Snow Inventory Agent for Linux is designed to send Snowpack files to your Gateway, Extender, or Snow Inventory endpoint on a regular schedule. In most environments, sending Snowpacks once per day is sufficient.
The recommended way to control this schedule on Linux and Unix systems is by using the snowcron script included with the agent installation. Using other scheduling methods or custom scripts is not recommended, as misconfiguration can cause performance or data flow issues.
About the snowcron script
The snowcron script installs, updates, or removes the scheduled scan tasks for:
- Snow Inventory Agent for Linux
- Snow Inventory Oracle Middleware Scanner (SIOMS)
- Snow Inventory Oracle Hardware Scanner (SIOHWS)
- Snow Inventory Java Scanner (SIJS)
The script is included in the Linux agent installation package and is typically located in:
/opt/snow
When the agent is installed, snowcron automatically creates a crontab entry based on the default or provided configuration file. For the Linux agent, the created crontab file is named:
/etc/cron.d/snowagentChanging 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 10to reduce CPU usage during scans. - Sending Snowpacks more frequently than necessary can create unnecessary load on the endpoint.
Command line options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-f <config> | Update the schedule using a configuration file. Cannot be used with a periodicity argument. |
-u <user> | Run executable as a specific user (default: root). Only applicable if /etc/cron.d exists. |
-x <minutes> | Sleep up to the specified number of minutes before executing (randomization). |
-r | Remove all scheduled occurrences of the full path to the executable. |
-v | Print version and exit with exit code 0. |
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, ormonthly
Using a cron configuration file
When using a cron configuration file, the file must be named correctly for the executable being scheduled:
| Component | Configuration file name |
|---|---|
| Snow Inventory Agent for Linux | snowcron.conf |
| Snow Inventory Oracle Middleware Scanner (SIOMS) | siomscron.conf |
| Snow Inventory Oracle Hardware Scanner (SIOHWS) | siohwscron.conf |
| Snow Inventory Java Scanner (SIJS) | sijscron.conf |
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:
hourlyRelated Articles
Release Notes Index: Snow Inventory Agent 694Number of Views Request or download a Snow Inventory Agent 215Number of Views Application usage metering using the FlexNet inventory agent 191Number of Views How To: Update agents on machines using the Snow Inventory Service Admin Console 195Number of Views Release Notes: Snow Inventory Agent for Linux 6.5.0 6Number of Views
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