OpenVAS / Greenbone Community Edition Management Scripts

Scripts for managing Greenbone Community Edition (formerly OpenVAS) on systemd-based Linux distributions.

Overview

These scripts are compatible with Greenbone Community Edition 22.4+, which uses a modern architecture with the following components:

• openvasd - The Notus Scanner daemon for local security checks
• ospd-openvas - OSP (Open Scanner Protocol) wrapper for the OpenVAS Scanner
• gvmd - Greenbone Vulnerability Manager daemon (central management service)
• gsad - Greenbone Security Assistant daemon (web interface)
• greenbone-feed-sync - Unified feed synchronization tool

Note: These scripts have been updated from the legacy OpenVAS 8/9 architecture. The old components (openvassd, openvasmd, openvas-nvt-sync, etc.) are no longer used in modern GCE installations.

Requirements

• Linux distribution with systemd (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, Kali, etc.)
• Greenbone Community Edition 22.4 or later installed
• Root or sudo access for setup operations

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd OpenVas-Management-Scripts

2. Make scripts executable:

   chmod +x openvas-* gvm-check-setup

3. (Optional) Add to PATH:

   sudo cp openvas-* gvm-check-setup /usr/local/bin/

Usage

Initial Setup

Run the setup script to configure your system:

sudo ./openvas-setup

This will:

• Create the gvm user and group
• Configure Redis for OpenVAS
• Set up directory permissions
• Configure GPG for feed validation
• Set up PostgreSQL database
• Configure sudo for scanning
• Synchronize feeds (VTs, SCAP, CERT, GVMD data)
• Create an admin user
• Enable and start services

Starting Services

sudo ./openvas-start

Starts all GCE services in the correct order:

1. openvasd (Notus Scanner)
2. ospd-openvas (OSP daemon)
3. gvmd (Vulnerability Manager)
4. gsad (Web interface)

Stopping Services

sudo ./openvas-stop

Stops all services in reverse dependency order.

Updating Feeds

sudo ./openvas-feed-update

Synchronizes all feed data from the Greenbone Community Feed:

• VT data (Vulnerability Tests / NASL scripts)
• SCAP data (CPE/CVE information)
• CERT data (DFN-CERT and CERT-Bund advisories)
• GVMD data (Scan configs, port lists, report formats)

Note: Feed updates may take a while, especially the first time. The services will automatically load the new data.

Checking Setup

sudo ./gvm-check-setup

Verifies that your installation is complete and ready to use. Checks:

• Required binaries are installed
• Redis configuration
• PostgreSQL database
• Directory permissions
• GPG setup for feed validation
• Services are running
• Feed data is present
• Users are configured

Accessing the Web Interface

After starting services, access the Greenbone Security Assistant at:

http://127.0.0.1:9392

Default credentials (created by openvas-setup):

• Username: admin
• Password: Generated during setup (displayed in output)

Architecture Changes

Legacy (OpenVAS 8/9) vs Modern (GCE 22.4+)

Legacy Component	Modern Replacement	Purpose
openvassd	openvas + ospd-openvas	Scanner daemon
openvasmd	gvmd	Vulnerability manager
openvasad	removed	Administrator (functionality merged)
gsad	gsad	Web interface (updated)
openvas-nvt-sync	greenbone-feed-sync	Feed synchronization
openvas-scapdata-sync	greenbone-feed-sync	SCAP data sync
openvas-certdata-sync	greenbone-feed-sync	CERT data sync
openvas-mkcert	gvm-manage-certs	Certificate management
SQLite database	PostgreSQL	Database backend

Troubleshooting

Services won't start

Check service status:

systemctl status openvasd
systemctl status ospd-openvas
systemctl status gvmd
systemctl status gsad

View logs:

tail -f /var/log/gvm/gvmd.log
tail -f /var/log/gvm/ospd-openvas.log
tail -f /var/log/gvm/gsad.log

Feed sync fails

Ensure GPG is configured:

ls -la /etc/openvas/gnupg/

Run feed sync manually with verbose output:

sudo greenbone-feed-sync --verbose

Database connection issues

Verify PostgreSQL is running:

sudo -u postgres pg_isready

Check database exists:

sudo -u postgres psql -l | grep gvmd

Redis connection issues

Verify Redis socket exists:

ls -la /run/redis-openvas/redis.sock

Test Redis connection:

redis-cli -s /run/redis-openvas/redis.sock ping

File Descriptions

File	Description
openvas-setup	Initial system setup and configuration
openvas-start	Start all GCE services
openvas-stop	Stop all GCE services
openvas-feed-update	Update all feed data
gvm-check-setup	Verify installation completeness
redis.conf	Redis configuration template for OpenVAS

License

These scripts are released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE file for details.

Resources

• Greenbone Community Documentation
• Greenbone Community Forum
• OpenVAS Scanner Repository
• GVM Daemon Repository

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure your changes are compatible with the latest Greenbone Community Edition release.