Changing the scan schedule after installation

You can modify the scan schedule in two ways.

Option 1: Use a configuration file

Replace the existing configuration file and run:

./snowcron -f /opt/snow/snowcron.conf /opt/snow/snowagent

Option 2: Specify the schedule directly

You can define the schedule using standard cron syntax:

./snowcron "0 21 * * *" /opt/snow/snowagent

This example schedules the scan to run daily at 21:00.

The script automatically removes the previous schedule before applying a new one to avoid duplicate entries.

Important notes

• The script must be run with superuser privileges (for example, using sudo).
• snowcron automatically applies nice -n 10 to reduce CPU usage during scans.
• Sending Snowpacks more frequently than necessary can create unnecessary load on the endpoint.

Command line options

Periodicity syntax

The schedule can be expressed as:

• Standard cron time and date fields (for example: 0 21 1 * *)
• A time period: hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly

Using a cron configuration file

When using a cron configuration file, the file must be named correctly for the executable being scheduled:

The file can contain:

• Empty lines or lines containing only whitespace
• Comment lines (lines where the first non-whitespace character is #)
• Exactly one line specifying the periodicity

Examples

Run snowagent at 04:20 every day:

20 4 * * *

Run snowagent at 21:00 on the first day of the month:

0 21 1 * *

Run snowagent at 21:15 every Sunday:

15 21 * * 0

Run snowagent hourly:

hourly

The snowcron script