Anti Viral Software Question For Linux
 

Greetings To All!

I am new in supporting Linux and recently I was tasked to find out the following information and am not sure how to find the answers, hence this posting... I am running Redhat Enterprise Server 5.4 I realize this is a Redhat specific question, but it pertains to all of our linux distros in general.

(1) How can I determine if the linux server has any currently installed
anti-virus software?

(2) Assuming that the anti-virus software in (1) is installed, how can I determine if it is currently running or not?

(3) Assuming that there is no currently installed anti-virus software,
what are some of the standard recommended anti-virus software packages that are available for Redhat linux?

Thanks to all who respond!

Rob Sandifer

OK, you do realise that there are virtually no viruses in the wild that can actually infect Linux systems (and that, therefore, if you are doing this, you are doing it to protect other systems that are not Linux)?

And, I'm not going to answer this question. I don't have a copy of an up-to-date, installed, RH to hand. The way to find out is to use the package manager, and to query all packages that have, eg, virus, in the description. These will be packages in your configured repositories.

For me, they would be packages like clamav, but something like amavis might be more appropriate, depending on what you are trying to do.

...same way as you'd determine whether anything else is running...

Having said that, if you are running something, it would probably be a good idea to look at the configuration and any log files. You never know what you might find.

Package manager or the rpm command.

And, by the way, in discussing viruses, I mean viruses and not something else. Note that even for platforms for which viruses are a live issue, viruses are a relatively small part of the malware scene, so don't assume that if you don't have to worry about viruses, you have nothing to worry about.

If you have Linux in your server then the server will probably be fine. I mean if you storage a file containing a virus chances are the virus wont work in Linux, however if you move that file to a windows computer then that computer will be compromised no questions about it.

There are anti virus software in Linux but they are mainly to keep Linux's coexiting platforms safe. you can take a look at ClamAV.

I dont know how to install it in RedHat though, however here is an old article with other suggestions
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/free-li...irus-programs/

Good luck to you

Salasi,

Thank you for the very expeditiously fast, very detailed, and very informative response; you gave me exactly what I requested and was looking for!
You rock and many kudos to you!

All the best,

Rob Sandifer

TroN-0074,

Many thanks to you for your response as well!

Rob Sandifer

If you are using a linux server as an NFS endpoint for windows servers, it is a good idea to run an antivirus to keep the users from harming themselves and others.