Installing, configuring, and starting OpenVAS

OpenVAS, the Open Vulnerability Assessment System, is an excellent framework that can be used to assess the vulnerabilities of our target. It is a fork of the Nessus project. Unlike Nessus, OpenVAS offers its feeds completely free of charge. As OpenVAS comes standard in Kali Linux, we will begin with configuration.

Getting ready

A connection to the Internet is required to complete this recipe.

How to do it...

Let's begin the process of installing, configuring, and starting OpenVAS by navigating to its directory via a terminal window:

1. OpenVAS is installed by default and it only needs to be configured in order to be utilized.

2. From a terminal window, change your directory to the OpenVAS directory:

   cd /usr/share/openvas/
   

3. Execute the following command:

   openvas-mkcert
   

   What we are performing in this step is creating the SSL certificate for the OpenVAS program:

   1. Leave the default lifetime of the CA certificate as it is.

   2. Update the certificate lifetime to match...