OCSINVENTORY-AGENT(1)

NAME
ocsinventory-agent - Unified client for OCS-Inventory

SYNOPSIS
ocsinventory-agent [ -fhilpruw ] [ --server server | --local /tmp ]...

EXAMPLES
    % ocsinventory-agent --server localhost
    # send an inventory to the OCS server

    % ocsinventory-agent --server http://localhost/ocsinventory2
    # send an inventory over http to a server with a non standard
    # virtual directory

    % ocsinventory-agent --server https://localhost/ocsinventory
    # send an inventory over https to the OCS server

    % ocsinventory-agent --local /tmp
    # write an inventory in the /tmp directory

    % ocsinventory-agent --server localhost --user=toto --password=pw --realm="Restricted Area"
    # send a report to a server protected by a basic authentification
    % ocsinventory-agent --lazy
    # send an inventory only if the a random delay between 0 and PROLOG_FREQ had been run over.

    % ocsinventory-agent --delaytime 60 -d
    # If NO PROLOG_FREQ has been preset, pick a time between execution and --delaytime for the agent to contact the server [default is 3600 seconds]

DESCRIPTION
ocsinventory-agent creates inventory and send or write them. This agent is the successor of the former linux_agent which was released with OCS 1.01 and prior. It also replaces the Solaris/AIX/BSD unofficial agents. The detailed list of supported Operating System is available in the Wiki.

GNU/Linux
Solaris
FreeBSD
NetBSD
OpenBSD
AIX
MacOSX
GNU/kFreeBSD

OPTIONS
Most of the options are available in a short form and a long form. For example, the two lines below are all equivalent:

    % ocsinventory-agent -s localhost
    % ocsinventory-agent --server localhost

--backend-collect-timeout=SECONDS_BEFORE_KILL
    Time before OCS kills modules processing which don't end before the timeout.

--basevardir=DIR
    Indicate the place where the agent should store its files.

-d, --daemon
    Launch ocsinventory-agent in background. Proc::Daemon is needed.

--debug
    Turn the debug mode on.

--devlib
    This option is designed for backend module developer. With it enabled, ocsinventry-agent won't try to load the Backend module installed on the system. Instead it will scan the ./lib directory.

--delaytime=SECONDS_TO_WAIT
    This option defaults to waiting a random() time between 0 and 3600 before initially contacting the server assuming NO PROLOG_FREQ has been set. Once PROLOG_FREQ has been set, it uses that number at the top end of it's random setting. Useful for pre-setting a deployed agent's initial start time (so you don't jam the server all at once, but don't have to wait an hour to make sure the deployment worked).

-f, --force
    The agent will first contact the server during the PROLOG period. If the server doesn't know the machine or has outdated informations, it will ask for an inventory. With this option, the agent doesn't run the PROLOG with the server first but directly sends an inventory.

-i, --info
    Turn the verbose mode on. The flag is ignored if --debug is enable.

--lazy
    Do not contact the server more than one time during the PROLOG_FREQ and do an exit if there is nothing to do. Useful if you want to start the agent script regulary from the crontab but don't want to overload the server.

-l, --local=DIR
    Write an inventory in the DIR directory. A new file will be created if needed.

--logfile=FILE
    Log message in FILE and turn off STDERR

-p, --password=PASSWORD
    Use PASSWORD for an HTTP identification with the server.

-P, --proxy=PROXY
    Use PROXY to specify a proxy HTTP server. By default, the agent uses HTTP_PROXY environment variable.

-r, --realm=REALM
    Use REALM for an HTTP identification with the server. For example, the value can be 'Restricted Area'. You can find it in the login popup of your Internet browser.

-s, --server=URI
    The uri of the server. If URI doesn't start with http:// or https://, the assume the parameter is a hostname and rewrite it like that:

        % http://servername/ocsinventory

    If you want to use https or another virtual directory you need to enter the full path.

    --server is ignored if --local is in use.

--stdout
    Print the inventory on stdout.

        % ocsinventory-agent --stdout > /tmp/report.xml
        # prepare an inventory and write it in the /tmp/report.xml file.
        # A file will be created.

--scan-homedirs
    Authorized OCS to scan home directories to increase the Virtual Machine inventory.

--tag=TAG
    Mark the machine with the TAG tag. Once the initial inventory is accepted by the server this value is ignored and you've to change the information directly on the server. The server do so in order to centralize the administration of the machine.

-u USER, --user=USER
    Use USER for the server authentification.

--version=USER
    Print the version and exit.

-w DURATION, --wait=DURATION
    Wait before initializing the connexion with the server. If DURATION equal server the agent will use the PROLOG_FREQ of the server to determine the duration of this periode. Exactly like it would had done if it was in --daemon mode. Else if duration is a numerical value, it will be used directly.

        % ocsinventory-agent --wait 5 --server localhost

--nosoftware
    Do not inventory the software installed on the machine. --nosoft also works but is deperecated.

CONFIG FILE
The agent try to initialize the settings from the ocsinventory-agent.cfg config file.

It looks for the file in these directories:

/etc/ocsinventory
/usr/local/etc/ocsinventory
/etc/ocsinventory-agent

AUTHORS
The maintainer is Goneri LE BOUDER <goneri@rulezlan.org>

Please read the AUTHORS, Changes and THANKS files to see who is behind OCS Inventory Agent.

SEE ALSO

OCS-Inventory website,
     http://www.ocsinventory-ng.org/

LaunchPad project page,
     http://launchpad.net/ocsinventory-unix-agent

forum,
     http://forums.ocsinventory-ng.org/

and wiki
     http://wiki.ocsinventory-ng.org/

BUGS
Please, use the forum as much as possible. You can open your own bug tickets. Patches are welcome. You can also use LaunchPad bugtracker or push your Bazaar branch on LaunchPad and do a merge request.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2006-2009 OCS Inventory contributors

 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
 (at your option) any later version.

 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
 GNU General Public License for more details.

 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA