PIKT, Problem Informant/Killer Tool, v1.18.0 has been released. PIKT is a cross-categorical, multi-purpose toolkit to monitor and configure computer systems, organize system security, format documents, assist command-line work, and perform other common systems administration tasks.

PIKT's primary purpose is to report and fix problems, but its flexibility and extendibility evoke many other uses limited only by your imagination.

One reviewer said of PIKT, "this is by far one of the most interesting/powerful tools I have seen for Linux administration." Another wrote that PIKT "excels at handling a diverse collection of machines, saves time and eliminates repetition, and gives you a global view of your site."

PIKT has been compared favorably to commercial software costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet PIKT is free!

Highlights of the latest release:

--piktc_svc can now bind to a specific system port, facilitating PIKT's use in firewalled environments.
--Implemented the new piktc -w & -W vieW-file options.
--Implemented the new piktc ±E option to set/unset environment variables.
--Implemented #unset & #unsetenv directives, and new #set & #setenv variants.
--Implemented new #setdef and defines.cfg variants.
--Added optional alarm message sorting by syslog level.
--Fixed several bugs, added a few minor extensions, and made other code improvements.

For further details, see the PIKT News page:

PIKT is available for Linux and many other flavors of Unix, including AIX, Digital UNIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IRIX, OpenBSD, SCO OpenServer, and Solaris. PIKT is Open Source software distributed under the GNU GPL.

To download PIKT, visit the Software page: /pikt/software.html

For more info, please visit the PIKT Web site at:

Thank you for your time.

Robert Osterlund
PIKT Maintainer