GFI VIPRE® Antivirus Business FAQs

Question: What happened to VIPRE Enterprise? Is VIPRE Antivirus Business the same?
Answer: Yes. VIPRE Enterprise and VIPRE Enterprise Premium are now known as VIPRE Antivirus Business and VIPRE Business Premium.

Question: Can my VIPRE Enterprise server installation be upgraded to VIPRE Antivirus Business 5.0?
Answer: Yes. However, upgrades from version 3.1 require version 3.1.3121 to be installed before upgrading to version 5.0. Upgrades from version 4.0 require version 4.0.4547 or above to be installed before upgrading to version 5.0. During installation, version 5.0 will detect the version you are upgrading from and, if needed, will provide you with the download URL for the interim version.

Question: Is the upgrade to VIPRE Antivirus Business 5.0 free?
Answer: The upgrade is free for all customers under a current maintenance agreement.

Question: Do I need a new license key to upgrade from VIPRE Enterprise to VIPRE Antivirus Business?
Answer: No. Your VIPRE Enterprise license key will work with VIPRE Antivirus Business. However, upgrading from VIPRE Enterprise to VIPRE Business Premium requires a premium edition key, which will begin with 402.

Question: What are the system requirements?
Answer: Click here for a complete list of system requirements.

Question: What are the server and agent resource requirements?
Answer: The management server and console consumes about 100MB-150MB of RAM. Agent memory consumption is typically around 10MB-20MB with Active Protection™ enabled. During a scan, this can temporarily increase up to 60MB.

Question: Can VIPRE Antivirus Business be installed on virtual machines?
Answer: Yes. Keep in mind that in addition to protecting virtual machines, you should also protect the VM host machine to ensure maximum protection.

Question: Does VIPRE Antivirus Business protect Mac platforms?
Answer: Yes. We have a Mac client available, which supports OS X versions 10.5 (Leopard), 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and 10.7 (Lion).

Question: Does VIPRE Antivirus Business only run in domain environments?
Answer: No. VIPRE is designed to function in both domain and workgroup environments.

Question: Does VIPRE Antivirus Business support Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix environments?
Answer: Yes. Licensing is easy - you pay for just one agent on the server.

Question: Does VIPRE Antivirus Business work with Microsoft Exchange servers?
Answer: Yes. VIPRE agents can be installed on servers that run Microsoft Exchange. While it is not designed to scan the Exchange Information Store, VIPRE does provide email protection when installed and enabled on endpoint machines.

Question: Is VIPRE Antivirus Business compatible with Hyper-V?
Answer: Yes. As with any virtual environment, you will need to protect both the host and guest operating systems.

Question: I am replacing another antivirus product. Can VIPRE Antivirus Business help remove my previous product?
Answer: Yes. Version 5.0 features Incompatible Software Removal, a new technology that automatically handles the removal of most third-party antivirus products prior to installation. This is a policy-level setting, allowing you to control this functionality as needed. (Note: This feature is supported on endpoint systems running Windows XP Professional SP2 and above.)

Question: I don't see the product I'm trying to remove in the Incompatible Software Removal list. Can you add it for me?
Answer: Yes. Our support team can assist with this process.

Question: Do I need to perform any special configuration changes to the Windows Firewall so that the VIPRE agents can communicate and obtain updates?
Answer: No. Version 5.0 will automatically provision the Windows Firewall configuration with the necessary application exclusions.

Question: What if my Group Policy has rules in place to prevent the Windows Firewall auto-configuration application exceptions?
Answer: The VIPRE Site Service, VIPRE Agent Service and micro-installer service will automatically verify the Windows Firewall configuration each time the service is started and will override any Group Policy rules to prevent this.

Question: Does VIPRE Antivirus Business 5.0 require SQL Express to be installed?
Answer: New installations of version 5.0 will now use a built-in database, as opposed to the Microsoft SQL Express 2005 prerequisite that existed in version 4.0. Customers upgrading from version 4.0 will remain on the SQL database.

Question: I upgraded from 4.0 to 5.0 and would like to use the new built-in database. Is this possible?
Answer: Not yet. We are currently working on a utility to handle this.

Question: I just installed the VIPRE Antivirus Business console on my server. Is it automatically protected by an agent?
Answer: No. You must now install a VIPRE agent locally onto your server.

Question: How do I deploy VIPRE Antivirus Business throughout my network?
Answer: Simply assign endpoints to a policy and the agents get "pushed out" via a silent installation. The Automatic Agent Installation feature lets you select endpoint machines by IP address, IP address ranges, subnet, machine name and Active Directory. Additionally, agents can be created as both MSI files and executables, allowing login scripts or third-party deployment products to handle the deployment. If using the MSI package, end users can also install the agent manually.

Question: Can I set up remote update servers at multiple locations and still manage my agents from one central policy server?
Answer: Yes. You can set up as many remote update servers as necessary, while still managing VIPRE agents via one policy server. Remote update servers handle both threat definitions and agent software updates.

Question: Can I remotely upgrade the management console and VIPRE Site Service at other locations?
Answer: No. You must upgrade these, as well at the report viewer and update servers independently at each location.

Question: How do I protect remote users and ensure that their laptops "phone home?"
Answer: You can deploy VIPRE agents to remote devices, even if they do not connect using VPN. This is done by forwarding port 18082 to your VIPRE server, then adding your public IP address or DNS hostname to the policy settings.

Question: Will our VPN prevent remote users from infecting the network?
Answer: No. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) provides a secure, encrypted tunnel between remote users and a network through firewalls. If a remote user's machine has malware, the VPN will transmit that code through the firewall directly into your network without detection. For this reason, it is very important that you protect all endpoints with VIPRE agents.

Question: Do you have templates available with recommended policy settings, exclusions, etc.?
Answer: Yes. Our built-in policy templates provide preset configurations and exclusions based on best-practice recommendations for many common environments.

Question: Does VIPRE Antivirus Business offer reporting on custom-created reports (e.g., Crystal Reports)?
Answer: No. Currently, custom reporting is not available. VIPRE does, however, contain a robust report viewer, which allows you to generate and schedule a variety of reports in multiple file formats.

Question: Can report data be published, to an intranet, for example, for employees to connect to?
Answer: Yes. You can export reports to several file formats and publish them as you wish.

Question: Does VIPRE Antivirus Business support file-type and folder exclusions?
Answer: Yes. Exclusions can be applied to specific files and/or paths, including wildcards.

Question: Can the VIPRE icon in the system notification area (system tray) be hidden from end users?
Answer: Yes - this is a policy-level setting.

Question: Are email notification alerts available for email servers that use SSL?
Answer: Currently, SSL is not supported for email notification alerts.

Question: How scalable is VIPRE Antivirus Business?
Answer: Very. VIPRE can be scaled to accommodate organizations of all sizes. It is recommended that for sites of 250+ endpoints, customers configure the product to store all data in a Microsoft SQL or SQL Express database.

Question: I'm a reseller. Where can I get a VIPRE Antivirus Business 5.0 not-for-resale (NFR) key?
Answer: Contact your Channel Account Manager or email channelus@gfi.com

Question: How much does VIPRE Antivirus Business cost?
Answer: Click here to request a quote. Volume discounts apply depending on the number of seats you want to cover, and roughly lie between $20 and $34 dollars per seat, based on a simple sliding scale. For more information contact a GFI sales representative or your reseller.

Question: What is the minimum number of seats I need to purchase?
Answer: A minimum of 5 seats is required per license key.

Question: How do I justify the cost of this product to management?
Answer: Easy. Let's say that it takes, on average, 20 minutes to clean up an infected machine (one hour for three manual disinfections). Add to this IT overhead and lost productivity costs of infections, as well as the costs associated with a security breach, which low estimates put in the tens of thousands of dollars?, and VIPRE is the cost-effective solution.

Question: Can I use the same VIPRE license key for multiple sites?
Answer: Yes. VIPRE license keys are limited to the number of agents installed, not locations.

Question: What if I have a threat that I can't remove?
Answer: Our dedicated security response team is on standby to assist, should you ever experience this situation. This service is free of charge to our customers.