GFI Software/GFI LANguard

http://www.gfi.com

GFI LANguard is an award-winning solution that provides patch management and network security scanning. Used by thousands of customers, GFI LANguard provides a complete network security overview with minimal administrative effort.

Aim
The aim of this book is to provide access to important information that can help users make the best use of GFI LANguard. Wikibookians are therefore encouraged to update this content and/or send feedback, ideas and comments on how this documentation can be further improved via the wiki discussion page, GFI Forums, or by sending an email to documentation@gfi.com.

All feedback is welcome! Please contribute your topics with the above principles in mind.

Introduction
GFI LANguard is a security scanning, network auditing and remediation application that enables you to scan and protect your network through:
 * Identification of system and network weaknesses using a comprehensive vulnerability check database, which includes tests, based on OVAL, CVE and SANS Top 20 vulnerability assessment guidelines.
 * Auditing of all hardware and software assets of your network, enabling you to create a detailed inventory of assets. This goes as far as enumerating installed applications as well as USB devices connected on your network.
 * Enabling automatic download and remote installation of service packs and patches for Microsoft operating systems and third party products as well as automatic un-installation of unauthorized software.

GFI LANguard components
GFI LANguard is built on an architecture that allows for high reliability and scalability, which caters for both medium to larger sized networks. GFI LANguard consists of the following components:

GFI LANguard management console
The management console is the GUI through which all GFI LANguard administration and functionality is accessed including:
 * Triggering of network security scans, patch deployment and vulnerability remediation sessions.
 * Viewing of saved and real time security scan results.
 * Configuration of scan options, scan profiles and report filters.
 * Use of specialized network security administration tools.

GFI LANguard attendant service
GFI LANguard attendant, is the background service that manages all scheduled operations including scheduled network security scans, patch deployment and remediation operations.

GFI LANguard patch agent service
GFI LANguard patch agent is the background service that handles the deployment of patches, service packs and software updates on target computers.

GFI LANguard Script Debugger
The GFI LANguard Script Debugger is the module that allows you to write and debug custom scripts using a VBScript-compatible language.

Getting Started Guide
The scope of this Getting started guide is to help you install and run GFI LANguard on your network with minimum effort. It:
 * Guides you through the respective installation procedure.
 * Walks you through the key steps needed to get the product running on default settings.
 * Identify product prerequisites applicable to your network.
 * Prepare your environment for product installation.
 * Install/Upgrade GFI LANguard.
 * Configure, test, and run the product.

The following links enables you to browse GFI LANguard Getting Started Guide.

Chapter 1: Introduces the GFI LANguard Getting started guide.

Chapter 2: Identify product pre-requisites and how to install GFI LANguard on your network.

Chapter 3: Troubleshooting and support.

Administration and Configuration Manual for GFI LANguard
The GFI LANguard Administration and Configuration Manual provides information on: The following links enables you to browse GFI LANguard Administration and Configuration manual.
 * How to perform a network audit.
 * How to analyze and compare security results.
 * How to use GFI LANguard deploting options to fix vulnerabilities.
 * How to configure GFI LANguard to suit your network.
 * Available scanning profiles and how they can be configured.
 * Troubleshooting information.

Chapter 1: Introduces GFI LANguard.

Chapter 2: How to perform an audit using pre-configured and custom scanning options.

Chapter 3: How to analyze the security scan results using the Scan summary, Detailed scan results and other analyzing tools.

Chapter 4: How to use the deployment functions found in GFI LANguard, including installing custom software and deploying missing security updates.

Chapter 5: How to interpret the GFI LANguard Dashboard.

Chapter 6: How to customize and configure GFI LANguard.

Chapter 7: Describes the different scanning profiles available in GFI LANguard.

Chapter 8: Describes how to use the Utilities in GFI LANguard.

Chapter 9: How to use the three command line tools bundled with GFI LANguard; ‘lnsscmd.exe’, ‘deploycmd.exe’ and ‘impex.exe’.

Chapter 10: How to use VBScript and Python to create custom vulnerability checks.

Chapter 11: Describes miscellaneous settings that may be needed on your enviroment.

Chapter 12: Provides more information on OVAL and CVE certifications used by GFI LANguard.

Chapter 13: Explains what main sources of information are available to help administrators troubleshoot product issues.

Troubleshooting
This section explains how you should go about resolving issues that you might encounter while using GFI LANguard. The main sources of information available are:
 * The manual - most issues can be solved by reading GFI LANguard manuals
 * Download product manuals from www.gfi.com


 * GFI Knowledge Base articles
 * GFI maintains a Knowledge Base, which includes answers to the most common problems. If you have a problem, please consult the Knowledge Base first. The Knowledge Base always has the most up-to-date listing of technical support questions and patches. To access the Knowledge Base, visit http://kbase.gfi.com/.


 * Web forum
 * User to user technical support is available via the web forum. The forum can be found at http://forums.gfi.com/.


 * Contacting GFI Technical Support
 * If you still cannot solve issues with the software, contact the GFI Technical Support team by filling in an online support request form or by phone.
 * Online: Fill out the support request form on: http://support.gfi.com/supportrequestform.asp. Follow the instructions on this page closely to submit your support request.
 * Phone: To obtain the correct technical support phone number for your region please visit http://www.gfi.com/company/contact.htm.
 * NOTE: Before you contact our Technical Support team, please have your Customer ID available. Your Customer ID is the online account number that is assigned to you when you first register your license keys in our Customer Area at https://customers.gfi.com/login.aspx.
 * GFI support will answer your query within 24 hours or less, depending on your time zone.