Project deprecated in favor of https://github.com/prey/prey-node-client

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Prey - Track down your stolen laptop

http://preyproject.com

A project originally by Tomas Pollak

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Prey is a lightweight application for tracking your stolen laptop.

It runs in Windows and *NIX systems as well (Mac, Linux). It is licensed by the GPLv3 which means you can do just about anything with it, as long as you respect the licence's terms.

For up to date information check the project's website at preyproject.com.

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1. How it works ##############################################

The script runs at a specified interval in your machine, and checks for a specified URL on the web. If the URL does not exist it means the PC has been stolen, and thus goes through the information gathering routine and sends all that info through to a previously defined email address. You can also not define a URL and in that case the program will send the data every time it runs, although it is not recommended.

Since 0.3.3, you can use a web control panel (control.preyproject.com) to manage your computer's state, as well as toggling different modules for triggering certain behaviours remotely. In this case you don't have to worry about the URL thing since it takes care of that for you. You only need to set up your user account when installing Prey.

############################################## 2. Installation ##############################################

-- Windows, Mac & Ubuntu Linux users

Download the package/installer and run it.

Once all files are in place you'll need to configure Prey, where you'll be able to choose between both operation modes. In case you want to use Prey along with the control panel (recommended), you'll have to register and add your device to obtain your API key. Prey needs it so make sure you add it correctly.

If you want to use Prey in an independent way, you'll have to set up your mail server (SMTP) settings. Sometimes email sending doesn't work at once, so please try using a different target mailbox just in case — in fact that's how the problem generally gets fixed.

-- Linux users (not Debian/Ubuntu)

Once you've downloaded the package, unzip it and move all the contents to a folder of your choice (we use /usr/share/prey). Then you need to open up the config file and change your settings according to your configuration. If you're using the Control Panel, then you only need to insert your API key; otherwise you need to set up your SMTP server settings.

Finally, you need to add a crontab entry for root. You can do this by typing the following in a terminal:

$ (sudo crontab -l | grep -v prey; echo "*/20 * * * * /usr/share/prey/prey.sh > /var/log/prey.log") | sudo crontab -

############################################## 3. Requisites for Linux ##############################################

Mac comes with everything needed to run Prey. However Linux users should make sure they have the following installed: (note the installer does this automatically!)

o curl
o scrot or imagemagick (for screenshot capture)
o streamer (for webcam capture) --> in Fedora the xawtv package includes it
o Perl libs IO::Socket::SSL and NET::SSLeay

############################################## 4. Usage ##############################################

The idea is that when your laptop gets stolen -- hopefully never, that is -- you should immediately activate Prey, by marking the device as missing in the Control Panel, or by deleting the URL you specified in Prey's configuration. This depends on the operation mode (post method) you set up when installing Prey.

Prey expects a status code 404 to run. If it receives a status 200 it will simply shut down and wait for the next interval to check the URL.

############################################## 5. Troubleshooting ##############################################

Prey has a 'check mode' to verify it's settings are correct. Prey can also be run manually by removing the '--check' argument, Prey will begin running immediately. It will try to contact the Control Panel (or a custom server) & send a report if it detects it is marked as missing. You should see the results of this process echoed directly back to your terminal window.

Check Mode - Windows Either open the file located at C:\Prey\platform\windows\check.bat (the default install location of Prey) or enter the following at a DOS prompt:

cd c:\Prey\ (or use your custom Prey install path) platform\windows\bin\bash.exe prey.sh --check

Full run - Windows cd c:\Prey\ (or use your custom Prey install path) platform\windows\bin\bash.exe prey.sh

Check Mode - Linux & Mac Type the following in a terminal: $ sudo /usr/share/prey/prey.sh --check

Full run - Linux & Mac Type the following in a terminal: $ sudo /usr/share/prey/prey.sh

Additional support & troubleshooting information can be found at:

http://support.preyproject.com/

############################################## 6. Acknowledgements ##############################################

Prey is a collaborative project built by many people. Code contributors for this client can be seen at https://github.com/prey/prey-bash-client/graphs/contributors.

Prey also works thanks to Brandon Zehm's excellent command-line SMTP client and Axel Bauer's iSightCapture program for capturing pictures on the Mac. And of course, a bunch of other powerful open source utilities.

Command line SMTP client: http://caspian.dotconf.net/menu/Software/SendEmail iSightCapture: http://www.intergalactic.de/pages/iSight.html

############################################## 7. Legal ##############################################

Copyright © 2010, Fork Ltd. Released under the GPLv3 license. For full details see the LICENSE file included in this distribution.