Prey is a lightweight opensource program that will help you track and find your laptop or your android phone if it ever gets stolen.
Prey comprises a shell script which calls out on a regular basis to either a server run by prey project, or a url nominated by the system administrator sends data regarding the current location of your missing device. The latest version of the application has the capability to even take pictures using the device's inbuilt webcam and send it to you upon request.
Install Prey:
Open up the terminal and type following command to install prey under Ubuntu:
Running Prey:
The Prey scripts (/etc/cron.d/prey) run at a certain interval and checks for a specified URL on the web. If you want to tune the frequency of the checks, you can type the following command to re-configure the package (as root):
Prey can operate in two modes:
* Standalone: Reports are sent directly to the laptop's owner. This requires user to activate Prey by generating/deleting a URL and set up a scp/sftp/mail server settings as well.
* Control Panel: Reports are sent to preyproject.com. After obtaining an account at http://control.preyproject.com/signup users only need to set 'apt_key' and 'device_key' properly in the `/etc/prey/config' file.
The configuration file is commented with notes and pointers, so it's easy to configure the program by editing `/etc/prey/config' by hand and setting up apt_key and device_key properties for your laptop or your mobile phone.
Laptop/Phone got stolen:
If you laptop or your mobile phone is lost or stolen, You should immediately tell Prey so that you start getting the reports. This is done either by marking your device as missing in the Control Panel, sending the activation SMS (if it’s a phone) or by deleting the generated URL by hand, in case you’re using Prey in standalone mode.
And, if your stolen/lost laptop or mobile phone ever come online, you should able to see the report in your pre control panel ....
Here is another open-source Application - Adeona - Open Source System for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop
Prey comprises a shell script which calls out on a regular basis to either a server run by prey project, or a url nominated by the system administrator sends data regarding the current location of your missing device. The latest version of the application has the capability to even take pictures using the device's inbuilt webcam and send it to you upon request.
Install Prey:
Open up the terminal and type following command to install prey under Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install prey
Running Prey:
The Prey scripts (/etc/cron.d/prey) run at a certain interval and checks for a specified URL on the web. If you want to tune the frequency of the checks, you can type the following command to re-configure the package (as root):
dpkg-reconfigure preyWhen running, prey checks the URL set in the configuration file; if it finds the 'missing_status_code' then it goes through the information gathering routine and tries to send all the collected information to the owner of the machine.
Prey can operate in two modes:
* Standalone: Reports are sent directly to the laptop's owner. This requires user to activate Prey by generating/deleting a URL and set up a scp/sftp/mail server settings as well.
* Control Panel: Reports are sent to preyproject.com. After obtaining an account at http://control.preyproject.com/signup users only need to set 'apt_key' and 'device_key' properly in the `/etc/prey/config' file.
The configuration file is commented with notes and pointers, so it's easy to configure the program by editing `/etc/prey/config' by hand and setting up apt_key and device_key properties for your laptop or your mobile phone.
Laptop/Phone got stolen:
If you laptop or your mobile phone is lost or stolen, You should immediately tell Prey so that you start getting the reports. This is done either by marking your device as missing in the Control Panel, sending the activation SMS (if it’s a phone) or by deleting the generated URL by hand, in case you’re using Prey in standalone mode.
And, if your stolen/lost laptop or mobile phone ever come online, you should able to see the report in your pre control panel ....
Here is another open-source Application - Adeona - Open Source System for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop
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