Manual Reference Pages - freshclam.conf (5)

NAME

freshclam.conf - Configuration file for Clam AntiVirus database update tool

DESCRIPTION

The file freshclam.conf configures the Clam AntiVirus Database Updater, freshclam(1).

FILE FORMAT

The file consists of comments and options with arguments. Each line which starts with a hash (#) symbol is ignored by the parser. Options and arguments are case sensitive and of the form Option Argument. The arguments are of the following types:

BOOL Boolean value (yes/no or true/false or 1/0).

STRING String without blank characters.

SIZE Size in bytes. You can use ’M’ or ’m’ modifiers for megabytes and ’K’ or ’k’ for kilobytes.

NUMBER Unsigned integer.

DIRECTIVES

When an option is not used (hashed or doesn’t exist in the configuration file) freshclam takes a default action.

Example
If this option is set freshclam will not run.

DatabaseOwner STRING
When started by root, drop privileges to a specified user.
Default:

AllowSupplementaryGroups BOOL
Initialize supplementary group access (freshclam must be started by root).
Default: disabled

DatabaseDirectory STRING
Path to a directory containing database files.
Default: /var/clamav

Checks NUMBER
Number of database checks per day.
Default: 12

UpdateLogFile STRING
Enable logging to a specified file. Highly recommended.
Default: disabled.

LogFileMaxSize SIZE
Limit the size of the log file. The logger will be automatically disabled if the file is greater than SIZE. Value of 0 disables the limit.
Default: 1M

LogSyslog BOOL
Enable logging to Syslog. May be used in combination with UpdateLogFile.
Default: disabled.

LogFacility STRING
Specify the type of syslog messages - please refer to ’man syslog’ for facility names.
Default: LOG_LOCAL6

PidFile STRING
This option allows you to save the process identifier of the daemon to a file specified in the argument.
Default: disabled

LogVerbose BOOL
Enable verbose logging.
Default: disabled

DNSDatabaseInfo STRING
This directive enables database and software version checks through DNS TXT records.
Default: enabled, pointing to current.cvd.clamav.net

DatabaseMirror STRING
Server name where database updates are downloaded from. In order to download the database from the closest mirror you should configure freshclam to use db.xy.clamav.net where xy represents your country code. If this option is given multiple times, freshclam(1) tries them in the order given. It’s strongly recommended that you use db.xy.clamav.net as the first mirror and database.clamav.net as the second.
Default: database.clamav.net

MaxAttempts NUMBER
How many attempts (per mirror) to make before giving up.
Default: 3 (per mirror)

ScriptedUpdates BOOL
With this option you can control scripted updates. It’s highly recommended to keep it enabled.
Default: enabled

TestDatabases BOOL
With this option enabled, freshclam will attempt to load new databases into memory to make sure they are properly handled by libclamav before replacing the old ones.
Default: enabled

CompressLocalDatabase BOOL
By default freshclam will keep the local databases (.cld) uncompressed to make their handling faster. With this option you can enable the compression; the change will take effect with the next database update.
Default: no

DatabaseCustomURL STR
With this option you can provide custom sources (http:// or file://) for database files. This option can be used multiple times.
Default: no custom URLs

HTTPProxyServer STR, HTTPProxyPort NUMBER
Use given proxy server and TCP port for database downloads.

HTTPProxyUsername STR,HTTPProxyPassword STRING
Proxy usage is authenticated through given username and password.
Default: no proxy authentication

HTTPUserAgent STRING
If your servers are behind a firewall/proxy which applies User-Agent filtering, you can use this option to force the use of a different User-Agent header.
Default: clamav/version_number

LocalIPAddress IP
Use IP as client address for downloading databases. Useful for multi homed systems.
Default: Use OS'es default outgoing IP address.

NotifyClamd STRING
Notify a running clamd(8) to reload its database after a download has occurred. The path for clamd.conf file must be provided.
Default: The default is to not notify clamd. See clamd.conf(5)'s option SelfCheck for how clamd(8) handles database updates in this case.

OnUpdateExecute STRING
Execute this command after the database has been successfully updated.
Default: disabled

OnOutdatedExecute STRING
Execute this command when freshclam reports outdated version. In the command string %v will be replaced by the new version number.
Default: disabled

OnErrorExecute STRING
Execute this command after a database update has failed.
Default: disabled

ConnectTimeout NUMBER
Timeout in seconds when connecting to database server.
Default: 10

ReceiveTimeout NUMBER
Timeout in seconds when reading from database server.
Default: 30

SubmitDetectionStats STRING
When enabled freshclam will submit statistics to the ClamAV Project about the latest virus detections in your environment. The ClamAV maintainers will then use this data to determine what types of malware are the most detected in the field and in what geographic area they are. Freshclam will connect to clamd in order to get the recent statistics. The path for clamd.conf file must be provided.
Default: disabled

DetectionStatsCountry STRING
Country of origin of malware/detection statistics (for statistical purposes only). The statistics collector at ClamAV.net will look up your IP address to determine the geographical origin of the malware reported by your installation. If this installation is mainly used to scan data which comes from a different location, please enable this option and enter a two-letter code (see http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/) of the country of origin.
Default: disabled

DetectionStatsHostID STRING
This option enables support for our "Personal Statistics" service. When this option is enabled, the information on malware detected by your clamd installation is made available to you through our website. To get your HostID, log on http://www.stats.clamav.net and add a new host to your host list. Once you have the HostID, uncomment this option and paste the HostID here. As soon as your freshclam starts submitting information to our stats collecting service, you will be able to view the statistics of this clamd installation by logging into http://www.stats.clamav.net with the same credentials you used to generate the HostID. For more information refer to: http://www.clamav.net/support/faq/faq-cctts/. This feature requires SubmitDetectionStats to be enabled.
Default: disabled

SafeBrowsing BOOL
This option enables support for Google Safe Browsing. When activated for the first time, freshclam will download a new database file (safebrowsing.cvd) which will be automatically loaded by clamd and clamscan during the next reload, provided that the heuristic phishing detection is turned on. This database includes information about websites that may be phishing sites or possible sources of malware. When using this option, it’s mandatory to run freshclam at least every 30 minutes. Freshclam uses the ClamAV’s mirror infrastructure to distribute the database and its updates but all the contents are provided under Google’s terms of use. See http://code.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=70015 and http://safebrowsing.clamav.net for more information.
Default: disabled

Bytecode BOOL
This option enables downloading of bytecode.cvd, which includes additional detection mechanisms and improvements to the ClamAV engine.
Default: enabled

FILES

/etc/freshclam.conf

AUTHOR

Thomas Lamy <thomas.lamy@netwake.de>, Tomasz Kojm <tkojm@clamav.net>

Manual Reference Pages - freshclam.conf (5)

NAME

CONTENTS

DESCRIPTION

FILE FORMAT

DIRECTIVES

FILES

AUTHOR

SEE ALSO

BOOL	Boolean value (yes/no or true/false or 1/0).
STRING	String without blank characters.
SIZE	Size in bytes. You can use ’M’ or ’m’ modifiers for megabytes and ’K’ or ’k’ for kilobytes.
NUMBER	Unsigned integer.

Example
	If this option is set freshclam will not run.
DatabaseOwner STRING
	When started by root, drop privileges to a specified user. Default:
AllowSupplementaryGroups BOOL
	Initialize supplementary group access (freshclam must be started by root). Default: disabled
DatabaseDirectory STRING
	Path to a directory containing database files. Default: /var/clamav
Checks NUMBER
	Number of database checks per day. Default: 12
UpdateLogFile STRING
	Enable logging to a specified file. Highly recommended. Default: disabled.
LogFileMaxSize SIZE
	Limit the size of the log file. The logger will be automatically disabled if the file is greater than SIZE. Value of 0 disables the limit. Default: 1M
LogSyslog BOOL
	Enable logging to Syslog. May be used in combination with UpdateLogFile. Default: disabled.
LogFacility STRING
	Specify the type of syslog messages - please refer to ’man syslog’ for facility names. Default: LOG_LOCAL6
PidFile STRING
	This option allows you to save the process identifier of the daemon to a file specified in the argument. Default: disabled
LogVerbose BOOL
	Enable verbose logging. Default: disabled
DNSDatabaseInfo STRING
	This directive enables database and software version checks through DNS TXT records. Default: enabled, pointing to current.cvd.clamav.net
DatabaseMirror STRING
	Server name where database updates are downloaded from. In order to download the database from the closest mirror you should configure freshclam to use db.xy.clamav.net where xy represents your country code. If this option is given multiple times, freshclam(1) tries them in the order given. It’s strongly recommended that you use db.xy.clamav.net as the first mirror and database.clamav.net as the second. Default: database.clamav.net
MaxAttempts NUMBER
	How many attempts (per mirror) to make before giving up. Default: 3 (per mirror)
ScriptedUpdates BOOL
	With this option you can control scripted updates. It’s highly recommended to keep it enabled. Default: enabled
TestDatabases BOOL
	With this option enabled, freshclam will attempt to load new databases into memory to make sure they are properly handled by libclamav before replacing the old ones. Default: enabled
CompressLocalDatabase BOOL
	By default freshclam will keep the local databases (.cld) uncompressed to make their handling faster. With this option you can enable the compression; the change will take effect with the next database update. Default: no
DatabaseCustomURL STR
	With this option you can provide custom sources (http:// or file://) for database files. This option can be used multiple times. Default: no custom URLs
HTTPProxyServer STR, HTTPProxyPort NUMBER
	Use given proxy server and TCP port for database downloads.
HTTPProxyUsername STR,HTTPProxyPassword STRING
	Proxy usage is authenticated through given username and password. Default: no proxy authentication
HTTPUserAgent STRING
	If your servers are behind a firewall/proxy which applies User-Agent filtering, you can use this option to force the use of a different User-Agent header. Default: clamav/version_number
LocalIPAddress IP
	Use IP as client address for downloading databases. Useful for multi homed systems. Default: Use OS'es default outgoing IP address.
NotifyClamd STRING
	Notify a running clamd(8) to reload its database after a download has occurred. The path for clamd.conf file must be provided. Default: The default is to not notify clamd. See clamd.conf(5)'s option SelfCheck for how clamd(8) handles database updates in this case.
OnUpdateExecute STRING
	Execute this command after the database has been successfully updated. Default: disabled
OnOutdatedExecute STRING
	Execute this command when freshclam reports outdated version. In the command string %v will be replaced by the new version number. Default: disabled
OnErrorExecute STRING
	Execute this command after a database update has failed. Default: disabled
ConnectTimeout NUMBER
	Timeout in seconds when connecting to database server. Default: 10
ReceiveTimeout NUMBER
	Timeout in seconds when reading from database server. Default: 30
SubmitDetectionStats STRING
	When enabled freshclam will submit statistics to the ClamAV Project about the latest virus detections in your environment. The ClamAV maintainers will then use this data to determine what types of malware are the most detected in the field and in what geographic area they are. Freshclam will connect to clamd in order to get the recent statistics. The path for clamd.conf file must be provided. Default: disabled
DetectionStatsCountry STRING
	Country of origin of malware/detection statistics (for statistical purposes only). The statistics collector at ClamAV.net will look up your IP address to determine the geographical origin of the malware reported by your installation. If this installation is mainly used to scan data which comes from a different location, please enable this option and enter a two-letter code (see http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/) of the country of origin. Default: disabled
DetectionStatsHostID STRING
	This option enables support for our "Personal Statistics" service. When this option is enabled, the information on malware detected by your clamd installation is made available to you through our website. To get your HostID, log on http://www.stats.clamav.net and add a new host to your host list. Once you have the HostID, uncomment this option and paste the HostID here. As soon as your freshclam starts submitting information to our stats collecting service, you will be able to view the statistics of this clamd installation by logging into http://www.stats.clamav.net with the same credentials you used to generate the HostID. For more information refer to: http://www.clamav.net/support/faq/faq-cctts/. This feature requires SubmitDetectionStats to be enabled. Default: disabled
SafeBrowsing BOOL
	This option enables support for Google Safe Browsing. When activated for the first time, freshclam will download a new database file (safebrowsing.cvd) which will be automatically loaded by clamd and clamscan during the next reload, provided that the heuristic phishing detection is turned on. This database includes information about websites that may be phishing sites or possible sources of malware. When using this option, it’s mandatory to run freshclam at least every 30 minutes. Freshclam uses the ClamAV’s mirror infrastructure to distribute the database and its updates but all the contents are provided under Google’s terms of use. See http://code.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=70015 and http://safebrowsing.clamav.net for more information. Default: disabled
Bytecode BOOL
	This option enables downloading of bytecode.cvd, which includes additional detection mechanisms and improvements to the ClamAV engine. Default: enabled