number=rtail&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted)



Professional support or ad-hoc is also available.



## License



_This software is released under the MIT license cited below_.



    Copyright (c) 2014 Kilian Ciuffolo, [email protected]. All Rights Reserved.



    Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person

    obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation

    files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without

    restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,

    copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell

    copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the

    Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following

    conditions:



    The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be

    included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.



    THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,

    EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES

    OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND

    NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT

    HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,

    WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING

    FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR

    OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.