Install Greenbone Vulnerability Manager 20.08 on Debian 10 from source...

BIG THANKS
First of all, thanks to Greenbone and their community for the wunderful work with the software and project!
And this guide could not be possible without the help of all nice people in the comments and in the slackchannel

Edits: This is the fixes by the Community throu PR’s on. https://github.com/falkowich/sadsloth_gvm_public
A huge thanks for the below fixex.

• 2021-05-09 - Lots of great fixes by cfi-gb from Greenbone. A huge thanks for your time to help out with this!:
  • Fix lock-file-dir location in systemd service file
  • Add missing but required package for openvas-smb
  • Minor updates to the visudo additions
  • Drop sudo call from openvas -u command
  • Change startup order of services
• 2021-03-27 - Fix feed sync command by Chartman123:
  • Fix feed sync command

Caveats:

• I am no experienced debian user, so this may contain errors. Pls do not hesitate to tell me in comments or slack.
• Not so much testing made yet, If you test it out and you find something, please leave a message in the comments or slack

Like the last guides:
This installation is not made for public facing servers, there is no built in security in this setup.

I take no responsibility if this guide bork you server, burn your house down to ashes, make your christmas tree self combust or makes your cat to leave you..
It’s under the “it worked for me[tm]” clause.

This is as always a work in progress.

Preparation is key

Prepare lots of coffee and (if at home) put on your best comfy clothes.
When writhing this, The Umbrella Academy - playlist was streaming out in the speakers.. (Great serie with great music imho)

Fire up an vanilla Debian 10 on a vm for some testing and start the installation.
I picked the netinst cd Install nothing but ssh-server and “standard system utilities”, no root password (disabled root, like ubuntu server installation)

This is a fresh install howto, not howto upgrade or migrate old data. Hopefully we can make one after this?

This writeup assumes:

• A normal user with sudo privileges.
• Root user
• A non privileged user named gvm
• The prefix for the installation is /opt/gvm

fixing locales

I have some trouble with my locales sv_SE.UTF-8, so I have to run this to get everything running as planned.
From https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/Perl_warning_Setting_locale_failed_in_Debian

sudo locale-gen en_US.UTF-8 ;\
export LC_ALL="C"

install requirements

sudo apt update ;\
sudo apt -y dist-upgrade ;\
sudo apt -y autoremove ;\
sudo apt install -y software-properties-common ;\
sudo apt install -y cmake pkg-config libglib2.0-dev libgpgme-dev libgnutls28-dev uuid-dev libssh-gcrypt-dev \
libldap2-dev doxygen graphviz libradcli-dev libhiredis-dev libpcap-dev bison libksba-dev libsnmp-dev \
gcc-mingw-w64 heimdal-dev libpopt-dev xmltoman redis-server xsltproc libical-dev postgresql \
postgresql-contrib postgresql-server-dev-all gnutls-bin nmap rpm nsis curl wget fakeroot gnupg \
sshpass socat snmp smbclient libmicrohttpd-dev libxml2-dev python-polib gettext rsync xml-twig-tools \
python3-paramiko python3-lxml python3-defusedxml python3-pip python3-psutil virtualenv vim git libunistring-dev ;\
sudo apt install -y texlive-latex-extra --no-install-recommends ;\
sudo apt install -y texlive-fonts-recommended ;\
curl -sS https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | sudo apt-key add - ;\
echo "deb https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yarn.list ;\
sudo apt update ;\
sudo apt -y install yarn

create user

echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/opt/gvm/bin:/opt/gvm/sbin:/opt/gvm/.local/bin"' | sudo tee -a /etc/profile.d/gvm.sh ;\
sudo chmod 0755 /etc/profile.d/gvm.sh ;\
source /etc/profile.d/gvm.sh ;\
sudo bash -c 'cat << EOF > /etc/ld.so.conf.d/gvm.conf
# gmv libs location
/opt/gvm/lib
EOF'

sudo mkdir /opt/gvm ;\
sudo adduser gvm --disabled-password --home /opt/gvm/ --no-create-home --gecos '' ;\
sudo usermod -aG redis gvm  # This is for ospd-openvas can connect to redis.sock.. If you have a better idea here, pls write in the comments :) ;\
sudo chown gvm:gvm /opt/gvm/ ;\
sudo su - gvm

mkdir src ;\
cd src ;\
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/gvm/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH

Download stuff

git clone -b gvm-libs-20.08 --single-branch  https://github.com/greenbone/gvm-libs.git ;\
git clone -b openvas-20.08 --single-branch https://github.com/greenbone/openvas.git ;\
git clone -b gvmd-20.08 --single-branch https://github.com/greenbone/gvmd.git ;\
git clone -b master --single-branch https://github.com/greenbone/openvas-smb.git ;\
git clone -b gsa-20.08 --single-branch https://github.com/greenbone/gsa.git ;\
git clone -b ospd-openvas-20.08 --single-branch  https://github.com/greenbone/ospd-openvas.git ;\
git clone -b ospd-20.08 --single-branch https://github.com/greenbone/ospd.git

install gvm-libs

cd gvm-libs ;\
 export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/gvm/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH ;\
 mkdir build ;\
 cd build ;\
 cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/gvm .. ;\
 make ;\
 make doc ;\
 make install ;\
 cd /opt/gvm/src

config and build openvas-smb

cd openvas-smb ;\
 export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/gvm/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH ;\
 mkdir build ;\
 cd build/ ;\
 cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/gvm .. ;\
 make ;\
 make install ;\
 cd /opt/gvm/src

config and build scanner

cd openvas ;\
 export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/gvm/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH ;\
 mkdir build ;\
 cd build/ ;\
 cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/gvm .. ;\
 make ;\
 make doc ;\
 make install ;\
 cd /opt/gvm/src

Fix redis for default openvas install

Here be dragons
Remember to become root

For this become almight root. Preferably log in to another ssh session as your normal user with sudo rights.

sudo su

export LC_ALL="C" ;\
ldconfig ;\
cp /etc/redis/redis.conf /etc/redis/redis.orig ;\
cp /opt/gvm/src/openvas/config/redis-openvas.conf /etc/redis/ ;\
chown redis:redis /etc/redis/redis-openvas.conf ;\
echo "db_address = /run/redis-openvas/redis.sock" > /opt/gvm/etc/openvas/openvas.conf ;\
systemctl enable redis-server@openvas.service ;\
systemctl start redis-server@openvas.service

sysctl -w net.core.somaxconn=1024
sysctl vm.overcommit_memory=1

echo "net.core.somaxconn=1024"  >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo "vm.overcommit_memory=1" >> /etc/sysctl.conf

cat << EOF > /etc/systemd/system/disable-thp.service
[Unit]
Description=Disable Transparent Huge Pages (THP)

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "echo 'never' > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled && echo 'never' > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/defrag"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

systemctl daemon-reload ;\
systemctl start disable-thp ;\
systemctl enable disable-thp ;\
systemctl restart redis-server

As openvas will be launched from an ospd-openvas process with sudo, the next configuration is required in the sudoers file:

visudo

Edit the secure_path line to this.

Defaults        secure_path="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/opt/gvm/sbin"

Add this line to allow the created gvm user to launch openvas with root permissions.

### Allow the user running ospd-openvas, to launch openvas with root permissions
gvm ALL = NOPASSWD: /opt/gvm/sbin/openvas

Then exit from the root shell, and go back to to the gvm user

Here be dragons
Remember to change from root to gvm user

update nvt

greenbone-nvt-sync

Here be dragons
If you get an error here, run greenbone-nvt-sync multiple times.

upload plugins in redis with openvas

openvas -u

Tip
This is going to take some time depending on your hardware.
You can watch openvas and redis-server processes using alot of cpu when this is running.

PID   USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU  %MEM     TIME+ OMMAND                                                                                                                                    
27796 gvm       20   0  105356  26436   3720 R  80.0   0.7   0:17.00 penvas                                                                                                                                    
27605 redis     20   0  144856  86600   3200 S  21.7   2.1   0:06.23 redis-server   

config and build manager

cd gvmd ;\
 export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/gvm/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH ;\
 mkdir build ;\
 cd build/ ;\
 cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/gvm .. ;\
 make ;\
 make doc ;\
 make install ;\
 cd /opt/gvm/src

Configure PostgreSQL

For this we will use the sudo enabled user. (not root)
Then setup permissions

sudo -u postgres bash
export LC_ALL="C"
createuser -DRS gvm
createdb -O gvm gvmd

psql gvmd
create role dba with superuser noinherit;
grant dba to gvm;
create extension "uuid-ossp";
create extension "pgcrypto";
exit
exit

Exit the sudo user shell.

fix certs

Here be dragons

Remember to change from sudo user to gvm user

gvm-manage-certs -a

create admin user

To create user admin with password admin is a bad habit, but for this guide it has a purpose when doing the first test scan on localhost remember to change later!

gvmd --create-user=admin --password=admin

config and update feeds

Here we have some news in 20.08.

From the Install.md “Certain resources that were previously part of the gvmd source code are now shipped via the feed. An example is the config “Full and Fast”. “gvmd will only create these resources if a “Feed Import Owner” is configured:”

Find out what uuid your newly created admin is.

gvm@gvm2008-lab:/opt/gvm/src$ gvmd --get-users --verbose
admin 41f853e4-fecf-423f-85b7-18fa3396bac5 ««« This uuid

Then modify gvmd settings with the uuid from above.

gvmd --modify-setting 78eceaec-3385-11ea-b237-28d24461215b --value 41f853e4-fecf-423f-85b7-18fa3396bac5

Run these lines one at the time

greenbone-feed-sync --type GVMD_DATA
greenbone-feed-sync --type SCAP
greenbone-feed-sync --type CERT

Here be dragons
This script breaks alot for me lately, so you can be forced to run greenbone-feed-sync --type [and the type] multiple times.

configure and install gsa

cd gsa ;\
 export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/gvm/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH ;\
 mkdir build ;\
 cd build/ ;\
 cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/gvm .. ;\
 make ;\
 make doc ;\
 make install ;\
 touch /opt/gvm/var/log/gvm/gsad.log ;\
 cd /opt/gvm/src

OSPD-OPENVAS

install the virtualenv

cd /opt/gvm/src ;\
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/gvm/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH ;\
virtualenv --python python3.7  /opt/gvm/bin/ospd-scanner/ ;\
source /opt/gvm/bin/ospd-scanner/bin/activate

install ospd

mkdir /opt/gvm/var/run/ospd/ ;\
cd ospd ;\
pip3 install . ;\
cd /opt/gvm/src

install ospd-openvas

cd ospd-openvas ;\
pip3 install . ;\
cd /opt/gvm/src

create startupscripts

As root run these

Here be dragons
Remember to become root

cat << EOF > /etc/systemd/system/gvmd.service
[Unit]
Description=Open Vulnerability Assessment System Manager Daemon
Documentation=man:gvmd(8) https://www.greenbone.net
Wants=postgresql.service ospd-openvas.service
After=postgresql.service ospd-openvas.service

[Service]
Type=forking
User=gvm
Group=gvm
PIDFile=/opt/gvm/var/run/gvmd.pid
WorkingDirectory=/opt/gvm
ExecStart=/opt/gvm/sbin/gvmd --osp-vt-update=/opt/gvm/var/run/ospd.sock
ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
KillMode=mixed
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=2min
KillMode=process
KillSignal=SIGINT
GuessMainPID=no
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

cat << EOF > /etc/systemd/system/gsad.service
[Unit]
Description=Greenbone Security Assistant (gsad)
Documentation=man:gsad(8) https://www.greenbone.net
After=network.target
Wants=gvmd.service

[Service]
Type=forking
PIDFile=/opt/gvm/var/run/gsad.pid
WorkingDirectory=/opt/gvm
ExecStart=/opt/gvm/sbin/gsad --drop-privileges=gvm
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=2min
KillMode=process
KillSignal=SIGINT
GuessMainPID=no
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

cat << EOF > /etc/systemd/system/ospd-openvas.service 
[Unit]
Description=Job that runs the ospd-openvas daemon
Documentation=man:gvm
After=network.target redis-server@openvas.service
Wants=redis-server@openvas.service

[Service]
Environment=PATH=/opt/gvm/bin/ospd-scanner/bin:/opt/gvm/bin:/opt/gvm/sbin:/opt/gvm/.local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
Type=forking
User=gvm
Group=gvm
WorkingDirectory=/opt/gvm
PIDFile=/opt/gvm/var/run/ospd-openvas.pid
ExecStart=/opt/gvm/bin/ospd-scanner/bin/python /opt/gvm/bin/ospd-scanner/bin/ospd-openvas --pid-file /opt/gvm/var/run/ospd-openvas.pid --unix-socket=/opt/gvm/var/run/ospd.sock --log-file /opt/gvm/var/log/gvm/ospd-scanner.log --lock-file-dir /opt/gvm/var/run/
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=2min
KillMode=process
KillSignal=SIGINT
GuessMainPID=no
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

systemctl daemon-reload ;\
systemctl enable gvmd ;\
systemctl enable gsad ;\
systemctl enable ospd-openvas ;\
systemctl start ospd-openvas ;\
systemctl start gvmd ;\
systemctl start gsad

Check that the services are up and running

systemctl status gvmd
systemctl status gsad
systemctl status ospd-openvas

Exit your root session

Modify your Default scanner

As user gvm, get Default scanner UUID

Here be dragons
Remember to change from root to gvm user

(ospd-scanner) gvm@localhost:/opt/gvm/src$ gvmd --get-scanners
08b69003-5fc2-4037-a479-93b440211c73  OpenVAS  /var/run/ospd/ospd.sock  0  OpenVAS Default «««««««««« THIS UUID
6acd0832-df90-11e4-b9d5-28d24461215b  CVE    0  CVE

Then modify the scanner

(ospd-scanner) gvm@localhost:/opt/gvm/src$ gvmd --modify-scanner=08b69003-5fc2-4037-a479-93b440211c73 --scanner-host=/opt/gvm/var/run/ospd.sock
Scanner modified.

Now you can point your browser to GSA https://ipnumberofyourserver and login

Try out a scan with the wizard.
If you scan 127.0.0.1 and have not changed the user/pass you should get:

Tip
If your NVT’s are empty. This can be because the VT database isn’t updated.
To check what gvmd is doing, tail the gvmd-log and see what the latest output is.

gvm@gvm2008-lab:/opt/gvm/src$ tail /opt/gvm/var/log/gvm/gvmd.log -f
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.25 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/dfn-cert-2015.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.25 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/CB-K13.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.25 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/CB-K15.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.25 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/CB-K17.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.25 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/CB-K19.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.25 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/CB-K18.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.26 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/CB-K14.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.26 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/CB-K20.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.26 utc:29896: Updating /opt/gvm/var/lib/gvm/cert-data/CB-K16.xml
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.26 utc:29896: Updating Max CVSS for DFN-CERT
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.27 utc:29896: Updating DFN-CERT CVSS max succeeded.
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.27 utc:29896: Updating Max CVSS for CERT-Bund
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.28 utc:29896: Updating CERT-Bund CVSS max succeeded.
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h10.28 utc:29896: sync_cert: Updating CERT info succeeded.
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h13.01 utc:29895: Updating VTs in database ... 61397 new VTs, 0 changed VTs
md manage:   INFO:2020-08-14 14h13.03 utc:29895: Updating VTs in database ... done (61397 VTs).

The line you shall see when the db is updated is Updating VTs in database ... done (61397 VTs)

If you have any questions, fixes or enhanchments. Submit a PR in the repo [link], comment below or join slack and see if someone knows the answer you seek :)
» Slack invite here

And remeber to change the password for the admin user.

Troubleshooting. And debugging

For lab I ususally use tmux, so I can start the services in the frontend. Tmux cheatsheet in a gist courtesy of henrik » tmux_cheatsheet.markdown

gvmd

As gvm user.

tmux new -s gvmd
gvmd -f --osp-vt-update=/opt/gvm/var/run/ospd.sock

gsad

And then as a sudo user. (perhaps this is fixable with editing the sudoers file later.)

tmux new -s gsad
sudo gsad --drop-privileges=gvm  -f

ospd-openvas

ospd-openvas -f --pid-file /opt/gvm/var/run/ospd-openvas.pid \
             --unix-socket=/opt/gvm/var/run/ospd.sock \
             --log-file /opt/gvm/var/log/gvm/ospd-scanner.log \
             --log-level DEBUG

After some Coffee, it’s time for taking a ride in our self renovated little car :)