freshclam(1) Clam AntiVirus freshclam(1)NAMEfreshclam - update virus databases
SYNOPSISfreshclam [options]
DESCRIPTIONfreshclam is a virus database update tool for ClamAV.
OPTIONS
Freshclam reads its configuration from freshclam.conf. The settings can
be overwritten with command line options.
-h, --help
Output help information and exit.
-V, --version
Print version number and exit.
-v, --verbose
Be verbose. This option causes freshclam to print much addi‐
tional information.
--quiet
Be quiet - output only error messages.
--no-warnings
Don't print and log warnings.
-v, --debug
Enable debug messages from LibClamAV.
--stdout
Write all messages to stdout.
-l FILE, --log=FILE
Write download report to FILE.
--datadir=DIRECTORY
Install new database in DIRECTORY. The directory must be
writable for the '' user or unprivileged user running freshclam.
-u USER, --user USER
Run as USER. By default (when started by root) freshclam drops
privileges and operates as the '' user.
-d, --daemon
Run in a daemon mode. This option requires --checks.-p FILE,
--pid=FILE Write daemon's pid to FILE.
--no-dns
This option forces old non-DNS verification method (without a
TTL delay).
-c #n, --checks=#n
Check #n times per day for a new database. #n must be between 1
and 50.
--daemon-notify=/path/to/clamd.conf
Notify the daemon about the new database. By default it reads a
hardcoded config file but you can use a different one. Both
local and TCP sockets are supported.
-a IP, --local-address=IP
Use (local) IP for HTTP downloads. Useful for multi-homed sys‐
tems. If binding fails for whatever reason, a warning is issued
and freshclam behaves like without this flag.
--on-error-execute=COMMAND
Execute COMMAND if error occurred. Remember, that virus database
freshness is the most important thing in anti-virus system. With
this option freshclam can alert you (eg. send SMS) when some‐
thing is going wrong.
--on-update-execute=COMMAND
Execute COMMAND after successful update.
--on-outdated-execute=COMMAND
Execute COMMAND when freshclam reports outdated version. In the
command string %v will be replaced by the new version number.
--list-mirrors
Print mirror details from mirrors.dat (cache file for the mirror
manager).
--submit-stats[=/path/to/clamd.conf]
Upload detection statistics to the ClamAV Project (see fresh‐
clam.conf(5):SubmitDetectionStats for more details). No database
update will be performed. This option only works in the interac‐
tive mode.
--update-db=DBNAME
With this option you can limit updates to a subset of database
files. The DBNAME should be "main", "daily", "bytecode",
"safebrowsing" or one of the 3rd party database names. This
option can be used multiple times and only works with the offi‐
cial and 3rd party databases distrubuted through the ClamAV mir‐
rors, your custom databases (specified with DatabaseCustomURL in
freshclam.conf) will not be ignored.
EXAMPLES
(0) Download database to default directory:
freshclam
(1) Download database to current directory:
freshclam --datadir=.
(2) Run as a daemon and check 2 times per day for new database:
freshclam-d -c 2
RETURN CODES
Some return codes of freshclam can be overwritten with a built-in com‐
mand EXIT_n which can be passed to --on-*-execute, eg. --on-update-exe‐
cute=EXIT_1 will force freshclam to always return 1 after successful
database update.
0 : Database is up-to-date or successfully updated.
40: Unknown option passed.
50: Can't change directory.
51: Can't check MD5 sum.
52: Connection (network) problem.
53: Can't unlink file.
54: MD5 or digital signature verification error.
55: Error reading file.
56: Config file error.
57: Can't create new file.
58: Can't read database from remote server.
59: Mirrors are not fully synchronized (try again later).
60: Can't get information about '' user from /etc/passwd.
61: Can't drop privileges.
62: Can't initialize logger.
FILES
/etc/freshclam.conf
CREDITS
Please check the full documentation for credits.
AUTHOR
Tomasz Kojm <tkojm@clamav.net>
SEE ALSOfreshclam.conf(5), clamd(8), clamd.conf(5), clamscan(1)ClamAV 0.98.1 February 12, 2007 freshclam(1)