The password passed with -w can be visible to a user using the ps(1) command. It is strongly advised that you create a test user to be specifically used by the monitoring utilities.
It is recommended that you use -w and enter the password through standard input. However, if the utility is executed through cron, the password can be stored in a file. This file can be redirected as the standard input for the utility.
cat passwd_file | immonitor-access -w - immonitor-access -w - ... < passwd_file |
Do not use the echo command such as:
echo password | immonitor-access .. -w - ..
because the ps might show the echo’s arguments.
To delete the test mail sent by the -S option, invoke the immonitor-access command with the -z option separately. Do not use the two together.