fam(1M)                                                                fam(1M)



NAME
     fam - file alteration monitor

SYNOPSIS
     /usr/etc/fam [ -f | -v | -d ] [ -l ] [ -t NFS_polling_interval ]
          [ -T idle_timeout ] [ -p program.version ]

DESCRIPTION
     fam is a server that tracks changes to the filesystem and relays these
     changes to interested applications.  Applications such as fm(1G) and
     mailbox(1) present an up-to-date view of the filesystem.  In the absence
     of fam, these applications and others like them are forced to poll the
     filesystem to detect changes.  fam is more efficient.

     Applications can request fam to monitor any files or directories in any
     filesystem.  When fam detects changes to monitored files, it notifies the
     appropriate application.  fam(3X) provides a programmatic interface to
     fam.

     fam is informed of filesystem changes as they happen by the IRIX kernel
     through the imon(7M) pseudo device driver.  If asked to monitor files on
     an NFS mounted filesystem, fam tries to use fam on the NFS server to
     monitor files.  If fam cannot contact a remote fam, it polls the files
     instead.  fam also polls special files.

     Normally, fam is started by inetd(1M).  It is registered with portmap(1M)
     as performing the sgi_fam service.

     -l                        Disable polling of NFS files.  It does not
                               disable use of remote fam on NFS servers, nor
                               does it disable polling of local files.

     -t NFS_polling_interval   Set the interval for polling files to
                               NFS_polling_interval seconds.  The default is
                               six seconds.

     -T idle_timeout           Set the idle timeout interval to idle_timeout.
                               Fam exits idle_timeout seconds after its last
                               client disconnects.  The default is five
                               seconds.

     -f                        If fam is not started by inetd, it remains in
                               the foreground instead of spawning a child and
                               exiting.

     -v                        Turn on verbose messages.

     -d                        Enable verbose messages and debug messages.

     -p program.version        Use the specified RPC program and version
                               numbers.




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fam(1M)                                                                fam(1M)



NOTE
     fam runs as root to enable it to obtain attributes on any file,
     regardless of the ownership and permissions of the containing
     directories.  This means that any user can obtain the attributes (i.e.
     the information returned by stat(2)) of any file in any local filesystem,
     and when monitoring of NFS filesystems is enabled, remote filesystems as
     well.  Note that fam never reads or writes files, it only uses stat(2) on
     them.  The security implications are that users may obtain the attributes
     of files that they are otherwise unable to access.  Sites concerned about
     this capability may disable this service.  (Disabling it will cause some
     loss of functionality in the IRIX Interactive Desktop and other
     programs.) See inetd(1M) for details on how to disable fam.

SEE ALSO
     fm(1G), inetd(1M), mailbox(1), portmap(1M), fam(3X), imon(7M).








































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