How to run and use the OpenVAS Client

Once the scanner daemon starts running, you can start a client and connect to the scanner. We have installed the client on the same host as the scanner, but you can also install the client on any desired host and remotely connect to the scanner. Now, run the client:

$ OpenVAS-Client

In this way, the client is started and displayed:

In this case, you can select File => Connect to the scanner daemon of OpenVAS:

The system will prompt you to specify the Host IP address that runs the scanner daemon to run the daemon on TCP port 9390, therefore, make sure that the port is enabled on any affected firewall ). In our example, it will connect to the local machine, so you don't need to worry about this. You also need to provide the user name and password you created earlier.

After you have connected to the OpenVAS scanner daemon, you can start scanning. The simplest way to start the scanner is to use the scanner assistant. You can access the scanner assistant through the File menu of the client, and specify your target scan host while starting the scanner assistant.

In this way, you can perform a scan and view the result report in the OpenVAS client.

OpenVAS Resources

We have made a quick introduction to OpenVAS. You can also explore many other features, including writing your own network vulnerability tests and extending OpenVAS capabilities by using the new manager and administrator modules.

If you have any questions about OpenVAS, refer to OpenVAS Compendium for more information. Although some documents are still for version 2.0.0, they are not upgraded Based on version 3.0.0 ). You can also get help on OpenVAS mailing list. If you cannot find the answer to the question, you can use OpenVAS bug tracker to record it.

OpenVAS is also under active development. You can learn new functions and directions of OpenVAS by reading Roadmap, and you should also subscribe to OpenVAS-Announcement mailing list for more learning.