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freshclam is the automatic database update tool for Clam AntiVirus.
It can work in two modes:
freshclam is advanced tool: it supports scripted updates (instead
of transferring the whole CVD file at each update it only transfers the
differences between the latest and the current database via a special
script), database version checks through DNS, proxy servers (with
authentication), digital signatures and various error scenarios.
Quick test: run freshclam (as superuser) with no parameters
and check the output. If everything is OK you may create the log file in
/var/log (owned by clamav or another user freshclam will be
running as):
# touch /var/log/freshclam.log # chmod 600 /var/log/freshclam.log # chown clamav /var/log/freshclam.logNow you should edit the configuration file
freshclam.conf
and point the UpdateLogFile directive to the log file. Finally, to
run freshclam in the daemon mode, execute:
# freshclam -dThe other way is to use the cron daemon. You have to add the following line to the crontab of root or clamav user:
N * * * * /usr/local/bin/freshclam --quietto check for a new database every hour. N should be a number between 3 and 57 of your choice. Please don't choose any multiple of 10, because there are already too many clients using those time slots. Proxy settings are only configurable via the configuration file and
freshclam will require strict permission settings for the config
file when HTTPProxyPassword is turned on.
HTTPProxyServer myproxyserver.com HTTPProxyPort 1234 HTTPProxyUsername myusername HTTPProxyPassword mypass