install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install dwatch

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install dwatch

MacPorts ports tree · sysutils/dwatch/Portfile · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Watch programs and perform actions based on a configuration file

Project links

Commands and aliases

dwatch

history

Project history and usage

Dwatch, short for Daemon Watch, is a small Unix monitoring tool by Ulric Eriksson. Its official page says it watches other programs and performs actions from conditions in a configuration file, and that it is meant to be run periodically from cron.

Project history

The official changelog records Dwatch's creation on 2001-08-20 to keep Pen, another Siag project, running on siag.nu, with release 0.1.0 published at the same time. The project page is deliberately old-school Unix: make, make install, a sample dwatch.conf, and notes that Linux and Solaris were known to work.

Adoption history

Public adoption evidence is thin. The official page links a source download and an external SUSE RPM, while the batch input lists Homebrew and MacPorts formulae, suggesting survival mostly as a niche packaged Unix utility rather than a widely discussed monitoring system.

How it is used

The sample configuration shows directive, argument, and command columns, including examples that restart Pen when a process or TCP check is not satisfied. The intended workflow is to let cron invoke dwatch regularly, with dwatch deciding whether to run recovery commands.

Why package nerds care

Dwatch is package-nerd interesting mostly as a fossil of early-2000s Unix service babysitting: a tiny cron-friendly daemon watcher from the same ecosystem as Pen and Siag Office, before modern supervisors and service managers became the default answer.

Timeline

2001: Dwatch created to keep Pen running on siag.nu; release 0.1.0 published.
2001: Official page dated August 2001 documents Linux and Solaris support.
2026: Batch input lists Homebrew and MacPorts packaging.

Related projects

The official page ties Dwatch directly to Pen, using Pen as the example service to restart. In package-manager terms it sits near cron, watchdog scripts, service supervisors, and small Unix monitoring tools.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 13 platform targets.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`dwatch`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version0.1.1

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://siag.nu/dwatch/

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://siag.nu/dwatch/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:dwatch
Version	0.1.1
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/dwatch
Homepage	https://siag.nu/dwatch/
Upstream docs	https://siag.nu/dwatch
License	GPL-2.0-or-later
Source archive	https://siag.nu/pub/dwatch/dwatch-0.1.1.tar.gz
Bottle	available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	dwatch
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

MacPorts95%

dwatch

sudo port install dwatch

normalized package name match
Matched by: Dwatch

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/dwatch/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/dwatch.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install dwatch with Homebrew, MacPorts