.\" $OpenBSD: watchdogd.8,v 1.5 2005/09/14 08:12:23 jmc Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2005 Marc Balmer <marc@msys.ch>
.\"
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.Dd July 7, 2005
.Dt WATCHDOGD 8
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm watchdogd
.Nd watchdog timer retrigger daemon
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm watchdogd
.Op Fl d
.Op Fl i Ar interval
.Op Fl p Ar period
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm
is a daemon to periodically retrigger the
.Xr watchdog 4
timer device from userland.
.Nm
is designed to work in high load environments,
where other methods
(such as a shell script invoking
.Xr sysctl 8 )
would involve too much overhead.
.Pp
The basic premise is that
after every
.Ar interval
seconds,
.Nm
resets the hardware timer to
.Ar period .
See also
.Xr watchdog 4
for more information on how watchdog timers work.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl d
Do not daemonize.
If this option is specified,
.Nm
will run in the foreground.
.It Fl i Ar interval
Specify how often, in seconds,
.Nm
should retrigger the hardware timer.
If no interval is specified,
the value of
.Ar period
(see below)
divided by three is used.
.It Fl p Ar period
Set the hardware timer to expire in
.Ar period
seconds.
The default is 30 seconds.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr watchdog 4 ,
.Xr sysctl 8
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
program
first appeared in
.Ox 3.8 .