Active Directory Watch Daemon

The Active Directory Watch Daemon, or adwatchd, is a Windows application.

It automates the otherwise manual process of incrementing the version stanza of a GPT.ini file.

Monitoring the application

adwatchd is configured to log to the Windows Event Log.

It can be monitored using the Event Viewer.

By default, the application only logs events when it starts or stops.

The verbosity level can be increased in the configuration file to — for example — log more information such as files being watched, or the GPT.ini file being updated.

CLI usage

The application can also be managed from the command line.

If the application was installed with the bespoke installer, a helpful shortcut is available in the Start Menu: Start Command Prompt with adwatchd.

This starts a Command Prompt window with the adwatchd executable in the PATH.

Tip

For detailed descriptions and configuration options of adwatchd, refer to the command line reference.

There are two commands available:

  • The run command starts the directory watch loop in foreground mode. This is useful for debugging purposes, as it can be called with the same arguments as the service.

  • The service provides a set of subcommands to manage the service.

Additional information

For help setting up adwatchd, refer to the how-to set up adwatchd guide.