Antivirus Configuration File

The antivirus software that you plan to use for scanning backups is described in the AntivirusInfos.xml file. By default, the file contains predefined settings for the following antivirus software:

Symantec Protection Engine
ESET
Windows Defender
Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools
Trellix (formerly McAfee) — Experimental support

Veeam Backup & Replication creates the AntivirusInfos.xml file in the %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Veeam\Backup and Replication\Mount Service folder on every machine with the mount server role. During restore session, Veeam Backup & Replication reads settings from the file and triggers the antivirus to scan backup files. If you use several antivirus software on the mount server, Veeam Backup & Replication will trigger the antivirus whose configuration is defined first in the file.

Antivirus Configuration File See the default configuration file

Antivirus Configuration File Structure

The AntivirusInfos.xml file contains the following elements:

Antiviruses. Encapsulates the file with antivirus settings.
AntivirusInfo. Describes the antivirus software.

See AntivirusInfo attributes

Attribute	Description
Name	Specifies the antivirus name. Veeam Backup & Replication will display this name in restore session logs.
IsPortableSoftware	Indicates if antivirus software is portable: If you set this attribute to True, Veeam Backup & Replication will treat the antivirus software as portable. Before performing secure restore, Veeam Backup & Replication will verify if the antivirus executable file exists. The path to the file is specified by the ExecutableFilePath attribute. If you set this attribute to False, Veeam Backup & Replication will treat the antivirus software as non-portable. Before performing secure restore, Veeam Backup & Replication will verify if the antivirus registry value exists and if the antivirus service is running. The key is specified by the RegPath attribute. The service name is specified by the ServiceName attribute.
ExecutableFilePath	Specifies the full path to the antivirus executable file. Note: Some antivirus software uses separate installation folders for different versions. Make sure that you add the full path to the antivirus executable file you use.
CommandLineParameters	Specifies antivirus commands that you want to execute during the scan. Make sure that the antivirus supports the specified commands. For example, the list of commands for ESET is available in this ESET KB article. Note: The %Path% variable is required for this attribute. During secure restore, Veeam Backup & Replication substitutes this variable for the path to the folder with mounted disks (C:\VeeamFLR\<machinename>).
ServiceName	Specifies the name of the antivirus service. The service must be responsible for data scanning. The attribute value can be an empty string if IsPortableSoftware = True and ExecutableFilePath is specified.
RegPath	Specifies the registry value of the anitivirus service. The attribute value can be an empty string if IsPortableSoftware = True and ExecutableFilePath is specified.
ThreatExistsRegEx	Specifies regular expressions. A regular expression is a sequence of characters that form a search pattern. Veeam Backup & Replication will search the antivirus output messages for the specified regular expression. If any of the output messages match the expression, Veeam Backup & Replication will notify you on detected threat. Note: You must have a good understanding of the regular expression language to specify this attribute properly. For more information on the regular expression language, see Microsoft Docs.
IsParallelScanAvailable	Indicates if the antivirus will run multiple jobs to scan files on mounted disks simultaneously. If you set this attribute to True, Veeam Backup & Replication will lock the antivirus to perform the scan for the current restore session. The antivirus will not be available for other sessions with enabled secure restore until the scan completes. The default value for antivirus lock time-out is 24 hours. If the scan does not complete after this period, Veeam Backup & Replication will finish other restore sessions as specified in the restore wizard: abort restore sessions or restore machines (or its disks) with restrictions. Note: You can change the lock time-out using registry values. For more information, contact Veeam Support. If the antivirus CLI does not support multiple scan jobs, set this attribute to False.

ExitCodes. Encapsulates messages that Veeam Backup & Replication displays on scan results.
ExitCode. Describes the subject and the body of the message that Veeam Backup & Replication displays on scan results.

See ExitCode attributes

Customizing Antivirus Configuration File

If you want to scan machine data with other antivirus software, make sure that it supports the command line interface (CLI). Then, add configuration for this software to the AntivirusInfos.xml file. The configuration must contain the AntivirusInfo element with all nested elements and attributes. For more information, see Antivirus Configuration File Structure.

Note

Consider the following:

If you made changes to the antivirus configuration file, you do not need to restart Veeam services on the backup server — Veeam Backup & Replication will perform the next malware scan with new settings.
During the upgrade, the customized AntivirusInfos.xml file is replaced by the default one. Do not forget to make necessary changes to it.

Tip

You can distribute the XML configuration file among other mount servers in your backup infrastructure using Veeam PowerShell. For more information, see the Copy-VBRAntivirusConfigurationFile section in the Veeam PowerShell Reference.