freshclam

freshclam(1) Clam AntiVirus freshclam(1)

NAME

   freshclam - update virus databases

SYNOPSIS

   freshclam [options]

DESCRIPTION

   freshclam 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 additional information.

   --debug
          Enable debug messages from LibClamAV.

   --quiet
          Be quiet - output only error messages.

   --no-warnings
          Don't print and log warnings.

   --stdout
          Write all messages to stdout.

   --show-progress
          Show download progress percentage.

   --config-file=FILE
          Read configuration from FILE.

   -l FILE, --log=FILE
          Log report to FILE.

   -d, --daemon
          Run in a daemon mode. Defaults to 12 checks per day unless otherwise specified by --checks or freshclam.conf.

   -p FILE, --pid=FILE
          Write the daemon's pid to FILE.

   -F, --foreground
          Don't fork into background (for use in daemon mode).

   -u USER, --user USER
          Run as USER. By default (when started by root) freshclam drops privileges and operates as the 'clamav' user.

   --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.

   --datadir=DIRECTORY
          Install new database in DIRECTORY. The directory must be writable for the 'clamav' user or unprivileged user running freshclam, already exist, and be an absolute path.

   --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 systems. If binding fails for whatever reason, a warning is issued and freshclam behaves like without this flag.

   --on-update-execute=COMMAND
          Execute COMMAND after successful update.

   --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 something is going wrong.

   --on-outdated-execute=COMMAND
          Execute COMMAND when freshclam reports outdated version. In the command string %v will be replaced by the new version number.

   --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 official and 3rd party databases distributed through the ClamAV mirrors, your custom databases (specified with
          DatabaseCustomURL in freshclam.conf) will not be ignored.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

   freshclam uses the following environment variables:

   CURL_CA_BUNDLE
          (Linux/Unix only, excluding macOS) May be set to the path of a file (bundle) containing one or more CA certificates. This will override the default openssl certificate path.

   FRESHCLAM_CLIENT_CERT
          May be set to the path of a file (PEM) containing the client certificate. This may be used for client authentication.

   FRESHCLAM_CLIENT_KEY
          May be set to the path of a file (PEM) containing the client private key. This is required if FRESHCLAM_CLIENT_CERT is set.

   FRESHCLAM_CLIENT_KEY_PASSWD
          May be set to a password for the client key PEM file. This is required if FRESHCLAM_CLIENT_KEY is set and the PEM file is password protected.

   Note that the CURL_CA_BUNDLE environment variable is also used by the curl command line tool for the same purpose.

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 command EXIT_n which can be passed to --on-*-execute, eg. --on-update-execute=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 'clamav' user from /etc/passwd.

   61: Can't drop privileges.

   62: Can't initialize logger.

FILES

   /etc/clamav/freshclam.conf

CREDITS

   Please check the full documentation for credits.

AUTHOR

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