This is a text-only version of the following page on https://raymii.org: --- Title : Python script to monitor a file for changes and then mail the report with the file attached. Author : Remy van Elst Date : 21-12-2012 URL : https://raymii.org/s/software/Python-script-to-monitor-a-file-for-changes-and-then-mail-the-report-with-the-file-attached.html Format : Markdown/HTML --- This is a script which checks a file's md5 hash, compares it to a previous (or given) hash and mails a report with the option of attaching the file with the email. I wrote it because I use AIDE on some systems, and I let it auto update the database. This script runs via cron before and after the AIDE run, so I have an archive of databases. But it can be used for all kind of files, not just for the AIDE database.

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### Requirements * Python 2.7 or above (tested in python 2.7.3 and python 3.3.0) ### Download Clone this git repo: git clone https://github.com/RaymiiOrg/hash-check-mail.git Or download it from Raymii.org: wget http://raymii.org/s/inc/downloads/check-file.py ### Usage Usage of the script is fairly simple. I'll explain the command line options below: * `-c` `--checksum-compare` The MD5SUM you wish to compare the file to. If this option is given, the script will not write the checksum to a temp location for comparison (/tmp). This should be used if the checksum of the file is known and should not change. * `-o` `--overwrite-checksum` When this option is set, when the checksum of a file has been changed, the script will write the new checksum to the temp file. This way you get an email when a change occurs, but changes are allowed. My AIDE database is known to change, but I still want to know when it changes. * `-e` `--email` The email address to send the report to. Defaults to `root@$hostname`. * `-a` `--attach-file` When this option is set, the file which is checked is sent as an attachment with the email. My AIDE database gets mailed every time it changes. This way you can inspect the changed file without logging on to the remote system, or keep it for archival purposes. * `-s` `--smtp` Hostname or IP address of the SMTP server. Defaults to `localhost`. * `-f` `--sender` The `From` address of the email. Defaults to `root@$hostname`. * `-m` `--mail-on-match` When this option is set, it mails when the file matches. By default no email is sent when the file checksum matches. With this switch you can force an email when the file checksum has not been changed. ### Examples 1. Monitor the file `/var/lib/aide/aide.db.gz`, mail to `admin@domain.com`, overwrite checksum on change and attach the file: `./check-file.py -e "admin@domain.com" -a -o /var/lib/aide/aide.db.gz` 1. Monitor the file `/var/lib/aide/aide.db.gz` against known checksum and mail to `admin@domain.com`: `./check-file.py -e "admin@domain.com" -a -c "41ce523dd72a67039df2db9b4542411c" /var/lib/aide/aide.db.gz` 1. Monitor file `/etc/passwd`, send even if md5sum matches, from `customer@kpn.nl` using smtp server `smtp.kpnmail.com`, do not attach it to the email and do not overwrite the checksum file: `./check-file.py -e "admin@domain.com" -f "customer@kpn.nl" -s "smtp.kpnmail.com" -m /etc/passwd` 1. Cron job to monitor the AIDE database and mail changes every night at 10 PM: `1 22 * * * /usr/bin/python /root/scripts/check-file.py -e "admin@domain.com" -a -o /var/lib/aide/aide.db.gz` ### Sample report email File checksum report (v 0.1). Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2012 21:18:26 +0000. Hostname: aide.raymii.org. Checksum does NOT match. Old: 54b0a4497e2b1d9b8e9dc704838e9047. New: 38293053ec07539050f3efd9d33b310b. Filename: /usr/share/doc/munin-node/README.Debian. I checksummed the file itself. Overwriting old checksum with new checksum as requested. Written checksum 38293053ec07539050f3efd9d33b310b to file /tmp/usr-share-doc-munin-node-README.Debian.md5 ### More info: See . ### License # Copyright (C) 2012 Remy van Elst # 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 3 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, see . [1]: https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=7435ae6b8212 --- License: All the text on this website is free as in freedom unless stated otherwise. This means you can use it in any way you want, you can copy it, change it the way you like and republish it, as long as you release the (modified) content under the same license to give others the same freedoms you've got and place my name and a link to this site with the article as source. This site uses Google Analytics for statistics and Google Adwords for advertisements. You are tracked and Google knows everything about you. Use an adblocker like ublock-origin if you don't want it. All the code on this website is licensed under the GNU GPL v3 license unless already licensed under a license which does not allows this form of licensing or if another license is stated on that page / in that software: 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 3 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, see . Just to be clear, the information on this website is for meant for educational purposes and you use it at your own risk. I do not take responsibility if you screw something up. Use common sense, do not 'rm -rf /' as root for example. If you have any questions then do not hesitate to contact me. See https://raymii.org/s/static/About.html for details.