Gowitness

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Comprehensive gowitness commands and workflows for system administration across all platforms.

Basic Commands

Command	Description
gowitness --version	Show gowitness version
gowitness --help	Display help information
gowitness init	Initialize gowitness in current directory
gowitness status	Check current status
gowitness list	List available options
gowitness info	Display system information
gowitness config	Show configuration settings
gowitness update	Update to latest version
gowitness start	Start gowitness service
gowitness stop	Stop gowitness service
gowitness restart	Restart gowitness service
gowitness reload	Reload configuration

Installation

Linux/Ubuntu

# Package manager installation
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gowitness

# Alternative installation
wget https://github.com/example/gowitness/releases/latest/download/gowitness-linux
chmod +x gowitness-linux
sudo mv gowitness-linux /usr/local/bin/gowitness

# Build from source
git clone https://github.com/example/gowitness.git
cd gowitness
make && sudo make install

macOS

# Homebrew installation
brew install gowitness

# MacPorts installation
sudo port install gowitness

# Manual installation
curl -L -o gowitness https://github.com/example/gowitness/releases/latest/download/gowitness-macos
chmod +x gowitness
sudo mv gowitness /usr/local/bin/

Windows

# Chocolatey installation
choco install gowitness

# Scoop installation
scoop install gowitness

# Winget installation
winget install gowitness

# Manual installation
# Download from https://github.com/example/gowitness/releases
# Extract and add to PATH

Configuration

Command	Description
gowitness config show	Display current configuration
gowitness config list	List all configuration options
gowitness config set <key> <value>	Set configuration value
gowitness config get <key>	Get configuration value
gowitness config unset <key>	Remove configuration value
gowitness config reset	Reset to default configuration
gowitness config validate	Validate configuration file
gowitness config export	Export configuration to file

Advanced Operations

File Operations

# Create new file/resource
gowitness create <name>

# Read file/resource
gowitness read <name>

# Update existing file/resource
gowitness update <name>

# Delete file/resource
gowitness delete <name>

# Copy file/resource
gowitness copy <source> <destination>

# Move file/resource
gowitness move <source> <destination>

# List all files/resources
gowitness list --all

# Search for files/resources
gowitness search <pattern>

Network Operations

# Connect to remote host
gowitness connect <host>:<port>

# Listen on specific port
gowitness listen --port <port>

# Send data to target
gowitness send --target <host> --data "<data>"

# Receive data from source
gowitness receive --source <host>

# Test connectivity
gowitness ping <host>

# Scan network range
gowitness scan <network>

# Monitor network traffic
gowitness monitor --interface <interface>

# Proxy connections
gowitness proxy --listen <port> --target <host>:<port>

Process Management

# Start background process
gowitness start --daemon

# Stop running process
gowitness stop --force

# Restart with new configuration
gowitness restart --config <file>

# Check process status
gowitness status --verbose

# Monitor process performance
gowitness monitor --metrics

# Kill all processes
gowitness killall

# Show running processes
gowitness ps

# Manage process priority
gowitness priority --pid <pid> --level <level>

Security Features

Authentication

# Login with username/password
gowitness login --user <username>

# Login with API key
gowitness login --api-key <key>

# Login with certificate
gowitness login --cert <cert_file>

# Logout current session
gowitness logout

# Change password
gowitness passwd

# Generate new API key
gowitness generate-key --name <key_name>

# List active sessions
gowitness sessions

# Revoke session
gowitness revoke --session <session_id>

Encryption

# Encrypt file
gowitness encrypt --input <file> --output <encrypted_file>

# Decrypt file
gowitness decrypt --input <encrypted_file> --output <file>

# Generate encryption key
gowitness keygen --type <type> --size <size>

# Sign file
gowitness sign --input <file> --key <private_key>

# Verify signature
gowitness verify --input <file> --signature <sig_file>

# Hash file
gowitness hash --algorithm <algo> --input <file>

# Generate certificate
gowitness cert generate --name <name> --days <days>

# Verify certificate
gowitness cert verify --cert <cert_file>

Monitoring and Logging

System Monitoring

# Monitor system resources
gowitness monitor --system

# Monitor specific process
gowitness monitor --pid <pid>

# Monitor network activity
gowitness monitor --network

# Monitor file changes
gowitness monitor --files <directory>

# Real-time monitoring
gowitness monitor --real-time --interval 1

# Generate monitoring report
gowitness report --type monitoring --output <file>

# Set monitoring alerts
gowitness alert --threshold <value> --action <action>

# View monitoring history
gowitness history --type monitoring

Logging

# View logs
gowitness logs

# View logs with filter
gowitness logs --filter <pattern>

# Follow logs in real-time
gowitness logs --follow

# Set log level
gowitness logs --level <level>

# Rotate logs
gowitness logs --rotate

# Export logs
gowitness logs --export <file>

# Clear logs
gowitness logs --clear

# Archive logs
gowitness logs --archive <archive_file>

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Command not found

# Check if gowitness is installed
which gowitness
gowitness --version

# Check PATH variable
echo $PATH

# Reinstall if necessary
sudo apt reinstall gowitness
# or
brew reinstall gowitness

Issue: Permission denied

# Run with elevated privileges
sudo gowitness <command>

# Check file permissions
ls -la $(which gowitness)

# Fix permissions
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/gowitness

# Check ownership
sudo chown $USER:$USER /usr/local/bin/gowitness

Issue: Configuration errors

# Validate configuration
gowitness config validate

# Reset to default configuration
gowitness config reset

# Check configuration file location
gowitness config show --file

# Backup current configuration
gowitness config export > backup.conf

# Restore from backup
gowitness config import backup.conf

Issue: Service not starting

# Check service status
gowitness status --detailed

# Check system logs
journalctl -u gowitness

# Start in debug mode
gowitness start --debug

# Check port availability
netstat -tulpn|grep <port>

# Kill conflicting processes
gowitness killall --force

Debug Commands

Command	Description
gowitness --debug	Enable debug output
gowitness --verbose	Enable verbose logging
gowitness --trace	Enable trace logging
gowitness test	Run built-in tests
gowitness doctor	Run system health check
gowitness diagnose	Generate diagnostic report
gowitness benchmark	Run performance benchmarks
gowitness validate	Validate installation and configuration

Performance Optimization

Resource Management

# Set memory limit
gowitness --max-memory 1G <command>

# Set CPU limit
gowitness --max-cpu 2 <command>

# Enable caching
gowitness --cache-enabled <command>

# Set cache size
gowitness --cache-size 100M <command>

# Clear cache
gowitness cache clear

# Show cache statistics
gowitness cache stats

# Optimize performance
gowitness optimize --profile <profile>

# Show performance metrics
gowitness metrics

Parallel Processing

# Enable parallel processing
gowitness --parallel <command>

# Set number of workers
gowitness --workers 4 <command>

# Process in batches
gowitness --batch-size 100 <command>

# Queue management
gowitness queue add <item>
gowitness queue process
gowitness queue status
gowitness queue clear

Integration

Scripting

#!/bin/bash
# Example script using gowitness

set -euo pipefail

# Configuration
CONFIG_FILE="config.yaml"
LOG_FILE="gowitness.log"

# Check if gowitness is available
if ! command -v gowitness &> /dev/null; then
    echo "Error: gowitness is not installed" >&2
    exit 1
fi

# Function to log messages
log() \\\\{
    echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - $1"|tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
\\\\}

# Main operation
main() \\\\{
    log "Starting gowitness operation"

    if gowitness --config "$CONFIG_FILE" run; then
        log "Operation completed successfully"
        exit 0
    else
        log "Operation failed with exit code $?"
        exit 1
    fi
\\\\}

# Cleanup function
cleanup() \\\\{
    log "Cleaning up"
    gowitness cleanup
\\\\}

# Set trap for cleanup
trap cleanup EXIT

# Run main function
main "$@"

API Integration

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Python wrapper for the tool
"""

import subprocess
import json
import logging
from pathlib import Path
from typing import Dict, List, Optional

class ToolWrapper:
    def __init__(self, config_file: Optional[str] = None):
        self.config_file = config_file
        self.logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

    def run_command(self, args: List[str]) -> Dict:
        """Run command and return parsed output"""
        cmd = ['tool_name']

        if self.config_file:
            cmd.extend(['--config', self.config_file])

        cmd.extend(args)

        try:
            result = subprocess.run(
                cmd,
                capture_output=True,
                text=True,
                check=True
            )
            return \\\\{'stdout': result.stdout, 'stderr': result.stderr\\\\}
        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
            self.logger.error(f"Command failed: \\\\{e\\\\}")
            raise

    def status(self) -> Dict:
        """Get current status"""
        return self.run_command(['status'])

    def start(self) -> Dict:
        """Start service"""
        return self.run_command(['start'])

    def stop(self) -> Dict:
        """Stop service"""
        return self.run_command(['stop'])

# Example usage
if __name__ == "__main__":
    wrapper = ToolWrapper()
    status = wrapper.status()
    print(json.dumps(status, indent=2))

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
GOWITNESS_CONFIG	Configuration file path	~/.gowitness/config.yaml
GOWITNESS_HOME	Home directory	~/.gowitness
GOWITNESS_LOG_LEVEL	Logging level	INFO
GOWITNESS_LOG_FILE	Log file path	~/.gowitness/logs/gowitness.log
GOWITNESS_CACHE_DIR	Cache directory	~/.gowitness/cache
GOWITNESS_DATA_DIR	Data directory	~/.gowitness/data
GOWITNESS_TIMEOUT	Default timeout	30s
GOWITNESS_MAX_WORKERS	Maximum workers	4

Configuration File

# ~/.gowitness/config.yaml
version: "1.0"

# General settings
settings:
  debug: false
  verbose: false
  log_level: "INFO"
  log_file: "~/.gowitness/logs/gowitness.log"
  timeout: 30
  max_workers: 4

# Network configuration
network:
  host: "localhost"
  port: 8080
  ssl: true
  timeout: 30
  retries: 3

# Security settings
security:
  auth_required: true
  api_key: ""
  encryption: "AES256"
  verify_ssl: true

# Performance settings
performance:
  cache_enabled: true
  cache_size: "100M"
  cache_dir: "~/.gowitness/cache"
  max_memory: "1G"

# Monitoring settings
monitoring:
  enabled: true
  interval: 60
  metrics_enabled: true
  alerts_enabled: true

Examples

Basic Workflow

# 1. Initialize gowitness
gowitness init

# 2. Configure basic settings
gowitness config set host example.com
gowitness config set port 8080

# 3. Start service
gowitness start

# 4. Check status
gowitness status

# 5. Perform operations
gowitness run --target example.com

# 6. View results
gowitness results

# 7. Stop service
gowitness stop

Advanced Workflow

# Comprehensive operation with monitoring
gowitness run \
  --config production.yaml \
  --parallel \
  --workers 8 \
  --verbose \
  --timeout 300 \
  --output json \
  --log-file operation.log

# Monitor in real-time
gowitness monitor --real-time --interval 5

# Generate report
gowitness report --type comprehensive --output report.html

Automation Example

#!/bin/bash
# Automated gowitness workflow

# Configuration
TARGETS_FILE="targets.txt"
RESULTS_DIR="results/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)"
CONFIG_FILE="automation.yaml"

# Create results directory
mkdir -p "$RESULTS_DIR"

# Process each target
while IFS= read -r target; do
    echo "Processing $target..."

    gowitness \
        --config "$CONFIG_FILE" \
        --output json \
        --output-file "$RESULTS_DIR/$\\\\{target\\\\}.json" \
        run "$target"

done < "$TARGETS_FILE"

# Generate summary report
gowitness report summary \
    --input "$RESULTS_DIR/*.json" \
    --output "$RESULTS_DIR/summary.html"

Best Practices

Security

• Always verify checksums when downloading binaries
• Use strong authentication methods (API keys, certificates)
• Regularly update to the latest version
• Follow principle of least privilege
• Enable audit logging for compliance
• Use encrypted connections when possible
• Validate all inputs and configurations
• Implement proper access controls

Performance

• Use appropriate resource limits for your environment
• Monitor system performance regularly
• Optimize configuration for your use case
• Use parallel processing when beneficial
• Implement proper caching strategies
• Regular maintenance and cleanup
• Profile performance bottlenecks
• Use efficient algorithms and data structures

Operational

• Maintain comprehensive documentation
• Implement proper backup strategies
• Use version control for configurations
• Monitor and alert on critical metrics
• Implement proper error handling
• Use automation for repetitive tasks
• Regular security audits and updates
• Plan for disaster recovery

Development

• Follow coding standards and conventions
• Write comprehensive tests
• Use continuous integration/deployment
• Implement proper logging and monitoring
• Document APIs and interfaces
• Use version control effectively
• Review code regularly
• Maintain backward compatibility

Resources

Official Documentation

• Official Website
• Documentation
• API Reference
• Installation Guide
• Configuration Reference

Community Resources

• GitHub Repository
• Issue Tracker
• Community Forum
• Discord Server
• Reddit Community
• Stack Overflow

Learning Resources

• Getting Started Guide
• Tutorial Series
• Best Practices Guide
• Video Tutorials
• Training Courses
• Certification Program

Related Tools

• Git - Complementary functionality
• Docker - Alternative solution
• Kubernetes - Integration partner

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Last updated: 2025-07-06|Edit on GitHub