When first installed, Tripwire software uses the policy file rules to create the database file. The database file is a baseline snapshot of the system in a known secure state. Tripwire software compares this baseline against the current system to determine what changes have occurred. This is an integrity check. When you perform an integrity check, Tripwire software produces report files.
Report files summarize any changes that violated the policy file rules during the integrity check.
You can view the report file in a variety of formats, at varying levels of detail. The Tripwire configuration file stores system-specific information, such as the location of Tripwire data files. Tripwire software generates some of the configuration file information during installation. The system administrator can change parameters in the configuration file at any time. These variables must be defined, or the configuration file is invalid.