Avast Antivirus for Ubuntu Desktop

80 thoughts on “Avast Antivirus for Ubuntu Desktop”

1. sir,
   i have downloaded trial version of avast anti virus 4.0.. in the process of scanning im
   getting several problems . after scanning, i cannot perform the recommended action (move to chest) as it
   comes like “communication failed” or some thing like dat.. so plz tel me wat to do after the scan
   it is like waste for me to download….

2. Anti Virus for linux, thats like birth control for the dead.

   Oh well, windoze has trained everyone that a virus scanner is a must. Good luck in referancing virii that actually are available to infect a linux machine with.

3. Terminal won’t let me type in a password. Any idea what I’ve done wrong?

4. Install and scan went well. The issue I have is to update database. Says “Connection Failed; Operation now in progress” I have my proxy set in all places. I look under tools-preferences but there isn’t a place to add proxy setting. I don’t know if that is my issue or not. Is there a way to update from shell?

   thanks,

   Stump

5. how much is a copy for commerical license. Thanks

6. The install and scan went good for me also. I run an update,
   and it gets to about the end of the update and it closes and will not
   open again. I must remove the .avast folder and reinstall to get it to
   run again. The Update kills me every time.

   Thanks
   Kent

7. Hello

   I tried that way but the problem is “i386” term.
   it wants the term “amd64”,and stops. I changed the file name to “avast4workstation_1.0.8-2_amd64.deb”. But I think there is a extra control in “.deb”. it stopped again.
   I tried to install with “.gz” file. Files is confused in the file system.
   which files where must be? (which folder in)

   Thanks in advance

   Munip

8. Installed Avast. Everything went smoothly. Registered and updated, then application closed. Now every time I try to launch, I get the message: ” Deleted stale lock file ‘/home/phil/.avast/lockfile-phil’.”; then it asks me for the registration key again. It then says it’s launching the application, then shuts. This has happened numerous time. Please tell me how to uninstall.

9. iwant the last license key for avast4.6 plz.

10. Would you please tell me how to uninstall the designation Applications>Accessories>Avast Antivirus.I uninstalled the program proper, but need to complete the uninstall. Thank you. Sincerely Roger

11. hi i install avast on ubuntu 7.04 64bit..i actually forced install as 64bit is not supported…when i try to open avast at application>accessories>avast nothing happened…

    can anyone help?

12. Hi,
    I’m a “newbie^10” on Linux and Ubuntu 7.04, that I installed yesterday.
    So far, so good ! First thing I thought of was to install anti virus program.
    Looked on internet – they say best of all is Avast!
    Downloaded “avast4workstation_1.0.6-2_i386.deb” on the desktop.
    Used command “sudo dpkg -i avast4workstation_1.0.6-2_i386.deb” and it worked (anazing ! 😉 )
    Went to site to apply for license key, got it, entered it and scanned, then upgdated program.
    The only problem : I cannot get the icon in Aplication/Accessories list.
    Went in the directory window by window in : /usr/lib/avast4workstation/share/avast/desktop
    (otherwise how to do cd/usr/lib/avast4workstation/share/avast/desktop ???? )
    Used command as shown here : sudo ./install-desktop-entries.sh instal.
    Nothing.
    Used OPEN by other application, then USE a custom Command and inserted “sudo ./install-desktop-entries.sh install”
    Rebooted.
    Nothing in the Application/Accessories list.

    What is wrong, please ??????

    Thanks, Orline

13. hi solution for get in application, try this, u will get surely.

    Applications > Accessories > terminal
    then type: cd /usr/lib/avast4workstation/share/avast/desktop
    ENTER
    next type: sudo ./install-desktop-entries.sh install
    ENTER
    (if password required then give this and ENTER)

    Bye. If further problem contact me: [email protected]

14. How do you get rid of the Avast menu entry in Applications/Accessories after you un-install the program?

15. Thanks! This worked great! I am a firm believer in safe rather than sorry. I do believe that Linux is becoming more popular, albeit slowly at the present. I hope that changes. But along with that popularity will come virus writers, spammers, and assorted scum of the earth. Companies like Avast which look to the future are very welcome in my little Linux world.

16. Hi all
    Seems like there have been a few bugs in Avast and Ubuntu in the past. I would like to install the latest release of Avast on Ubuntu v7.10.
    Have there been any problems with this ver

17. When installing in Ubuntu, after you have entered your Registration code and it opens successfully close it before you run update. Then open it again, if it doesn’t ask for Reg code again THEN run update. When I ran update the first I opened the program, it closed on me and gave me “Deleted lock file: blahblahblah” and it wants me to enter Reg code again and closes after I do. Do as I said and you might avoid that problem.

18. Ok I have been playing with Debian and other Linux flavors for a few years. I never did understand how to install new programs until I asked on a support form and directed me to a great website for Ubuntu and now I can install anything! Anyway I think every system need a firewall and anti-virus regardless of OS installed. 20 years ago when Linux was more popular then it is today viruses were a big problem, thats when Windows came into the picture. But now that Windows is unstable of a system, Linux and Mac are making a big comeback. So viruses will once again come into the picture. I just wish that Avast worked on my system. Install went good and update ran ok, but there was a conflict with some file on my system and Debian said that it could not make it work. Also Avast said last virus definitions were dated over 830 days ago! So I guess I’ll have to try another anti-virus program, Sorry Avast!

19. Can I scan (and remove virus) with avast for ubuntu a MS Windows NTFS partition and MBR of HD?

20. I used to run Avast on my Windows system, now I have Ubuntu 8.04 and, better safe than sorry, I installed Avast without any problem.
    Cannot say anything about the protection, have not had any virus yet.
    It’s a pity though that the e-mail client is not scanned “online”.

21. According to Avast, this should be possible

22. I installed it ok.
    I cant run it. I click avast and nothing happens

23. How to uninstall it?
    Sorry im a total newbie

24. No This has a use Virus;s may not effect the computer but i have earlier found out (undisclosed) keyloggers will still manage to run on your system

25. Great!

    Just one question… why?

    Ubuntu permissions (with root and all) are configures so that NOTHING can install itself on your computer without permission and your password. Besides, who would bother writing a virus for Linux? Ok… maybe Bill Gates, but even he wouldn’t know whether to write it as an RPM, DEB, BIN, or something else.

    Unless you have RAM and CPU to burn, don’t bother with an anti virus!

    To uninstall open the terminal and type something like: (I don’t know this for sure; didn’t install avast)
    sudo apt-get autoremove avast

    Replace “avast” with whatever the official name of the avast package is. (You can find this out in Synaptic, just click the “Installed” tab.

    > Brian

26. Great help! Thanks a bunch, it worked like a charm.

27. This doesn’t help you scan a Windows partition, and it won’t be helpful unless you actually plan to scan after every installation. Even then, only the unauthenticated installs should be scanned, and there’s no guarantee this software will detect any virus… and I have yet to encounter any problems in Ubuntu, which leads me to believe virus scanners are pointless in it.

28. Hi Brain,

    your instructions work properly, but also I want to delete the application from Applications—>Accessories—>avast!Antivirus
    Can you please advise?

    TIA!

29. We’ll,
    I have installed it on my machine even though I know that linux will probably never use it. But I sometime save/mount windows files and partitions in Ubuntu and I can scan them for viruses from within Ubuntu before I restore to their native window env. Not sure if this is a good idea or not. But that is what I do. My Ubuntu is locked down hard with Iptables and I really do not need an AV.

30. It works. thanks for the links and guide!

31. the reason i got avast was because i got a virus on windows, and figured i could scan that drive from ubuntu, and clear up any problems (locked out of windows) but it will only let me scan the home drive. is there any way to scan a drive that linux is not installed on?

32. Super site darlings. Thanks awfully

33. WHY AV for Linux you ask?

    Quite simply because you may download a virus on a Linux machine and then inadvertently share it or email it to a windows machine. Also, if you’re using your Linux machine on a windows network, you could accidentally nuke your Windows network because you didn’t know you had a virus in the first place.

    Secondly, no OS is immune to viruses. It’s just not targeted nearly as much as Windows.

    SHEPDOG

34. as a new Linux user (I’m trying to use Ubuntu) I thank you very much.
    your instructions were clear and it worked!

35. I thing the best solution for solve all those problems is go to this address and download the most recent version for this software, previously uninstall anything that you installed before with the autoremove command, like this sudo apt-get autoremove avast4workstation. Reboot. Download http://public.avast.com/~cimbal/test/i586-pc-linux-gnu/avast4workstation_1.2.0-2_i386.deb. Install it. No problems all will be OK.

    Thanks in advance for your attention.

    Albert.

36. Hi Albert,

    The mentioned download worked perfect.
    Download > Install > Run Avast
    As easy as it can be.

    But why was this download so hard to find? Is it a test, beta program?
    I tried with the avast 4 0.8-2.deb but no reaction.
    The Avast 4 1.2.0-2.deb works fine with my Unbuntu 8.04 LTS

    Thanks,

37. I’ve tried your steps. It’s installed successfully. But I got a problem. I couldn’t update the virus database. there’s an error message.

    “Could not resolve host: files.avast.com (Domain name not found)”

    What do I have to do? How do I set up the domain?

38. wow, it works
    so fine

39. All work good.
    Applications menu item added automatic.
    Thanks.

40. If you need to install it on a 64-bit system, here’s a great walkthrough: http://ph.ubuntuforums.com/showthread.php?t=781251.

41. Nice, works out of the box. Tha.

    Just checking before Conficker starts the 1 April joke of the century.

    And, as to be expected, a very nice “clean” Ubuntu 9.04.

42. how to uninstall avast, please let me know im new to this system

43. I’ve tried your steps. It’s installed successfully. But I got a problem. I couldn’t update the virus database. there’s an error message.

    “Could not resolve host: files.avast.com (Domain name not found)”

    What do I have to do? How do I set up the domain?

44. I have installed this software. Everything is going perfectly but the problem is When I update this program,it’s not asking any registration or key details.It is updated without these details.My friends have this software, they updated AVAST after entering the key.Is something wrong with my software?. Can you suggest me?

    And one more doubt. Why should I do registration.What is the use of this.

45. You should use an antivirus ONLY if you have a server.
    On web servers some php worms could infect your php pages
    On a mail server an incoming e-mail could infect all your users in your lan (if you have windows clients)

    Use ClamAV… fits better, and its in repositories.

46. Thanks for the tutorial, very useful.

    FYI to all the “You don’t need Virus Scan on Linux” people. Yes, it’s very difficult to infect a Linux machine with the majority of viruses being written for Windows, however if you share files with other Windows users, you could be receiving, and redistributing virus infected files without knowing it. That’s why Linux virus scan tools tend to be as-needed, instead of always on.

    Happy scanning!

47. Ignore folks that say that you should only use an antivirus if you run a server. Obviously they know nothing about your system or how you use it, so they are not in a position to advise you properly.

    They also tend to forget that Wine can get virus’ and that you could get infected email attachments and inadvertently forward them. And that doesn’t speak to virus’ that exist for Linux or other potential vectors for virus’s that while they may not directly affect you, could affect those who you share files with.

    Those are not the kind of people you need to take advise from.

48. thank u. i like this app. my xp is many virus in my doc.

49. after comlete instalation, i try to update database its looking fine
    but every time i run from application-accessories the display command always appear like this :
    Deleted stale lock file ‘/home/hartono/.avast/lockfile-hartono’.

    please help me

50. >>Tonbuntu Says:
    >>August 7th, 2009 at 5:25 am

    >>after comlete instalation, i try to update database its looking fine
    >>but every time i run from application-accessories the display command >>always appear like this :
    >>Deleted stale lock file ‘/home/hartono/.avast/lockfile-hartono’.

    >>please help me.

    Hey Tonbuntu, first try a compete uninstall by either running synaptic and searching for avast then do a complete uninstall and remove files or ‘sudo apt-get purge avast4workstation__.deb’ to do it through CLI. Enter root password when asked and press enter. Second. download the newest avast at http://www.avast.com to ensure you’re gonna get a current version. And registration is free. Do this now while you wait for the .deb file to download. Then double click the avast4workstation_1.3.0-2_i386.deb and let gdebi do it’s work…or you could open a CLI (terminal) and cd to the directory it was downloaded and ‘chmod a+x avast4*’ then ‘sudo dpkg -i avast4workstation_1.3.0-2_i386.deb.’ Now this time when you first open the program first put the registration key in and then close avast before you run the update.
    Sorry in advance if this don’t help or if you’ve already done it this way. I know I tried doing an update once before inputing the registration key and it did funky things, crashed and refused to run. and one instace it kept deleting stale lockfile stored in /home/wizard/.avast/lockfile-wizard. so another solution would be to manually delete that lockfile before avast runs as it is only still there because of avast crashing in the first place. it’s only supposed to be present when avast is actually running so if it’s in the /.avast folder in your home directory then it should be deleted before you run avast again.

    Again, sorry in advance if this don’t help. Good luck.