lnav
A terminal log file viewer that merges, tails, searches, filters and queries log files with SQL.
These buttons open the developer's own site, repository or store listing in a new tab. wares.gg does not host downloads.
1 more ways to get lnav
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install lnav
About lnav
The Logfile Navigator, lnav for short, is a log viewer for the terminal aimed at small-scale use. You point it at a directory, and it detects the file formats, unpacks compressed files as it goes and merges the logs into one timeline you can tail, search and filter.
It includes an SQLite interface for querying log data, plus online help and previews for operations. No server or setup is needed, and you can try it over SSH on a public demo machine before installing.
Strengths
- Automatic detection of log formats and compressed files
- Merges several logs into one view
- SQL queries over log data through SQLite
- No server or setup required
Limitations
- Meant for small-scale use, not central log collection
- Terminal interface takes some learning
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source.
- License
- BSD-2-Clause
- Developer
- Tim Stack
- Platforms
- macOS, Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Developers and administrators reading logs on a single machine
- Categories
- System monitoring, CLI tools, Developer tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to lnav
Compare allSoftware that can replace lnav for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
less
A classic terminal file pager for reading text files and command output one screen at a time.
less is preinstalled on most Unix systems and pages through logs one screen at a time, but it lacks lnav's format detection, log merging and SQL queries.
ov
Read long command output with a configurable terminal pager.
ov is a configurable pager with search, column views and file-following modes that runs on Windows too, but it does not merge logs or support SQL queries.
lnav as an alternative
Listings that name lnav as an alternative.
tailspin
Highlight useful patterns in log files without a custom parser.
lnav goes beyond highlighting to merge, tail, filter and query logs with SQL through SQLite, but it runs on macOS and Linux only and takes learning.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Stern
A command-line tool that tails logs from many Kubernetes pods and containers at once.
sysdig
A Linux command-line tool for exploring and troubleshooting systems by capturing system calls, with container support.
VisiData
An interactive terminal multitool for exploring, cleaning and converting tabular data in many formats.
bat
Like cat, but with syntax highlighting, line numbers, Git markers and a pager when the file is long.
Glow
Reads Markdown files in a terminal with proper formatting, and finds them for you in the current directory or git repository.
ugrep
A grep-compatible file searcher with a text interface, Boolean queries, fuzzy matching and archive search.
