How to install ClamAV Ubuntu

Linux is generally less prone to malware compared to other operating system. Nonetheless, it is good practice to install an antivirus software to provide essential protection for servers, email scanning, and overall system security.

ClamAV is an open-source antivirus program designed to detect trojans, viruses, malware, and other malicious threats.

Installing ClamAV on Ubuntu

1. Update Package List via Terminal

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade

2. Install ClamAV

sudo apt install clamav

3. Install ClamAV’s dameon (clamd)

sudo apt install clamav-daemon

Select ‘Y’ to install ClamAV. During the installation process, you might be prompted to configure ‘clamd’ to boot on start.

4. Update ClamAV’s Virus Definitions.

sudo freshclam

5. Configure Automatic Updates (Optional):

It might be more convenient to setup automatic updates for ClamAV’s virus database. Proceed to edit the ‘Freshclam’ configuration file.

sudo nano /etc/clamav/freshclam.conf

Proceed to find the line that says ‘# Comment or remove the line below.’ And uncomment (remove the ‘#’ symbol) from the line:

# Comment or remove the line below.

DatabaseMirror database.clamav.net

Save the file and exit.

6. Start the ClamAV Daemon (clamd)

sudo systemctl start clamav-daemon

7. Enable ClamAV Daemon to Start on Boot (Optional):

sudo systemctl enable clamav-daemon

You can scan files, directories, or your entire system using the ‘clamscan’ command. For example,

clamscan -r /path/to/scan

Make sure to replace ‘/path/to/scan’ with the actual path you want to scan.