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>

SEE ALSO

       freshclam.conf(5), clamd(8), clamd.conf(5), clamscan(1)

ClamAV 1.4.3                                    December 4, 2013                                    freshclam(1)