Clam antivirus

[Superman3332001]

Hi there everyone. I used synaptic to install Clam and when I go into it to update the definitions I get told I have to be root to do that. Is there anyway I can update without going into the command line.

Thanks as always

Superman3332001

[Mista-X]

What kind of program simply doesn't ask you for the root password? And why are you so afraid of the command line?

I would suggest something: 1.) just uninstall the anti-virus, you don't need it.

2.) try using sudo or su.

[cdnLilWolf]

You are supposed to be root for that. Furthermore, Mista-X is mostly correct. Installing Clam prevents you from being a carrier as opposed to be infected. While you do not actually need it (yet?), it is still a good idea.

BTW, you didn't mention what desktop you're using, but I'm sure there is more than one GUI for handling ClamAV regardless of whether you're using Gnome or KDE.

[Omnios]

I tried using clam a long time ago but the machine that it was on was slow because of low ram so I stoped using it. Clam is ok on a lin box if you have a mixed network with win. Also there are a few clam addons and a active scan demon that seems to work well but may slow down a older box.

As for launching clam without using a terminal you can make a menu launcher, desktop launcher or a script with.

#! /bin/bash
gksu clam " or path to clam. "some programs start at $ and others need a path with the program name.

The inportant part here is gksu in front of the program name as it will launch the program in root with a pop up password for sudo. You can also try making a sudo pass exception but is not recomended as it may be exploited. They used to do this for launching firestarter firewall but stoped because of this.

As for making a script you can make it executable and make menu and desktop launchers pointing to this script. Or just a menu entry or desktop launcher with gksu

Hope this helps,
not on a lin box right now so cant look up the exacpt options.

[Superman3332001]

You are supposed to be root for that. Furthermore, Mista-X is mostly correct. Installing Clam prevents you from being a carrier as opposed to be infected. While you do not actually need it (yet?), it is still a good idea.

BTW, you didn't mention what desktop you're using, but I'm sure there is more than one GUI for handling ClamAV regardless of whether you're using Gnome or KDE.

Sorry about that. I am running ubuntu 7.10. I believe it is KDE Desktop.

[cdnLilWolf]

Sorry about that. I am running ubuntu 7.10. I believe it is KDE Desktop.

The KDE GUI is "Klamav". You should be able to find it in your "Add/Remove Applications" section.

[Mista-X]

OK, if your file server is linux and you are serving win clients, you might want to have those files scanned on the fileserver itself. But with windows it's likely they could get infected some other way anyhow.

IMO it's a waist of resources to have every single computer running anti-viri. The way I use to do it, is I had a NT server that also did the dns simply scan all the computers via network, I think it was using Norton or AVG pro. It could also scan any samba shares, just in case.

Now since all my boxes are p4s with like a gig of ram, it's a big difference from when i had a 386 on the low end, stuff in betwee, then the high end 686s (PIII) computers with around 128 or 512 ram if lucky.

Running anti-virus on the win boxes nowadays doesn't really matter as much cuz they can take it.

But IMO you don't need it in Linux especially if you are doing things as user like you are supposed to and only getting your packages from official sources.

But if your really paranoid, then there should be no reason why you can't set clam to run as root in your gui. Just poke around a bit, and you'll find it.

[cdnLilWolf]

In deference to Mista-X I should add that none of my Linux boxes have an anti-virus installed and if I did, it would scan incoming email attachments on demand only.

I don't want to make it sound like Linux is impenetrable, but the odds are against infection. Your efforts are better used in making sure your firewall is secure and that you don't get hacked.

[Superman3332001]

What kind of program simply doesn't ask you for the root password? And why are you so afraid of the command line?

I would suggest something: 1.) just uninstall the anti-virus, you don't need it.

2.) try using sudo or su.

Well I was wondering what directory as well what the file name would be I would run it from in the command line. Plus I have installed the new version of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS

[Superman3332001]

In deference to Mista-X I should add that none of my Linux boxes have an anti-virus installed and if I did, it would scan incoming email attachments on demand only.

I don't want to make it sound like Linux is impenetrable, but the odds are against infection. Your efforts are better used in making sure your firewall is secure and that you don't get hacked.

Well i am using a Dlink router for a firewall.

[cdnLilWolf]

Well I was wondering what directory as well what the file name would be I would run it from in the command line. Plus I have installed the new version of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS

You should be able to run ClamAV straight from the shell and not need to worry about what directory it's in. If you do, you might look in /usr/share/apps or /usr/bin.

[cdnLilWolf]

Well i am using a Dlink router for a firewall.

That's great, NAT firewalls are always and excellent idea, but in this case I meant a software firewall. Most distros include some form or another (ie: Firestarter). Your router keeps you invisible to the net until you tell an application to let something in.