freshclam(1)

1freshclam(1)                    Clam AntiVirus                    freshclam(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       freshclam - update virus databases
7

SYNOPSIS

9       freshclam [options]
10

DESCRIPTION

12       freshclam is a virus database update tool for ClamAV.
13

OPTIONS

15       FreshClam reads its configuration from freshclam.conf. The settings can
16       be overwritten with command line options.
17
18       -h, --help
19              Output help information and exit.
20
21       -V, --version
22              Print version number and exit.
23
24       -v, --verbose
25              Be verbose. This option causes freshclam  to  print  much  addi‐
26              tional information.
27
28       --debug
29              Enable debug messages from LibClamAV.
30
31       --quiet
32              Be quiet - output only error messages.
33
34       --no-warnings
35              Don't print and log warnings.
36
37       --stdout
38              Write all messages to stdout.
39
40       --show-progress
41              Show download progress percentage.
42
43       --config-file=FILE
44              Read configuration from FILE.
45
46       -l FILE, --log=FILE
47              Log report to FILE.
48
49       -d, --daemon
50              Run  in a daemon mode. Defaults to 12 checks per day unless oth‐
51              erwise specified by --checks or freshclam.conf.
52
53       -p FILE, --pid=FILE
54              Write daemon's pid to FILE.
55
56       -F, --foreground
57              Don't fork into background (for use in daemon mode).
58
59       -u USER, --user USER
60              Run as USER. By default (when started by root)  freshclam  drops
61              privileges and operates as the '' user.
62
63       --no-dns
64              This  option  forces  old non-DNS verification method (without a
65              TTL delay).
66
67       -c #n, --checks=#n
68              Check #n times per day for a new database. #n must be between  1
69              and 50.
70
71       --datadir=DIRECTORY
72              Install  new  database  in  DIRECTORY.  The  directory  must  be
73              writable for the '' user or unprivileged user running freshclam.
74
75       --daemon-notify=/path/to/clamd.conf
76              Notify the daemon about the new database. By default it reads  a
77              hardcoded  config  file  but  you  can use a different one. Both
78              local and TCP sockets are supported.
79
80       -a IP, --local-address=IP
81              Use (local) IP for HTTP downloads. Useful for  multi-homed  sys‐
82              tems.  If binding fails for whatever reason, a warning is issued
83              and freshclam behaves like without this flag.
84
85       --on-update-execute=COMMAND
86              Execute COMMAND after successful update.
87
88       --on-error-execute=COMMAND
89              Execute COMMAND if error occurred. Remember, that virus database
90              freshness is the most important thing in anti-virus system. With
91              this option freshclam can alert you (eg. send  SMS)  when  some‐
92              thing is going wrong.
93
94       --on-outdated-execute=COMMAND
95              Execute  COMMAND when freshclam reports outdated version. In the
96              command string %v will be replaced by the new version number.
97
98       --update-db=DBNAME
99              With this option you can limit updates to a subset  of  database
100              files.   The  DBNAME  should  be  "main",  "daily",  "bytecode",
101              "safebrowsing" or one of the  3rd  party  database  names.  This
102              option  can be used multiple times and only works with the offi‐
103              cial and 3rd party databases distributed through the ClamAV mir‐
104              rors, your custom databases (specified with DatabaseCustomURL in
105              freshclam.conf) will not be ignored.
106

EXAMPLES

108       (0) Download database to default directory:
109
110              freshclam
111
112       (1) Download database to current directory:
113
114              freshclam --datadir=.
115
116       (2) Run as a daemon and check 2 times per day for new database:
117
118              freshclam -d -c 2
119

RETURN CODES

121       Some return codes of freshclam can be overwritten with a built-in  com‐
122       mand EXIT_n which can be passed to --on-*-execute, eg. --on-update-exe‐
123       cute=EXIT_1 will force freshclam to always return  1  after  successful
124       database update.
125
126       0 : Database is up-to-date or successfully updated.
127
128       40: Unknown option passed.
129
130       50: Can't change directory.
131
132       51: Can't check MD5 sum.
133
134       52: Connection (network) problem.
135
136       53: Can't unlink file.
137
138       54: MD5 or digital signature verification error.
139
140       55: Error reading file.
141
142       56: Config file error.
143
144       57: Can't create new file.
145
146       58: Can't read database from remote server.
147
148       59: Mirrors are not fully synchronized (try again later).
149
150       60: Can't get information about '' user from /etc/passwd.
151
152       61: Can't drop privileges.
153
154       62: Can't initialize logger.
155

FILES

157       /etc/freshclam.conf
158

CREDITS

160       Please check the full documentation for credits.
161

AUTHOR

163       Tomasz Kojm <tkojm@clamav.net>, Kevin Lin <klin@sourcefire.com>
164