#!/usr/bin/env bash # tail -F \ /var/log/maillog \ /var/log/messages \ | while read -r line do printf \ "\033[38;5;%dm%s\033[0m\n" \ $(($RANDOM%214+17)) \ "$line" done # # Follow log files, showing each # line in a random color. # Needs a 256-color terminal, # works best on dark/black # backgrounds. #
Related: If you want to follow log files that are rotated, regularly or on reaching a certain size, use `tail -F` instead of `tail -f`. The difference is that -F tells `tail` to reopen the file if it's truncated or deleted/moved and recreated.