---
name: "famd"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "fam"
version: "2.7.0-17.3"
release: "Debian 11 (Bullseye)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/famd/8"
---

# famd(8)

The File Alteration Monitor (FAM) daemon

## NAME

famd - The File Alteration Monitor (FAM) daemon

## SYNOPSIS

**famd** \[**-CdflLv**\] \[**-C** *conffile*\] \[**-p** *prog.vers*\] \[**-t** *period*\] \[**-T** *timeout*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**FAM**, the File Alteration Monitor, is a subsystem that applications can use to be notified when specific files or directories are changed.  It is intended as a replacement for mechanisms such as **poll** and **select**.

**FAM** comes in two parts: **famd**, the daemon that listens for requests and provides notifications, and **libfam** a library that client applications can use to communicate with **FAM**.  For further information on **libfam**, see the **[fam(3)](/fam/3.md)** manual page.

**famd** is normally started by an Internet superserver such as **inetd** or **xinetd**, but can also be started independently.  Only one instance of **famd** can be run at a time.

**famd** can be configured by editing the famd configuration file (see *[fam.conf(5)](/fam.conf/5.md)* for further details) or by providing the following command line options:

## OPTIONS

- **-c** *conffile*

  Read configuration information from *conffile*.

- **-C**

  Run in backwards compatibilty mode.  This is disables authentication and is not recommended.

- **-f**

  Run in the foreground.

- **-v**

  Enable verbose messages.

- **-d**

  Enable verbose messages and debug messages.

- **-l**

  Disable polling of files on remote NFS servers.

- **-L**

  Only accept connections from local clients.

- **-r**

  Detect read-only filesystems.

- **-p** *prog*.*vers*

  Register with the portmapper using the specifed RPC program and version numbers.

- **-P** *port*

  Bind to the specified TCP port instead of choosing at random.

- **-t** *period*

  Poll a remove NFS server every *period* seconds to obtain file updates if the remove server is not running **famd**.

- **-T** *timeout*

  Exit *timeout* seconds after the last client disconnects. A value of 0 causes **famd** to run forever.

## SECURITY

**famd** never opens the files it's monitoring, and only monitors files that the client can **stat**.

## FILES

- */etc/fam.conf*

  Default **famd** configuration file.

## SEE ALSO

[fam(3)](/fam/3.md), [fam.conf(5)](/fam.conf/5.md), [inetd(8)](/inetd/8.md), [portmap(8)](/portmap/8.md), [stat(1)](/stat/1.md), [xinetd(8)](/xinetd/8.md)

## BUGS