FreeBSD Manual Pages
FLASHER(1) General Commands Manual FLASHER(1) NAME flasher - flash keyboard LEDs to indicate file writes SYNOPSIS flasher [ -u seconds ] [ -k /dev/ttyXX ] -{c|n|s} file1:file2:...:fileN DESCRIPTION flasher monitors changes to one or more files, and indicates the number of writes to these files by briefly flashing a console LED once for each write. The flashing sequence is repeated, after a brief pause, until the files have been read. As the files are subsequently read, the number of LED flashes is reduced. When all monitored files have been read, the con- sole LED will be disabled. The most obvious use is to monitor specific system log or mail files. Multiple LEDs can be used. Each possible LED (-c, -n or -s) takes a list of colon-separated file arguments. For example, when invoked as: # flasher -s /var/log/messages:/var/mail/root the Scroll Lock LED will flash once for each write made to either of these files, until the files are read. When /var/log/messages has been read, the Scroll Lock LED will continue to flash once for each write that has been made to /var/mail/root, until it also has been read. The list of files can include files that don't yet exist. To terminate the daemon, run: # kill `cat /var/run/flasher.pid` X11 flasher was designed to use the console to indicate file activity. When running flasher in an X11 environment, it may be helpful to use the -k op- tion to specify what virtual terminal X11 is running under. For example, use # flasher -k /dev/ttyv3 ... when running X11 on FreeBSD on virtual terminal 4. Similarly, when using X11 on virtual terminal 8 on Linux, start the daemon using: # flasher -k /dev/tty8 ... OPTIONS -c Indicate writes to the specified file using the Caps Lock LED. -k /dev/ttyXX Use the specified tty (/dev/ttyXX) instead of the console. -n Indicate writes to the specified file using the Num Lock LED. -s Indicate writes to the specified file using the Scroll Lock LED. -u number Scans the specified files for changes every `number' seconds (de- fault: 60). EXAMPLES The following example will flash the Scroll Lock LED to indicate /var/log/messages writes, and the Num Lock LED for writes to /var/mail/root: # flasher -s /var/log/messages -n /var/mail/root The following example will flash the Caps Lock LED to indicate writes to either /var/log/httpd-error.log or /var/mail/root, and flash the Num Lock LED to indicate writes to /var/log/messages. # flasher -n /var/log/messages -c /var/log/httpd-er- ror.log:/var/mail/root FILES /var/run/flasher.pid - flasher lock file DIAGNOSTICS flasher must be run as the super-user. Relative pathnames will be converted to absolute pathnames. After the program has daemonized, any messages will be sent to syslog. AUTHOR Murray Nesbitt (websrc@nesbitt.ca) FLASHER(1)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | X11 | OPTIONS | EXAMPLES | FILES | DIAGNOSTICS | AUTHOR
Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=flasher&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.1.quarterly>