So, how easy is it to install and use Artillery?  Really easy.  I’ve now installed it on Debian, Ubuntu, and Mac OS X.  But, assuming you don’t believe me, I’ll walk you through the steps.  Warning for my advanced readers– this is an entry level post… .

Artillery is maintained in a subversion repository, so the best way to get it and keep it up-to-date is the subversion.  On a Mac, you already have subversion installed, so downloading it is as easy as going to the terminal, and running:

svn co http://svn.secmaniac.com/artillery artillery/

This will create a subdirectory called artillery.  Change to that directory:

cd artillery/

And look at the contents:

You should see the following:

artillery.py        database        remove_ban.py        setup.py
config            readme            restart_server.py    src

To install, simply run:

sudo ./setup.py

If this doesn’t work, try:

sudo python setup.py

Follow the prompts, and you should be set up. If you want to change the default configuration, have it e-mail you when there are changes to the monitored directories, etc., type:

sudo cp /var/artillery/config /var/artillery/config.backup
sudo chmod -w /var/artillery/config.backup
sudo nano /var/artillery/config

(Of course if you feel that nano is beneath you you can use vim or emacs I guess… .)
When you’re done changing the configuration, just restart the server:

sudo python restart_server.py