Greenbone OpenVAS Installation Guide

Update the System

Ensure your system is up to date:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt dist-upgrade -y

Install GVM (Greenbone Vulnerability Manager)

Install the full GVM suite:

sudo apt install gvm -y

Run Setup

Initialize the GVM environment:

sudo gvm-setup

After completion, the setup will display the default admin user password. Save it securely.

sudo runuser -u _gvm -- gvmd --user=admin --new-password=new_password

Verify Installation

Check for configuration issues:

sudo gvm-check-setup

If you encounter an error like:

The database was created using collation version 2.36, but the operating system provides version 2.37

Fix it by updating the collation in PostgreSQL.

Fix PostgreSQL Collation (If Needed)

Connect to PostgreSQL:

sudo -u postgres psql

List databases to confirm existence:

\l

Refresh collation version for critical databases:

ALTER DATABASE gvmd REFRESH COLLATION VERSION;
ALTER DATABASE postgres REFRESH COLLATION VERSION;

Exit PostgreSQL:

\q

Restart GVM Services

Reload systemd and restart core services:

systemctl daemon-reload && systemctl restart gvmd.service gsad.service

Re-run the check:

sudo gvm-check-setup

Fix OpenVAS Log Permissions (If Service Fails)

If you see:

Job for ospd-openvas.service failed because the control process exited with error code.

This is often due to permission issues on the OpenVAS log file.

Fix the permissions:

sudo chmod 666 /var/log/gvm/openvas.log

Then start GVM:

sudo gvm-start

Usage Tips

To prevent performance issues when not in use:

sudo gvm-stop
sudo gvm-start

Use these commands to manually control the service lifecycle and preserve system stability.

See Also

• Advanced Network Reconnaissance with Nmap
• Greenbone Official Site