Solving the ClamD Service Failed to Start Issue

ClamD is a really useful service to keep your servers safe from viruses. If you’re using a Linux server, you may come across the ClamD Service Failed to Start error. Here’s the exact error message you’re going to get:

As evident from the message, the database file daily.cld has become corrupted and hence didn’t load during startup. Such events happen if data files have been modified by an application or person unexpectedly. Moreover, updates made through freshclam also results in this error.

The first step to fixing this error is to move the existing database and recreate it.

You can use the following command to move the daily.cld file to a backup location by using the current date:

But if the error message indicated a different file than daily.cld, you need to move that file instead.

Once you’ve successfully moved the file, now you have to initiate a freshclam and get the updated information on database to start rebuilding it. Execute this command for the purpose:

Now the service should start normally using the restartsrv command like:

The error should have been solved by now. You won’t see the ClamD service failure message in the next startup. If problem persists, contact the hosting support team for assistance.