watch Command

Purpose

Observes a program that might be untrustworthy.

Syntax

watch [-e Events] [-o File] [-X] Command [Parameter... ]

Description

The watch command allows the root user or a member of the audit group to observe the actions of a program that are thought to be untrustworthy. The watch command starts the program that you specify with the Command parameter, with or without any Parameter fields, and records all audit events or the audit events you specify with the -e flag.

The watch command observes all the processes that are created while the program runs, including any child process. The watch command continues until all processes exit, including the process it created, to observe all the events that occur.

The watch command formats the audit records and writes them to standard output or to a file you specify with the -o flag.

For the watch command to work, the auditing subsystem is not configured and enabled.

Flags

Table 1. Flags
Item	Description
-e `Events`	Specifies the events to be audited. The `Events` parameter is a comma-separated list of audit events that are defined in the /etc/security/audit/events file. The default value is all events.
-o `File`	Specifies the path name of the output file. If the -o flag is not used, output is written to standard output.
-X	Prints long usernames when used with other flags that display usernames. The `max_logname` object data manager (ODM) attribute in the predefined attribute (PdAt) and customized attributes (CuAt) object classes determines the higher limit. If a username is greater than the `max_logname` attribute, it is truncated to the number of characters as specified by the `max_logname` attribute, minus 1 character.

Examples

To watch all files opened by the bar command, enter the following command:
```
watch -e FILE_Open /usr/lpp/foo/bar -x
```
This command opens the audit device and issues the /usr/lpp/foo/bar command. It then reads all records and selects and formats the files with the event type of FILE_Open.
To watch the installation of the xyzproduct program that might be untrustworthy, enter the following command:
```
watch /usr/sbin/installp xyzproduct
```
This command opens the audit device and issues the /usr/sbin/installp command. It then reads all records and formats them.

Files

Table 2. Files
Item	Description
/usr/sbin/watch	Contains the watch command.
/dev/audit	Specifies the audit device from which the audit records are read.