NEWBIE: Reference guide for all the NOD32 policy settings?

Hi All,

I am a MSP and evaluating NOD32 v4.2 Bus Ed. I have set up my ERAC and ERAS, and trying to get familiar with creating my first policy. BUT, I can't seem to find any documentation on the many policy settings that are listed in the ESET Configuration Editor. e.g. under the ESET Smart Security, ESET NOD32 Antivirus section, there is a setting named Enable Self-defense (which is located under ESET Kernel->Setup->Antivirus protection).

I have no clue what that setting means (I can make some guesses). I have looked all over for documentation that would describe all these NOD32 policy settings, but no luck so far. I even called ESET support and was told they had no further info on these hundreds of settings How could that be, as it would be one of the first pieces of info an admin would need to set up their own policies? Hopefully the ESET tech was wrong?

That same tech suggested I could call a sales engineer and ask him/her about these policy settings. While that's nice, there are too many settings to go over in a phone call, and my memory is not going to retain all this

What have others done?

Many TIA,

-Mike

 

Oh, in last post I forgot to ask: Why is ESET Smart Security and ESET NOD32 Antivirus grouped together as one parent category in the config editor? I am using only NOD32, so how do I see just the NOD32 policy settings? Being new to NOD32, I do not want to get confused by lots of extra ESS policy settings that are not available in just the NOD32 product...

 

There isn't really any documentation, but what a lot of our resellers do, is take a normal client, set it up like they want it, and then export and import it into the policy manager as a policy.

 

Wow, they forgot to document all the policy settings? Makes zero sense

Dmaasland, are you saying that the settings are more fully explained in the client software's GUI, and to configure it on one NOD32 client, then export/import it into the ERAC policy manager?

ESET - if you monitor these forums, a newbie would love to understand why you chose to not document such crucial info?

TIA,
-Mike

 

There are hundreds of settings in xml configuration file that basically correspondent with those in the program's gui and are basically self-explanatory. Settings potentially requiring further explanation contain descriptions that appear below the configuration options in the right-hand pane.

 

Hi Marcos - take a look at the one example I cited in my original post ("Enable self-defense"). When I go into the Policy Editor in my ERAC, there is no further explanation of what that setting means (on the right side). Does your ERAC give you a description? If so, then mine is broken and I guess I am missing a help file or something. If your ERAC does not provide any details either for this setting, then how is a newbie supposed to know what "self-defense" means? This is just one example, as I am sure there are many settings that a newbie would not necessarily know the meaning of, or the possible ramifications of setting it one way vs another...

Very puzzling...

 

"Enable self-defense" means the very same as the "Enable Self-defense" check-box in the product. A configuration file should be edited by those who understand the settings in the product and need to adjust specific settings. The options in the program setup (EAV/ESS) are thoroughly described in the help files. It's impossible to make a thorough help for every option in the Configuration editor as there are thousands of them plus using help like "Enable Self-defense - enables EAV/ESS Self-defense" would sound crazy.

 

Hmmm, are you saying an IT admin that chooses ESET's NOD32 product should look thru the NOD32 client software for an explanation of all the NOD32 policy settings one sees listed in ERAC's config editor? I am looking at the NOD32 GUI on my own PC and went into Advanced settings, but it does not define what the "Self-defense" setting is/does either...

I guess I am missing something, as I already looked thru the ERAC and NOD32 PDFs and did not see any reference to the "Self defense" option that I stumbled into in the Policy config editor.

I guess ESET's NOD32 is vastly different than other AV solutions, as normally the first thing most IT folks would do is peruse the policy settings/docs to get a handle on all the options - then choose the best options for their needs by enabling/disabling options in custom policies...

I'll try calling in to ESET tech support again and see if I get someone who can better point me in the right direction. The last person I spoke with said no such docs existed, but agreed that the lack of the docs was a problem for others as well. It still baffles me...

As far as defining each option/policy setting - isn't that exactly what good docs should do? And instead of defining the setting with the same abbreviated verbiage, why not spell it out clearly: e.g. "enabling self-defense prevents users from stopping the NOD32 service...". I am just guessing on the meaning of that setting, based on what the ESET tech person told me last week...

 

From the manual:

 

Thanks dmaasland! I had already searched the NOD32 User Guide for the phrase "self-defense" (as it was spelled in ERAC's policy ediitor) and no matches were found. But I just found that one sentence you mentioned under "self defense"...

That was just one example of an undefined setting that a newbie encounters when looking thru the Policy Manager using ERAC. I'll hope that others are actually defined on the Config Editor screen, or maybe in the client side of the NOD32 software.

Too bad they didn't use all that available white space on the Config Editor screen to fully define every setting. IMO, that's what good documentation is supposed to do. No doubt long time users of NOD32 know what most of these settings do/mean, but not newbies. And I'll bet even seasoned users would appreciate definitions appearing on this screen, as nobody remembers everything. Plus, if ESET is like most other AV software, some settings need more than a one line/phrase definition to describe subtleties.

Hopefully the other settings will be more self-explanatory or are defined on the Config Editor screen...

 

Even the ESET support person could not find any definition of this self-defense setting when I called last week. He must have done the same search as me

 

A description of Self-defense can be found in the User Guide on page 38.

 

Hi Marcos - my ESET NOD32 ver 4 User Guide only briefly mentions it on pg 4, as pointed out by dmaasland a few posts ago. The link you included is for ver 5 of something called ESET Smart Security (ESS), which I am not evaluating at this time.

I assume ESS is a different product than NOD32 ver 4, and not appropriate for the business edition of NOD32 v4 that I am evaluating?

Tks,
-Mike

 

Well, yes but Self-defense is same for ESET NOD32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security, no matter if speaking about v4 or v5. The only difference is that in v5 Self-defense is accomplished by HIPS but the effect is very same.

 

Are you suggesting it would be helpful to download the ESS v5 User Guide to get an understanding of all the NOD32 v4 policy settings, or is the self-defense an isolated case?

Just curious, why are NOD32 and ESS policy settings grouped together under the Policy Manager/Config Editor? They are different products, presumably with their own unique policy settings, right? I am wondering how a newbie can easily distinguish whether a given policy setting is for NOD32 vs ESS?

 

bump...

Hi Marcos - I'll call into ESET if you're unavailable. I'm trying to get ready for an initial deployment of NOD32 to some of my customers in a day or two, so need to wrap up some of these questions asap. Tks!

 

another bump, as my contact as ESET has not replied to my email...

 

You can download the User Guide for the version (v4) that you use if you're looking for explanations of various settings.

EAV and ESS are very similar products with minor differences. The Configuration editor in ERA5 will have a product filter and each product will have a separate section in the xml.

 

I already have the NOD32 v4 User Guide, but I did not see any of the policy settings defined. Only place that seems to have such a list is the built-in help system of the NOD32 client (F1). So I took the advice of dmassland:

There isn't really any documentation, but what a lot of our resellers do, is take a normal client, set it up like they want it, and then export and import it into the policy manager as a policy.


I figured it's worth repeating, as other newbies struggling to figure out how to intelligently configure their first policy will benefit from this advice.

Sure would be nice if the ERA console included these policy setting definitions. There's plenty of blank space for it...