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The antivirus software that you plan to use for scanning backups is described in the AntivirusInfos.xml file. Veeam Backup & Replication creates this configuration file on every machine with the mount server role and stores the file in the %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Veeam\Backup and Replication\Mount Service folder.
During secure restore, Veeam Backup & Replication reads settings from the configuration file and triggers the antivirus to scan backup files. The settings in the file are already predefined for the following antivirus software:
If you want to scan machine data with other antivirus software, you must add configuration for this software to the AntivirusInfos.xml file. The configuration must contain the same elements and attributes as the antiviruses supported out-of-the-box. Mind that the antivirus software must support the command line interface (CLI).
Note:
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.
XML File Structure
The XML file describing antivirus settings has the following structure:
<Antiviruses> <!-- Symantec --> <AntivirusInfoName='Symantec'IsPortableSoftware='false'ExecutableFilePath='Veeam.Backup.Antivirus.Scan.exe'CommandLineParameters='/p:%Path%'RegPath='HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\symcscan'ServiceName='symcscan'ThreatExistsRegEx='Threat\s+found'IsParallelScanAvailable='false'> <ExitCodes> <ExitCodeType='Success'Description='No threats detected'>0</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Invalid command line argument'>1</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Antivirus scan was completed with errors'>2</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Antivirus scan was canceled'>4</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Infected'Description='Virus threat was detected'>3</ExitCode> </ExitCodes> </AntivirusInfo> <!-- Eset --> <AntivirusInfoName='Eset File Security'IsPortableSoftware='true'ExecutableFilePath='%ProgramFiles%\ESET\ESET File Security\ecls.exe'CommandLineParameters='%Path% /clean-mode=None /no-symlink'RegPath=''ServiceName=''ThreatExistsRegEx='threat\s*=\s*["'](?!is OK["'])[^"']+["']'IsParallelScanAvailable='false'> <ExitCodes> <ExitCodeType='Success'Description='No threats detected'>0</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Infected'Description='Virus threat was detected'>1</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Warning'Description='Some files were not scanned'>10</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Infected'Description='Virus threat was detected'>50</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Antivirus scan was completed with errors'>100</ExitCode> </ExitCodes> </AntivirusInfo> <AntivirusInfoName='ESET Antivirus'IsPortableSoftware='true'ExecutableFilePath='%ProgramFiles%\ESET\ESET Security\ecls.exe'CommandLineParameters='%Path% /clean-mode=None /no-symlink'RegPath=''ServiceName=''ThreatExistsRegEx='threat\s*=\s*["'](?!is OK["'])[^"']+["']'IsParallelScanAvailable='false'> <ExitCodes> <ExitCodeType='Success'Description='No threats detected'>0</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Infected'Description='Virus threat was detected'>1</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Warning'Description='Some files were not scanned'>10</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Infected'Description='Virus threat was detected'>50</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Antivirus scan was completed with errors'>100</ExitCode> </ExitCodes> </AntivirusInfo> <!-- Windows Defender --> <AntivirusInfoName='Windows Defender'IsPortableSoftware='false'ExecutableFilePath='%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\mpcmdrun.exe'CommandLineParameters='-Scan -ScanType 3 -File %Path% -DisableRemediation -BootSectorScan'RegPath='HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend'ServiceName='WinDefend'ThreatExistsRegEx='Threat\s+information'IsParallelScanAvailable='false'> <ExitCodes> <ExitCodeType='Success'Description='No threats detected'>0</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Antivirus scan was completed with errors'>2</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Infected'Description='Virus threat was detected'>2</ExitCode> </ExitCodes> </AntivirusInfo> <!-- Kaspersky Security --> <AntivirusInfoName='Kaspersky Security'IsPortableSoftware='false'ExecutableFilePath='kavshell.exe'CommandLineParameters='scan %Path%'RegPath='HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\KAVFS'ServiceName='kavfs'ThreatExistsRegEx=''IsParallelScanAvailable='false'> <ExitCodes> <ExitCodeType='Success'Description='No threats detected'>0</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Warning'Description='There were processing errors for some files'>-82</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Warning'Description='Some files were not scanned'>-83</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Warning'Description='Some files were corrupted'>-84</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Operation timed out'>2</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Antivirus scan was canceled'>1</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Service process is not running'>-2</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Access denied'>-3</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Object not found'>-4</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Invalid syntax'>-5</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Invalid operation'>-6</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Service does not exist'>-7</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Service disabled'>-8</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Service logon failure'>-9</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Unable to create file'>-10</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Invalid command line argument'>-11</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Invalid password'>-12</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Cannot create report file'>-85</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='License is invalid'>-301</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Error'Description='Antivirus bases are corrupted'>-236</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Infected'Description='Infected object was detected'>-80</ExitCode> <ExitCodeType='Infected'Description='Possibly infected object was detected'>-81</ExitCode> </ExitCodes> </AntivirusInfo> </Antiviruses>
The XML file contains the following elements:
Antiviruses. The element encapsulates the file with antivirus settings.
AntivirusInfo. The element describes the antivirus software.
ExitCodes. The element encapsulates messages that Veeam Backup & Replication displays on scan results.
ExitCode. The element describes the subject and the body of the message that Veeam Backup & Replication displays on scan results.
AntivirusInfo
The element has the following 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 key 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 path to the antivirus executable file.
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 key 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 keys. For more information, contact Veeam Support.
If the antivirus CLI does not support multiple scan jobs, set this attribute to False.
ExitCode
The element has the following attributes:
Attribute
Description
Type
Specifies the subject of the message that Veeam Backup & Replication will display on scan results:
Success
Infected
Warning
Error
Description
Specifies the body of the message that Veeam Backup & Replication will display on scan results.
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.
