geoipupdate(1)

geoipupdate1

Geoip and geolite update program

Usage

geoipupdate [-Vvh] [-f CONFIG_FILE] [-d TARGET_DIRECTORY]

Overview

geoipupdate automatically updates GeoIP and GeoLite databases. The program connects to the MaxMind GeoIP Update server to check for new databases. If a new database is available, the program will download and install it.

If you are using a firewall, you must have the DNS and HTTPS ports open.

Options

-d, --database-directory

Install databases to a custom directory. This is optional. If provided, it overrides the DatabaseDirectory value from the configuration file and the GEOIPUPDATE_DB_DIR environment variable.

-f, --config-file

The configuration file to use. See GeoIP.conf and its documentation for more information. This is optional. It defaults to the environment variable GEOIPUPDATE_CONF_FILE if it is set, or /etc/GeoIP.conf otherwise.

--parallelism

Set the number of parallel database downloads.

-h, --help

Display help and exit.

-V, --version

Display version information and exit.

-v, --verbose

Enable verbose mode. Prints out the steps that geoipupdate takes. If provided, it overrides any GEOIPUPDATE_VERBOSE environment variable.

-o, --output

Output download/update results in JSON format.

Exit status

geoipupdate returns 0 on success and 1 on error.

Notes

Typically you should run geoipupdate at least twice a week. Consult our database release schedule ⟨https://support.maxmind.com/knowledge-base/articles/download-and-update-maxmind-databases⟩\c for more information.

On most Unix-like systems, this can be achieved by using cron. You can find an example crontab file on our Developer Portal ⟨https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/updating-databases/#3-run-geoip-update⟩\c .

To use with a proxy server, update your GeoIP.conf file as specified in the GeoIP.conf man page. Alternatively, set the GEOIPUPDATE_PROXY or http_proxy environment variable.

More information

Visit our website ⟨https://www.maxmind.com/en/solutions/ip-geolocation-databases-api-services⟩\c to learn more about the GeoIP databases or to sign up for a subscription.

Releases

11 releases since Debian 3.1 (Sarge); the text changed 8 times.

  1. 3.1–4.0
  2. 5.0
  3. 6.0
  4. 7
  5. 9–10
  6. 11
  7. 12
  8. 13
  9. Arch

--config-file since Debian 11 (Bullseye); --database-directory since Debian 11 (Bullseye); --help since Debian 11 (Bullseye); --output since Debian 13 (Trixie); --parallelism since Debian 13 (Trixie); --verbose since Debian 11 (Bullseye); --version since Debian 11 (Bullseye); -V since Debian 9 (Stretch); -d since Debian 5.0 (Lenny); -h since Debian 11 (Bullseye); -o since Debian 13 (Trixie).

--stack-trace until Debian 13 (Trixie).

Bugs

Report bugs to ⟨[email protected]⟩\c .

Authors

Written by William Storey.

This software is Copyright (c) 2018-2026 by MaxMind, Inc.

This is free software, licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 or the MIT License, at your option.

From geoipupdate 8.0.0-1 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's man source.