Still no ClamAV updates

[zombunny2]

I've just tried the latest 7.4 version of Immunet, and the ClamAV update bug is still present.

Enabling ClamAV and virus db updates should result in Immunet automatically downloading the main.cvd, daily,cvd, and bytecode.cvd files to %programfiles%\Immunet\clamav\[clamav-version]\ . No cvd or cld files appear anywhere on the partition where Windows is installed, tested over a period of several hours.

Manually checking for updates from the Immunet GUI (main screen --> update now) results in an attempt to download the ClamAV databases (starting with daily.cvd), however this reaches 100% and then terminates with the error "The updates could not be installed. Please try again later". This always fails (the error is consistent).

None of the various kluges or workarounds I've previously tried with older 7.x versions work any more.

Meanwhile, a plain ClamAV installation updates flawlessly via freshclam.

So just a warning to other Immunet users - you probably have no offline protection at all (or severely outdated offline protection).

And a request to devs to actually fix this longstanding issue.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Install Immunet on a fresh W10 x64 PC or VM.

2. Enable ClamAV and db updates, if not already enabled.

3. Wait for database to be downloaded, and/or manually update via "update now".

Works on every machine I've tried so far, for the past few Immunet versions. What's most concerning (apart from the very longstanding nature of this bug) is that the failure is silent, unless the update has been triggered by the GUI. The silent failure potentially leads users into a false sense of security, thinking they have protection via ClamAV when in fact they don't.

[zombunny2]

Update: I have just tried Immunet on 2 different machines, and my previous trick of enabling ClamAV and database updates, but not blocking mode, and waiting for ages doing nothing, seems to have resulted in an initial download of the databse files main.cvd, daily.cvd and bytecode.cvd on both machines.

Now, clicking "update now" from the GUI correctly results in the message "virus definitions are up to date".

This is a very strange and intermittent issue. Maybe it is something to do with connectivity issues, especially since it began around a similar time to the ClamAV infrastructure no longer allowing database downloads via wget or a web browser. Having said that, the fact that a database download is attempted but fails to be applied seems rather odd to me, and would suggest it's actually an infrequent issue to do with write permissions to the Immunet installation folder (possibly Immunet's self-protection mechanism?).

Anyway, I now have 2 Immunet installations where the ClamAV virus database has updated successfully at least once. Very strange but worth investigating by devs.

[zombunny2]

P.S. to anyone that may have PM'd me about this issue, I'm not ignoring you, I just can't get access or reply on this forum software as it doesn't work properly. I can just see the preview that gets sent to my e-mail. Will keep periodically trying...

[ritchie58]

Hey zom,

One way you can access your Private Messages without dealing with the "ever present EX0 server error" is first log in of course, click on the Private Message envelope icon located on the upper right hand side of the home page & then click on 'Go to inbox' instead. Then just click on the message you want to read from the PM list.