AIDE is a free, GPL-2.0-licensed file and directory integrity checker for modern Unix systems. It creates a database from configuration rules and uses it to check monitored paths for changes. Administrators can set plain-text rules and regular expressions to include or exclude files and directories. Checks can cover file type, permissions, inode, ownership, link name, size, block count, and timestamps. AIDE supports message digests including MD5, SHA-1, RIPEMD-160, Tiger, CRC32, SHA-256, SHA-512, and Whirlpool. It can also check POSIX ACL, SELinux, XAttrs, and extended file system attributes when support is compiled in. Gzip compression for its database is available when zlib support is compiled in. The project describes a stand-alone static binary for client/server monitoring configurations. It lists packages for Linux distributions, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Homebrew, MacPorts, and NixOS. The project offers a mailing list, IRC discussion channel, and GitHub issue tracker. AIDE was originally written in 1999, and the site lists version 0.19.4 as the current stable release.
Who it is for
AIDE suits administrators who want to check files and directories for changes on modern Unix systems. Its configuration rules allow them to select which paths and attributes to monitor.
What is good
- Free software under GPL-2.0.
- Checks a broad set of file attributes.
- Supports multiple message digest algorithms.
- Configuration rules can include or exclude paths.
- Project offers mailing list, IRC, and issue tracker.
What to know first
- Attribute checks can depend on compiled-in support.
- Gzip database compression requires zlib support.
- Real-time alerts are not supported.
Verdict
AIDE provides rule-based integrity checks across a range of Unix systems and file attributes. Its optional checks and compression depend on how support is compiled in.
Get started with AIDE
- Open the AIDE website.
- Choose a package route for a supported Unix system, or use a self-hosted deployment.
- Create plain-text configuration rules for the files and directories to monitor.
- Initialize the database from the configuration rules.
- Use the database to verify monitored files and directories.
Questions about AIDE
Is AIDE free?
Yes. AIDE is free, open-source software licensed under GPL-2.0.
Which systems does AIDE support?
AIDE runs on modern Unix. Packages are listed for Linux distributions, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Homebrew, MacPorts and NixOS; the listed platforms also include Linux, macOS and self-hosted use.
What does AIDE check?
It can check file type, permissions, inode, ownership, link name, size, block count and timestamps, along with supported message digests.
Can AIDE check extended attributes?
It supports POSIX ACL, SELinux, XAttrs and extended file system attributes when the required support is compiled in.
How can I get support for AIDE?
The project directs usage questions and release announcements to its mailing list. It also offers an IRC discussion channel and GitHub issue tracker.
AIDE plans and pricing
All plansCompared on file integrity monitoring software
- Deployment
- on_premises
- Real-time alerts
- No
- Configuration monitoring
- Yes
- Agentless monitoring
- No
- Supported platforms
- Modern Unix; downstreams include Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu, FreeBSD, Gentoo, Homebrew, MacPorts, NixOS, OpenBSD, openSUSE/SUSE, and Red Hat/CentOS/Fedora
