System integrity test is a procedure of searching out a difference in the current state of files and their prior state.
This module is purposed for the number of following operations:
Well configured periodical integrity testing gives the opportunity to reveal the dangerous changes that were done to the system.
Control panel gives access to the three main groups of control elements: "Configuration and execution", "Log files" and "Configured directories and files". Elements in the first group are used to configure the execution mode and for monitoring its status. The second group provides access to the resulting reports of the test procedures. Configuration of the objects for examination is made by the use of the elements in the third group.
Elements in the first group are subdivided into the following subgroups: "Execution options" and "Execution control".
Elements in the first subgroup are used to configure periodical execution of the integrity test. The "Periodic execution" parameter is used to define the automatic execution period ("daily", "weekly" and "monthly" modes) or completely disable it ("off" mode). The method(s) by which the resulting report is obtained can be selected by the use of the reporting mode adjustment elements (entitled as "Reporting options"): log writing is controlled by the "Write log" switch, mailing of the report is controlled by the "Send by mail" switch. The switches are independent, thus the selection of a combination of modes is possible. The additional value "Number of log rotations" determines the maximum number of log files kept on the disk (when the limit is reached the oldest file is removed). All modifications done to the control elements are made effective by the use of the "Set" button.
Note: In order to make mailing of the report work
you have to setup local mail delivery and
/usr/bin/sendmail in particular. See your
system administration guide for more information.
The second subgroup is purposed to start and stop the integrity test procedure on demand. The "Execution status" field represents the current test process state ("running" or "not running"). If the test isn't currently in progress it can be started by the use of the "Run" button (it only accessible if the process isn't running). Otherwise, the "Kill" button is accessible and can be used to stop the active test procedure.
This control group is purposed for accessing the resulting report log files stored on the disk. Information about them is represented in the form of a table, showing the name, modification date and the size of a file. Values in the table can be refreshed be the use of the "Refresh" button.
A log file contents can be read on the separate page linked to the file name under the "view" label.
The last control group also contains a table representing the number of directories and files to be examined by the integrity test procedure. The currently configured objects are listed in two columns, including the name and the description of a directory. No automatic description provided for custom, user-specified, non-standard directories.
One or more filesystem objects can be added to the configured set by the use of the "Add" button. The path is determined by the pattern in the "Path" field. A pattern is a so-called "wildcard" and is used to define the shared parts and possible variations of a number of paths: symbol '*' is used to represent any number of any symbols, symbol '?' is used for an arbitrary single symbol and the '[..]' construction defines a set of possible symbols for one position, where '..' is a literal set of symbols, i.e. '[abc]', '[,;?]. The other possible way to define a set is the use of the '[a-z]' construction defining a symbol range, where 'a' is the first symbol and 'z' is the last.
The "Delete" button is used to remove a number of marked paths from the configured set.
Contents of a log file is displayed on the separate page linked to the name of the file in the "Log files" table under the "view" label. As the size of a file can be large enough it is accessed slice by slice. The file and slice related information is displayed in the number of fields on the top of the page, prior to the slice data. At the bottom of the page, following the slice data, the number of paging controls are placed. The reading process is analogous to a reading of a book: the "<" and ">" buttons are used to turn pages (slices). The "Jump" button is used to directly go to the slice with the specified number (by the use of the field near the button). The first and last page (slice) can be easily accessed by the use of the "<<" and ">>" buttons.
The number of lines per slice is controlled by the value of the "Lines per page" field. New entered value is used for the next paging action.