Install OpenVAS GVM 22.4.0 on Ubuntu 22.04

9 min readDec 3, 2022

Greenbone Community Edition 22.4 is the current stable major release. It is the successor of GVM 21.4 31. Some of you might be facing issues with PostgreSQL and NVT sync in documentation provided on the official page of OpenVAS, however those issues are resolved in this documentation, and you can hopefully install OpenVAS GVM 22.4.0 smoothly without needing to troubleshoot anything.

We are using a calendar based versioning (April 2022) and all main components have the same major and minor version.
The release was initially planned as 21.10 with a whole new scanner infrastructure, but got postponed. 22.4 itself was delayed for more testing of the new feed deployment.

Please be aware that mixing components from different releases is not supported and may result in undefined or even broken behavior.

The Greenbone Community Edition is developed for and as part of the commercial product line Greenbone Enterprise Appliance 64. It is developed by Greenbone and licensed as Free Software/Open Source.

The Greenbone Community Edition is published as regularly updated and tested source code releases.
It is also available as latest source code repository state, which is not fully tested and may show unexpected behavior.

To install GVM 22.4.0 in your Ubuntu 22.04 without any issue, open a terminal in your machine and simply follow this guide. If you still do face some problem, feel free to comment. Also, all the services have similar way to build, so I will only be explaining the first one rest you can copy and paste the commands directly, if you still want to know something I would like to mention that the comment section is for you guys only, do let me know :)

Create a new user

sudo useradd -r -M -U -G sudo -s /usr/sbin/nologin gvm

Add the user to gvmd group

sudo usermod -aG gvm $USER
su $USER

Set the PATH environment

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/sbin

Set the Installation Prefix environment variable

export INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local

Choose source directory, build directory and install directory

export SOURCE_DIR=$HOME/source
mkdir -p $SOURCE_DIR
export BUILD_DIR=$HOME/build
mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR
export INSTALL_DIR=$HOME/install
mkdir -p $INSTALL_DIR

Download and install the following dependencies:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --no-install-recommends --assume-yes \
  build-essential \
  curl \
  cmake \
  pkg-config \
  python3 \
  python3-pip \
  gnupg

Import the greenbone key

curl -f -L https://www.greenbone.net/GBCommunitySigningKey.asc -o /tmp/GBCommunitySigningKey.asc
gpg --import /tmp/GBCommunitySigningKey.asc
echo "8AE4BE429B60A59B311C2E739823FAA60ED1E580:6:" > /tmp/ownertrust.txt
gpg --import-ownertrust < /tmp/ownertrust.txt

Set GVM Version as without setting the version, there can be issues with downloads. (The version can be changed later)

 export GVM_VERSION=22.4.0

Configure gvm-libs

export GVM_LIBS_VERSION=$GVM_VERSION

sudo apt install -y \
  libglib2.0-dev \
  libgpgme-dev \
  libgnutls28-dev \
  uuid-dev \
  libssh-gcrypt-dev \
  libhiredis-dev \
  libxml2-dev \
  libpcap-dev \
  libnet1-dev \
  libpaho-mqtt-dev \
  libldap2-dev \
  libradcli-dev

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/gvm-libs/archive/refs/tags/v$GVM_LIBS_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/gvm-libs-$GVM_LIBS_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/gvm-libs/releases/download/v$GVM_LIBS_VERSION/gvm-libs-$GVM_LIBS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/gvm-libs-$GVM_LIBS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc
gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/gvm-libs-$GVM_LIBS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/gvm-libs-$GVM_LIBS_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/gvm-libs-$GVM_LIBS_VERSION.tar.gz

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR/gvm-libs && cd $BUILD_DIR/gvm-libs

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR/gvm-libs && cd $BUILD_DIR/gvm-libs

cmake $SOURCE_DIR/gvm-libs-$GVM_LIBS_VERSION \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$INSTALL_PREFIX \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DSYSCONFDIR=/etc \
  -DLOCALSTATEDIR=/var

make -j$(nproc)

make DESTDIR=$INSTALL_DIR install

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configure gvmd

export GVMD_VERSION=$GVM_VERSION

sudo apt install -y \
  libglib2.0-dev \
  libgnutls28-dev \
  libpq-dev \
  postgresql-server-dev-14 \
  libical-dev \
  xsltproc \
  rsync \
  libbsd-dev \
  libgpgme-dev

sudo apt install -y --no-install-recommends \
  texlive-latex-extra \
  texlive-fonts-recommended \
  xmlstarlet \
  zip \
  rpm \
  fakeroot \
  dpkg \
  nsis \
  gnupg \
  gpgsm \
  wget \
  sshpass \
  openssh-client \
  socat \
  snmp \
  python3 \
  smbclient \
  python3-lxml \
  gnutls-bin \
  xml-twig-tools

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/gvmd/archive/refs/tags/v$GVMD_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/gvmd-$GVMD_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/gvmd/releases/download/v$GVMD_VERSION/gvmd-$GVMD_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/gvmd-$GVMD_VERSION.tar.gz.asc

gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/gvmd-$GVMD_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/gvmd-$GVMD_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/gvmd-$GVMD_VERSION.tar.gz

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR/gvmd && cd $BUILD_DIR/gvmd

cmake $SOURCE_DIR/gvmd-$GVMD_VERSION \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$INSTALL_PREFIX \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DLOCALSTATEDIR=/var \
  -DSYSCONFDIR=/etc \
  -DGVM_DATA_DIR=/var \
  -DGVMD_RUN_DIR=/run/gvmd \
  -DOPENVAS_DEFAULT_SOCKET=/run/ospd/ospd-openvas.sock \
  -DGVM_FEED_LOCK_PATH=/var/lib/gvm/feed-update.lock \
  -DSYSTEMD_SERVICE_DIR=/lib/systemd/system \
  -DLOGROTATE_DIR=/etc/logrotate.d \
  -DPostgreSQL_TYPE_INCLUDE_DIR=/usr/include/postgresql

make -j$(nproc)

make DESTDIR=$INSTALL_DIR install

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configure pg-gvm

export PG_GVM_VERSION=$GVM_VERSION

sudo apt install -y \
  libglib2.0-dev \
  postgresql-server-dev-14 \
  libical-dev

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/pg-gvm/archive/refs/tags/v$PG_GVM_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/pg-gvm-$PG_GVM_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/pg-gvm/releases/download/v$PG_GVM_VERSION/pg-gvm-$PG_GVM_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/pg-gvm-$PG_GVM_VERSION.tar.gz.asc

gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/pg-gvm-$PG_GVM_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/pg-gvm-$PG_GVM_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/pg-gvm-$PG_GVM_VERSION.tar.gz

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR/pg-gvm && cd $BUILD_DIR/pg-gvm

cmake $SOURCE_DIR/pg-gvm-$PG_GVM_VERSION \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DPostgreSQL_TYPE_INCLUDE_DIR=/usr/include/postgresql

make -j$(nproc)

make DESTDIR=$INSTALL_DIR install

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configure GSA

export GSA_VERSION=$GVM_VERSION

export NODE_VERSION=node_14.x
export KEYRING=/usr/share/keyrings/nodesource.gpg
export DISTRIBUTION="$(lsb_release -s -c)"

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/gpgkey/nodesource.gpg.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee "$KEYRING" >/dev/null
gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring "$KEYRING" --list-keys

echo "deb [signed-by=$KEYRING] https://deb.nodesource.com/$NODE_VERSION $DISTRIBUTION main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list
echo "deb-src [signed-by=$KEYRING] https://deb.nodesource.com/$NODE_VERSION $DISTRIBUTION main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list


sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nodejs

curl -sS https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yarn.list

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y yarn

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/gsa/archive/refs/tags/v$GSA_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/gsa-$GSA_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/gsa/releases/download/v$GSA_VERSION/gsa-$GSA_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/gsa-$GSA_VERSION.tar.gz.asc

gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/gsa-$GSA_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/gsa-$GSA_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/gsa-$GSA_VERSION.tar.gz

cd $SOURCE_DIR/gsa-$GSA_VERSION

rm -rf build

yarn
yarn build

sudo mkdir -p $INSTALL_PREFIX/share/gvm/gsad/web/
sudo cp -r build/* $INSTALL_PREFIX/share/gvm/gsad/web/

Configure GSAD

export GSAD_VERSION=$GVM_VERSION

sudo apt install -y \
  libmicrohttpd-dev \
  libxml2-dev \
  libglib2.0-dev \
  libgnutls28-dev

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/gsad/archive/refs/tags/v$GSAD_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/gsad-$GSAD_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/gsad/releases/download/v$GSAD_VERSION/gsad-$GSAD_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/gsad-$GSAD_VERSION.tar.gz.asc

gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/gsad-$GSAD_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/gsad-$GSAD_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/gsad-$GSAD_VERSION.tar.gz

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR/gsad && cd $BUILD_DIR/gsad

cmake $SOURCE_DIR/gsad-$GSAD_VERSION \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$INSTALL_PREFIX \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DSYSCONFDIR=/etc \
  -DLOCALSTATEDIR=/var \
  -DGVMD_RUN_DIR=/run/gvmd \
  -DGSAD_RUN_DIR=/run/gsad \
  -DLOGROTATE_DIR=/etc/logrotate.d

make -j$(nproc)

make DESTDIR=$INSTALL_DIR install

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configure openvas-smb

export OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION=22.4.0

sudo apt install -y \
  gcc-mingw-w64 \
  libgnutls28-dev \
  libglib2.0-dev \
  libpopt-dev \
  libunistring-dev \
  heimdal-dev \
  perl-base

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/openvas-smb/archive/refs/tags/v$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-smb-$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/openvas-smb/releases/download/v$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION/openvas-smb-$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-smb-$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION.tar.gz.asc

gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-smb-$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-smb-$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-smb-$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION.tar.gz

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR/openvas-smb && cd $BUILD_DIR/openvas-smb

cmake $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-smb-$OPENVAS_SMB_VERSION \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$INSTALL_PREFIX \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

make -j$(nproc)

make DESTDIR=$INSTALL_DIR install

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configure openvas-scanner

export OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION=$GVM_VERSION

sudo apt install -y \
  bison \
  libglib2.0-dev \
  libgnutls28-dev \
  libgcrypt20-dev \
  libpcap-dev \
  libgpgme-dev \
  libksba-dev \
  rsync \
  nmap \
  libjson-glib-dev \
  libbsd-dev

sudo apt install -y \
  python3-impacket \
  libsnmp-dev

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/openvas-scanner/archive/refs/tags/v$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-scanner-$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/openvas-scanner/releases/download/v$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION/openvas-scanner-$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-scanner-$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION.tar.gz.asc

gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-scanner-$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-scanner-$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-scanner-$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION.tar.gz

mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR/openvas-scanner && cd $BUILD_DIR/openvas-scanner

cmake $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-scanner-$OPENVAS_SCANNER_VERSION \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$INSTALL_PREFIX \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DSYSCONFDIR=/etc \
  -DLOCALSTATEDIR=/var \
  -DOPENVAS_FEED_LOCK_PATH=/var/lib/openvas/feed-update.lock \
  -DOPENVAS_RUN_DIR=/run/ospd

make -j$(nproc)

make DESTDIR=$INSTALL_DIR install

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configure ospd-openvas

export OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION=22.4.2

INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr
sudo apt install -y \
  python3 \
  python3-pip \
  python3-setuptools \
  python3-packaging \
  python3-wrapt \
  python3-cffi \
  python3-psutil \
  python3-lxml \
  python3-defusedxml \
  python3-paramiko \
  python3-redis \
  python3-paho-mqtt

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/ospd-openvas/archive/refs/tags/v$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/ospd-openvas-$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/ospd-openvas/releases/download/v$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION/ospd-openvas-$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/ospd-openvas-$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc

gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/ospd-openvas-$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/ospd-openvas-$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/ospd-openvas-$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION.tar.gz

cd $SOURCE_DIR/ospd-openvas-$OSPD_OPENVAS_VERSION

python3 -m pip install . --prefix=$INSTALL_PREFIX --root=$INSTALL_DIR --no-warn-script-location

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configure notus-scanner

export NOTUS_VERSION=22.4.1

INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr
sudo apt install -y \
  python3 \
  python3-pip \
  python3-setuptools \
  python3-paho-mqtt \
  python3-psutil \
  python3-gnupg

curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/notus-scanner/archive/refs/tags/v$NOTUS_VERSION.tar.gz -o $SOURCE_DIR/notus-scanner-$NOTUS_VERSION.tar.gz
curl -f -L https://github.com/greenbone/notus-scanner/releases/download/v$NOTUS_VERSION/notus-scanner-$NOTUS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc -o $SOURCE_DIR/notus-scanner-$NOTUS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc

gpg --verify $SOURCE_DIR/notus-scanner-$NOTUS_VERSION.tar.gz.asc $SOURCE_DIR/notus-scanner-$NOTUS_VERSION.tar.gz

tar -C $SOURCE_DIR -xvzf $SOURCE_DIR/notus-scanner-$NOTUS_VERSION.tar.gz

cd $SOURCE_DIR/notus-scanner-$NOTUS_VERSION

python3 -m pip install . --prefix=$INSTALL_PREFIX --root=$INSTALL_DIR --no-warn-script-location

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configure gvm-tools

sudo apt install -y \
  python3 \
  python3-pip \
  python3-setuptools \
  python3-packaging \
  python3-lxml \
  python3-defusedxml \
  python3-paramiko

python3 -m pip install --user gvm-tools

python3 -m pip install --prefix=$INSTALL_PREFIX --root=$INSTALL_DIR --no-warn-script-location gvm-tools

sudo cp -rv $INSTALL_DIR/* /

Configuring Redis-Server

sudo apt install -y redis-server

sudo cp $SOURCE_DIR/openvas-scanner-$GVM_VERSION/config/redis-openvas.conf /etc/redis/
sudo chown redis:redis /etc/redis/redis-openvas.conf
echo "db_address = /run/redis-openvas/redis.sock" | sudo tee -a /etc/openvas/openvas.conf

sudo systemctl start redis-server@openvas.service
sudo systemctl enable redis-server@openvas.service

sudo usermod -aG redis gvm

Configure Mosquitto MQTT

sudo apt install -y mosquitto

sudo systemctl start mosquitto.service
sudo systemctl enable mosquitto.service
echo "mqtt_server_uri = localhost:1883" | sudo tee -a /etc/openvas/openvas.conf

Configure Permissions for the services

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/notus
sudo mkdir -p /run/gvmd

sudo chown -R gvm:gvm /var/lib/gvm
sudo chown -R gvm:gvm /var/lib/openvas
sudo chown -R gvm:gvm /var/lib/notus
sudo chown -R gvm:gvm /var/log/gvm
sudo chown -R gvm:gvm /run/gvmd

sudo chmod -R g+srw /var/lib/gvm
sudo chmod -R g+srw /var/lib/openvas
sudo chmod -R g+srw /var/log/gvm

sudo chown gvm:gvm /usr/local/sbin/gvmd
sudo chmod 6750 /usr/local/sbin/gvmd

sudo chown gvm:gvm /usr/local/bin/greenbone-nvt-sync
sudo chmod 740 /usr/local/sbin/greenbone-feed-sync
sudo chown gvm:gvm /usr/local/sbin/greenbone-*-sync
sudo chmod 740 /usr/local/sbin/greenbone-*-sync

export GNUPGHOME=/tmp/openvas-gnupg
mkdir -p $GNUPGHOME

gpg --import /tmp/GBCommunitySigningKey.asc
gpg --import-ownertrust < /tmp/ownertrust.txt

export OPENVAS_GNUPG_HOME=/etc/openvas/gnupg
sudo mkdir -p $OPENVAS_GNUPG_HOME
sudo cp -r /tmp/openvas-gnupg/* $OPENVAS_GNUPG_HOME/
sudo chown -R gvm:gvm $OPENVAS_GNUPG_HOME

Now, type sudo visudo and put the following lines at the end of the file:

# allow users of the gvm group run openvas
%gvm ALL = NOPASSWD: /usr/local/sbin/openvas

Configure PostgreSQL (Make sure to replace <name of your user > with the name of your user in the third command :D )

sudo apt install -y postgresql

sudo systemctl start postgresql@14-main

sudo chmod og+rX /home /home/<name of your user>

sudo -u postgres bash

createuser -DRS gvm

createdb -O gvm gvmd

exit

sudo -u postgres bash

psql gvmd

create role dba with superuser noinherit;

grant dba to gvm;

exit

exit

Configure GVM Username and password (make sure to type a strong password in the <password> field)

gvmd --create-user=admin --password=<password>

Configure feed import

gvmd --modify-setting 78eceaec-3385-11ea-b237-28d24461215b --value `gvmd --get-users --verbose | grep admin | awk '{print $2}'`

Configure services for system daemon:

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Open the ospd-openvas.service file using

vim $BUILD_DIR/ospd-openvas.service

and paste the below lines for configuring ospd-openvas:

[Unit]
Description=OSPd Wrapper for the OpenVAS Scanner (ospd-openvas)
Documentation=man:ospd-openvas(8) man:openvas(8)
After=network.target networking.service redis-server@openvas.service
Wants=redis-server@openvas.service
ConditionKernelCommandLine=!recovery

[Service]
Type=forking
User=gvm
Group=gvm
RuntimeDirectory=ospd
RuntimeDirectoryMode=2775
PIDFile=/run/ospd/ospd-openvas.pid
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/ospd-openvas --unix-socket /run/ospd/ospd-openvas.sock --pid-file /run/ospd/ospd-openvas.pid --log-file /var/log/gvm/ospd-openvas.log --lock-file-dir /var/lib/openvas --socket-mode 0o770 --mqtt-broker-address localhost --mqtt-broker-port 1883 --notus-feed-dir /var/lib/notus/advisories
SuccessExitStatus=SIGKILL
Restart=always
RestartSec=60

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now copy the service configurations to system directory

sudo cp $BUILD_DIR/ospd-openvas.service /etc/systemd/system/

Open the notus-scanner.service file using

vim $BUILD_DIR/notus-scanner.service

and paste the below lines for configuring notus-scanner:

[Unit]
Description=Notus Scanner
Documentation=https://github.com/greenbone/notus-scanner
After=mosquitto.service
Wants=mosquitto.service
ConditionKernelCommandLine=!recovery

[Service]
Type=forking
User=gvm
RuntimeDirectory=notus-scanner
RuntimeDirectoryMode=2775
PIDFile=/run/notus-scanner/notus-scanner.pid
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/notus-scanner --products-directory /var/lib/notus/products --log-file /var/log/gvm/notus-scanner.log
SuccessExitStatus=SIGKILL
Restart=always
RestartSec=60

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now copy the service configurations to system directory

sudo cp $BUILD_DIR/notus-scanner.service /etc/systemd/system/

Open the gvmd.service file using

vim $BUILD_DIR/gvmd.service

and paste the below lines for configuring gvmd:

[Unit]
Description=Greenbone Vulnerability Manager daemon (gvmd)
After=network.target networking.service postgresql.service ospd-openvas.service
Wants=postgresql.service ospd-openvas.service
Documentation=man:gvmd(8)
ConditionKernelCommandLine=!recovery

[Service]
Type=forking
User=gvm
Group=gvm
PIDFile=/run/gvmd/gvmd.pid
RuntimeDirectory=gvmd
RuntimeDirectoryMode=2775
ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/gvmd --osp-vt-update=/run/ospd/ospd-openvas.sock --listen-group=gvm
Restart=always
TimeoutStopSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now copy the service configurations to system directory

sudo cp $BUILD_DIR/gvmd.service /etc/systemd/system/

Open the gsad.service file using

vim $BUILD_DIR/gsad.service

and paste the below lines for configuring gsad:

[Unit]
Description=Greenbone Security Assistant daemon (gsad)
Documentation=man:gsad(8) https://www.greenbone.net
After=network.target gvmd.service
Wants=gvmd.service

[Service]
Type=exec
User=gvm
Group=gvm
RuntimeDirectory=gsad
RuntimeDirectoryMode=2775
PIDFile=/run/gsad/gsad.pid
ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/gsad --foreground --listen=127.0.0.1 --port=9392 --http-only
Restart=always
TimeoutStopSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Alias=greenbone-security-assistant.service

Now copy the service configurations to system directory

sudo cp $BUILD_DIR/gsad.service /etc/systemd/system/

Activate all the services using the following command:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Enable all the services so they do not need to be started manually every time using the following command:

sudo systemctl enable notus-scanner

sudo systemctl enable ospd-openvas

sudo systemctl enable gvmd

sudo systemctl enable gsad

Sync the NVT feed using the following command (This might take a lot of time despite good internet speed). If you are doing this setup in an organization, make sure you ask the network team to open the rsync port for your system, as it will be most probably closed. Rsync usually works on port 873.

sudo -u gvm greenbone-nvt-sync

Download the SCAP, CERT and GVMD Data using the following commands, make sure you use these commands one by one (This might take a lot of time despite good internet speed):

sudo -u gvm greenbone-feed-sync --type SCAP

sudo -u gvm greenbone-feed-sync --type CERT

sudo -u gvm greenbone-feed-sync --type GVMD_DATA

Start all the services

sudo systemctl start notus-scanner

sudo systemctl start ospd-openvas

sudo systemctl start gvmd

sudo systemctl start gsad

All the services should start without an error and your GVM should be working fine. Although, even after all the services have started, give some time to sync the NVTs as they do take a lot of time.

To use GVM, go to your web browser and browse to 127.0.0.1:9392 and login with your username and password.

Additionally, if you want to make gvm accessible on your public IP, access the “gsad.service” file by

vim /etc/systemd/system/gsad.service

and replace 127.0.0.1 with 0.0.0.0

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Install OpenVAS GVM 22.4.0 on Ubuntu 22.04

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