If you run SNFServer at the command line with no parameters you will see the version and build information and then a reminder for how SNFServer should be started:

>SNFServer.exe
SNF Server Version 3.0.2 Build: Jul 28 2009 14:48:00
SNFMulti Engine Version 3.0.11 Build: Aug 21 2009 18:42:5
Use: SNFServer <path-to-config-file> 

To correctly start SNFServer it is recommended that you provide the full path to the executable and a full path to the configuration file. So, if you have SNFServer in c:\SNF\ then you might use:

C:\SNF\SNFServer.exe C:\SNF\snf_engine.xml

Or, on a *nix system if you have SNFServer in /var/spool/snfilter then you might use:

/var/spool/snfilter/SNFServer.exe /var/spool/snf_engine.xml 

Running In A Window

Normally SNFServer is run as a service / daemon so its output is not seen. However, during your initial testing or when debugging you may run SNFServer from the command line and you will be presented with an animated real-time status display. For example, when I launch the 2-9rc2.25 version on my laptop I see something like this:

>C:\SNF\SNFServer.exe C:\SNF\snf_engine.xml
SNF Server Version 3.0.2 Build: Jul 28 2009 14:48:00
SNFMulti Engine Version 3.0.11 Build: Aug 21 2009 18:42:53 
Launching with C:\SNF\snf_engine.xml
Running.

M/min:    0 SP:   0.00% LR:1543682 [0/13 | 0] W:0 C:0 B:0 T:0 S:0

The display starts with version and build information, then a line showing the configuration file being used to control the program. Assuming everything starts up properly you next see the text "Running." If an exception had been thrown on startup that is where the error information would be.

When SNFServer is running you will see a real-time status line updated about once per second. Here is what that line means:

          +-------------------------------------------------------------- Messages Per Minute
          |
          |          +--------------------------------------------------- Capture Rate %Spam
          |          |
          |          |           +--------------------------------------- Latest Rule Match
          |          |           |
          v          v           v
M/min:    0 SP:   0.00% LR:1543682 [0/13 | 0] W:0 C:0 B:0 T:0 S:0
                                    ^  ^   ^    ^   ^   ^   ^   ^
                                    |  |   |    |   |   |   |   |
Jobs Last Second -------------------+  |   |    |   |   |   |   |
                                       |   |    |   |   |   |   |
Connection Polls Last Second ----------+   |    |   |   |   |   |
                                           |    |   |   |   |   |
Queued Jobs Yet To Finish -----------------+    |   |   |   |   |
                                                |   |   |   |   |
White Override Events Per Minute ---------------+   |   |   |   |
                                                    |   |   |   |
Caution Override Events Per Minute -----------------+   |   |   |
                                                        |   |   |
Black Override Events Per Minute -----------------------+   |   |
                                                            |   |
Truncate Override Events Per Minute ------------------------+   |
                                                                |
Virtual Spamtrap Samples Per Minute ----------------------------+

White, Caution, Black, and Truncate Override events are described in the GBUdb - How It Works section.

Virtual Spamtrap Sample events occur at random when the GBUdb detects a known bad source and the pattern matching engine fails to match a spam pattern. This provides a random sampling of "new spam from old bots" to our virtual spamtrap network. This feature can be disabled if desired.