Skip to main content

SnakeTail: Monitor Growing Log Files

SnakeTail is a free Windows log/text file viewer than can load and open files that are being currently written to with new data. In other words, a growing log file. SnakeTail can be used to monitor Windows log files such as Event Logs for system, security, applications etc. as well as generic log files.

The program has a tabbed interface and opened tabs can be displayed in tiled or cascaded layout enabling users to monitor multiple log files at once. Different logs can also be customized to display on differently colored background for easy distinction.

snaketail

Windows Event Logs can be opened from within SnakeTail without needing administrator rights. Technically the program supports large text log files, but I found the program tends to stall when files are large.

The session saving feature ensures that you don’t have to perform the same ritual of opening and closing multiple log files. Simply save your session and load it the next time.

Below is a detailed list of features of SnakeTail:

  • Monitor “large” text log files
  • Monitor Windows Event Logs (Without needing administrator rights)
  • Multiple Window Modes supported (MDI, Tabbed, Floating)
  • Save and load entire window session. Can load session file at startup when given as command line parameter.
  • Sentence highlight with colors based on keyword match (Includes regex support)
  • Tails circular logs where the log file is periodically truncated/renamed.
  • Tails log directory where the latest log file is displayed (Includes regex support)
  • Search in the entire text log file
  • Tail new log files with a simple drag drop from Windows Explorer
  • Filtering of Windows Event Logs using regular expressions
  • Display simple process statistics in window title bar (RAM + CPU usage + TRX/Sec)
  • Stop and start Windows service by right clicking in the tail window
  • Change tail window background color, text color, window icon
  • Minimize to tray
  • Low memory usage independent of log file size
  • Low cpu usage even when more than 100 lines/sec
  • Works well over remote desktop
  • Supports Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, Win2k8, Win7

Related:

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

69 alternatives to the default Facebook profile picture

If you have changed the default Facebook profile picture and uploaded your own, it’s fine. But if not, then why not replace that boring picture of the guy with a wisp of hair sticking out of his head with something different and funny?
332 comments
Read more

How to Record CPU and Memory Usage Over Time in Windows?

Whenever the computer is lagging or some application is taking too long to respond, we usually fire up task manager and look under the Performance tab or under Processes to check on processor utilization or the amount of free memory available. The task manager is ideal for real-time analysis of CPU and memory utilization. It even displays a short history of CPU utilization in the form of a graph. You get a small time-window, about 30 seconds or so, depending on how large the viewing area is.
17 comments
Read more

How to Schedule Changes to Your Facebook Page Cover Photo

Facebook’s current layout, the so called Timeline, features a prominent, large cover photo that some people are using in a lot of different creative ways. Timeline is also available for Facebook Pages that people can use to promote their website or business or event. Although you can change the cover photo as often as you like, it’s meant to be static – something which you design and leave it for at least a few weeks or months like a redesigned website. However, there are times when you may want to change the cover photo frequently and periodically to match event dates or some special promotion that you are running or plan to run. So, here is how you can do that.
1 comment
Read more