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.

       --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)