Using limdaemon

By default, limdaemon logs messages using syslog(3C). A timestamp is included on messages.

limdaemon has several options that can be configured when it is started:

• The -m tag and -p priority options are used to tag the messages and control message routing according to the syslogd(1M) configuration.

• The -c option causes limdaemon to suppress the updating of terminal connect-time usages.

• The -d option causes limdaemon to decay connect-time usages for all terminals of logged in users, with the interval between decays being the argument of the -t option (the default is 1 minute).

• The -Dn option causes limdaemon to decay connect-time usages for the terminals of all users once every n minutes.

• The -k option terminates the currently running limdaemon command.

• The -t option is used to set the time period (in minutes) between updates to the connect-time usage attribute in the terminal device category. The default is 1 minute.

• The -e option can be used to suppress the logging off of users who have reached their connect-time limit. This option is implied by the use of the -c option.

• The -w option sets the number of minutes before expiration of connect-time that the warning message is given. The default warning interval is 5 minutes.

• The -g option is used to set the grace time (in seconds). The default grace time is 30 seconds.

In the following example, the limdaemon command:

% limdaemon -g300 

starts the daemon and sets the grace time to 5 minutes. Note that it is not necessary to follow the command with a shell '&' character. When limdaemon is started, it makes itself into a daemon. That is, a child process is forked that detaches itself from the controlling terminal, placing itself in a process group of its own.

The administrator should determine the balance needed between the additional overhead incurred for rapid updating of connect-time usage attributes, and the greater granularity that will appear with less frequent updating. See the limdaemon(1MSRM) man page for more information on these and other options.