Guide for Comodo Offline/Manual Update/Update without Internet

gvvsss · April 2, 2011, 6:18am

Note: This guide is NOT provided by Comodo Group, it is provided by a General Member.
It appears safe but has not been tested by the Comodo Group.
Comodo Group holds no responsibility for this guide, use at your own risk.

Hi all,

[i]Note: For all those who are using CIS v6, a new “import virus database” option is introduced in GUI.

Step 1. Copy bases from already updated system connected to internet.

Update CIS on a system with internet facility. Go to C:\Program files\comodo\comodo internet security\scanners and copy b00xxxxx.cav (xxxxx is the latest bases number which changes everytime we update CIS).

Step 2. Updating CIS on a system without internet

Open CIS, click on “Get Help” button (button with “?” just below “x” close button.
Click “About”, you will see the version number of current CIS bases.
Click on “import virus database” link and point to the bases.cav file downloaded from download site or b00xxxxx.cav file copied from other system.[/i]

Process for updating CIS version 5 / 6 on multiple systems (General Method)

I have prepared this detailed guide for Offline/manual update of CIS as there has not been any such provided by Comodo Group yet. I personally use it and tested it on many systems.

Follow the steps below to save Comodo Updates/bases to a folder and use them to update CIS/CAV 5 or 6 on a system without internet connection.

We do not need to enter Safe Mode or Disable Defense+ every time just to update CIS.

We use either Comodo Offline Updater (COU) or COU Alternative Tool & HFS to achieve this.

We first save updates from a system with a working internet connection.

We need not have CIS/CAV running on it.

Downloading Bases and Binaries

We use Comodo Offline Updater (Free download) to download and save the latest bases and binaries. Download it from the following link. (latest version 1.3.8.1)

Download Page
https://forums.comodo.com/10551086108810911089108910821080-russian/comodo-offline-updater-t54363.555.html

Direct Download

Download and install Microsoft .NET Frameworks 2.0 if you have XP (skip this step if you already have it installed or if you are running Win7)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/ru-ru/details.aspx?FamilyID=5b2c0358-915b-4eb5-9b1d-10e506da9d0f

Install COU (with defaults) on a system with internet connection.

Create a folder in C Drive to store downloaded updates, say “C:\CIS-Updates”

Start Comodo Offline Updater from Start–All Programs–Comodo–Comodo Offline Updater–Comodo Offline Updater.

Go to Edit–Settings–Remote Folder,

Remove all the remote folders if you just want CIS/CAV 5.10 Updates.

Click Add and enter “av/updates58/” (without quotes) in Remote Folder and select Bases in Type.

Click Add and enter “cis/download/updates/release/inis_1800/” (without quotes) in Remote Folder and select Binaries in Type.

(You can even modify the old entries to look like this.)

Check the boxes in “7zip Pack” column, as it saves a lot of download space and time.

Change the port to listen to 88.
(Again, just to avoid clash with port 80 traffic, you can use any unused port number of your choice)

In Working Folder, put C:\CIS-Updates

Leave the rest as they are and click OK.

It asks for a service restart, click OK.

Wait for a while, let COU download the bases from the net.

Now, open the " C:\CIS-Updates " folder and you will see a folder named “av” and a folder named “cis” in it, which hold our bases and latest binaries.

For CIS/CAV 5.10 the present size of bases(C:\CIS-Updates\av) is roughly 110 MB and binaries (C:\CIS-Updates\CIS) is 125 MB (7zip compressed .z files).

Please be patient on slower internet connections. Let it finish its work.

If you want the Comodo Offline Updater to start with windows and run continuously, please check “autostart update” and “start with windows” at the bottom.

We can now copy the " C:\CIS-Updates " folder to a pen drive and use it to update a PC without internet.

Updating clients

Now that we have the updated bases and binaries, we proceed to actual offline update process.

Copy the CIS-Updates folder from pendrive and paste it in C drive, so that we have a “C:\CIS-Updates” folder with all downloaded bases and binaries in it.

We need to set up a proxy server to serve updates to clients/local system. We can either use Comodo Offline Updater for this or use any simple http server like HFS.

Method 1: Updating using Comodo Offline Updater:

We need to install and configure Comodo Offline Updater (just the same way as explained above) on the system without internet connection on which we want to update bases/binaries.

1. For stand-alone systems (No internet, No network)

Open CIS/CAV.

Go to More–Preferences–Connection tab–Use http proxy–put localhost
Port–Put 88 (Put the same port name you configured in Comodo Offline Updater)

You can also put “127.0.0.1” instead of “localhost” if you prefer.

2. For systems on the same local network as the source system(i.e., the system with downloaded bases)

Go to the other systems on the local network, which do not have internet connection.

Now, open CIS/CAV.

Go to More–Preferences–Connection tab–Use http proxy–put update-server
Port–Put 88 (Put the same port name you configured in Comodo Offline Updater)

Replace update-server with the hostname/IP address of the system with updates.

(Example:192.168.1.10 or server or system1, etc.,).

Method 2: Updating using a Simple HTTP Server (I prefer HFS):

HFS (Http File Server) HFS ~ HTTP File Server

a. Run a simple http server like HFS on the client system (No connectivity of course).
b. Bind the root of the http server to the updates folder. Bind it to port 88 (can be something else too).
c. Start the http file server.
d. Open IE or Firefox, browse for http://localhost:88, you should see av and cis folders.
e. Save settings to a file.
f. You can configure HFS to “start with windows” through the main menu. You may also want to select “start minimized” option.

1. For stand-alone systems (No internet, No network)

Open CIS/CAV.

Go to More–Preferences–server tab–uncheck "http://download.comodo.com and

add a new entry “http://localhost:88” or “http://127.0.0.1:88” (Put the same port you configured in HFS)[/i]

2. For systems on the same local network as the source system(i.e., the system with downloaded bases)

Go to the other systems on the local network, which do not have internet connection.

Now, open CIS/CAV.

Go to More–Preferences–server tab–uncheck "http://download.comodo.com and

add a new entry “http://update-server:88” (Put the same port you configured in HFS)[/i]

Replace update-server with the hostname/IP address of the system with updates.

(Example:192.168.1.10 or server or system1, etc.,).

That’s it. The Proxy server is set up now.

Go to Antivirus–Update Virus Database.

Now you should see it updating and you should see “The virus signature database is up-to-date”.

You will get a Comodo Internet Security Premium Updater in the system tray, if your there is any new version available.

You can check the database and version details in More–About.

                                   ********

Now, each time you want to update the clients, just copy the av and cis folders from the system with internet on which COU is installed and paste them in the C:\CIS-Updates folder of the mirror system or standalone system that you want to update.

That’s it. I tried to make it as comprehensive as possible. Hope it helps you.

Enjoy a happy offline update.

Edit:

This procedure is tested and working for me. If any one has any problem getting it to work, please post your comments.

For anyone having trouble installing and using Comodo Offline Updater, here is another tool developed by a forum member Roopman, written in JAVA. It can therefore run on both Windows and Linux.

https://forums.comodo.com/comodo-endpoint-security-manager/comodo-offline-updater-alternative-t85249.0.html;msg609054#msg609054

I suppose the post clearly explains how to set up the tool.

Added a few screen shots in Reply#4 for more clarity.

Note:
I strongly recommend that you use an unlimited bandwidth internet connection to download updates, as it downloads at least 1.5 to 2 GB of data per month. (surprised? It really does. So, be careful on limited bandwidth connections or you will end up with a HUGE bill.)

gvvsss · July 17, 2011, 4:48pm

Hi guys,

I have changed the original post with the help of suggestions from EricJH, Morphiuz, Roopman and other posters.

It is now working and I have tested it on my system and a test network.

So, I now unlock the post and welcome your comments.

Caco · March 20, 2012, 1:23pm

Thank you Siva, with your guide i solved my problem: Comodo Offline Updater not working!

When COU tries to download bases and updates it always gets the error “File exists” ???

And when clients try to connect to COU they always fail, no matter if windows Firewall is active or not.

So i made a simple batch script to download updates from Comodo server , and use wamp server to deliver updates through my LAN.

I don’t know why COU is not working anymore, maybe it’s because it’s outdated (latest update was made in 2009).

gvvsss · March 20, 2012, 6:17pm

Thanks for the reciprocation. I am very happy that you could solve your problem.

COU has never been consistent and a simple solution for offline updates, and there are so many requests in the forum for a proper solution. Let us hope we will get one in the latest release.

gvvsss · September 8, 2012, 3:50am

Just thought few screenshots would make it more clear…

[attachment deleted by admin]

gvvsss · October 21, 2012, 7:32pm

Updated the first post to add alternatives to Comodo Offline Updater for both update downloading and proxy server.

Link to a tool written in JAVA by Roopman is provided as an alternative to download updates.

Link to a simple http server HFS is provided as an alternative proxy server to serve updates to clients.

gvvsss · October 21, 2012, 7:35pm

Can any Mod make this post “sticky” so that users who need this info can get it directly, without digging deep/ searching long for this basic info.

zurggie · January 17, 2013, 5:43am

Is this still work on CIS6? Any changes do I need to do? I’m installing CIS 6 on my school’s computer lab pc. I don’t want all of them to connect to internet download for update.

gvvsss · January 17, 2013, 9:33am

Yes, it works for v6 too.

Update location in CIS 6 is

Tasks–Advanced Tasks–Open Advanced Settings–Updates–Proxy & Host Settings

Caco · January 19, 2013, 11:33am

Well, i know HFS but i’m still using your previous solution based on WAMP, still working perfect with CIS 5 but not for CIS 6.

COU receives from CIS 6 update requests that it can’t handle, maybe because updates58 and inis_1800 are no longer valid for cis 6.

EDIT: i forgot to mention that i only use COU like a ‘monitor’ to see the locations of updates into the Comodo server and to log errors, because COU always fails to download updates with error ‘File exists’. To actually retrieve updates i use a batch file that invokes wget to download files.

gvvsss · January 19, 2013, 12:14pm

updates58 is still valid for CIS6 but updates_1800 is not. But, it is not an issue because CIS6 does not yet have any program updates. We only get database updates which is perfectly fine (even though you get an error that “program update” failed) WAMP is also a good server and should work fine.
You can also use the Java Custom Tool mentioned in my article to download updates.

If you can specifically tell what error you are getting with CIS6 I will try to help you.

gvvsss · January 31, 2013, 12:19am

For Everyone who is using this Guide, please note that Program Updates for CIS6 have been released.

You need to add the line “cis/download/updates/release/inis_2001/” to the COU settings window to download CIS 6 Program updates.

gvvsss · April 16, 2013, 2:48pm

With the release of CIS 6, I would like to point out to all users of this guide to the new way of updating CIS bases from CIS GUI itself.

I have updated the original post to reflect the new “import virus database” option.

gvvsss · April 16, 2013, 3:20pm

If we have a system with CIS v 6 connected to internet, we can avoid using “Comodo Offline Updater” and a lot of download (GB s in fact) by simply using the b00xxxxx.cav file created by the installed CIS, to update all offline systems.

To do this.

Update CIS v 6 on the system connected to internet.
Go to [u]C:\Program Files\Comodo\Comodo Internet Security\Scanners[/u] and copy b00xxxxx.cav file.
(xxxxx is the latest base number and will change with every update, from here on when ever you see xxxxx replace it with the latest base version number you see in the file name.)

Create a folder structure for update purpose as below. (for example C:\CIS-Updates)

                                    CIS-Updates
                                             |
                              --------------------------
                              |                                   |
                            av                                   cis
                              |
                      updates58
                              |
                 ----------------------- 
                 |                                |           
              Sigs                [i]versioninfo.ini[/i] (file)
                 |

| |
updates bases
|
BASE_END_USER_vXXXXX.cav (file)

Paste b00xxxxx.cav file in “bases” folder and rename it to BASE_END_USER_vXXXXX.cav (case sensitive)
Copy and paste the following lines in versioninfo.ini file in “Updates58” folder.

[versioninfo]
MaxAvailVersion=XXXXX
MaxDiff=0
MaxBase=XXXXX
MaxDiffLimit=0

Now, we can copy this “CIS-Updates” folder to pendrive or network location for later use.

Note: I have checked it myself personally on many systems. Yet, I would like to have confirmation from others before merging this with the original post.

I am also working on a ‘auto hotkey’ script to automate this process. I will update this thread as soon as I am finished with it.

eizalord · September 17, 2023, 4:31pm

Well, i know HFS but i’m still using your previous solution based on WAMP, still working perfect with CIS 5 but not for CIS 6.