Automate Microsoft Antivirus Definition Updates on Windows, Linux, and macOS

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Maintaining the security of your Windows system is crucial, especially if you rely on it for critical services or internal operations. However, accessing the internet can be restricted due to its importance, making manual updates of Microsoft Antivirus definitions a tedious and time-consuming process. In this article, we will explore how to automate the update of Microsoft Antivirus definitions using scripts in Windows Batch, PowerShell, and Linux bash.

Script for Downloading Microsoft Antivirus Definitions in Linux Bash

This script uses the wget command to download the Microsoft Antivirus definitions from the official Microsoft website. It also checks if the download was successful and displays an error message if it fails.

#!/bin/bash

# Remove any previously downloaded executable files
rm -f /path/to/download/mpam-fe.exe

# Download Microsoft Antivirus definitions
wget -nv --tries=20 --no-dns-cache -O /path/to/download/mpam-fe.exe \
  --user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 10; SM-G996U Build/QP1A.190711.020; wv) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/537.36" \
  https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=121721&arch=x64

# Check if the download was successful
if [ "${?}" -ne "0" ]; then
  echo -e "Download not complete!!!\n"
  exit 2
fi

This script is straightforward and easy to understand. To use it, save it in a file with a .sh extension (for example, download_mpam.sh), give execution permissions with the command chmod +x download_mpam.sh, and then run it with ./download_mpam.sh.

How to Use This Script

Here are the steps to use this script:

  1. Save the script in a file with a .sh extension (for example, download_mpam.sh).
  2. Give execution permissions to the file using the command chmod +x download_mpam.sh.
  3. Run the script using ./download_mpam.sh.

Script for Downloading Microsoft Antivirus Definitions in PowerShell

This script uses the Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet to download the Microsoft Antivirus definitions from the official Microsoft website. It also checks if the download was successful and displays an error message if it fails.

# Import the HTTP client module
Import-Module -Name Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility

# Define the URL for downloading Microsoft Antivirus definitions
$url = "https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=121721&arch=x64"

# Download Microsoft Antivirus definitions
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -OutFile "C:\Path\To\Download\mpam-fe.exe" -UserAgent "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/58.0.3029.110 Safari/537.3"

# Check if the download was successful
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
    Write-Error "Download failed!"
} else {
    Write-Host "Download completed successfully!"
}

This script is also easy to understand and use. To use it, save it in a file with a .ps1 extension (for example, download_mpam.ps1). Then, run the script using .\download_mpam.ps1.

Script for Downloading Microsoft Antivirus Definitions in Windows Batch

This script uses the powershell command to download the Microsoft Antivirus definitions from the official Microsoft website. It also checks if the download was successful and displays an error message if it fails.

@echo off

:: Define the URL for downloading Microsoft Antivirus definitions
set url=https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=121721&arch=x64

:: Download Microsoft Antivirus definitions using powershell
powershell -Command "Invoke-WebRequest -Uri %url% -OutFile C:\Path\To\Download\mpam-fe.exe -UserAgent 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/58.0.3029.110 Safari/537.3'"

:: Check if the download was successful
if %errorlevel% neq 0 (
    echo Download failed!
) else (
    echo Download completed successfully!
)

This script is easy to use and requires no additional installation or configuration. To use it, save it in a file with a .bat extension (for example, download_mpam.bat). Then, run the script using download_mpam.bat.

Conclusion

These scripts are simple and effective ways to automate the update of Microsoft Antivirus definitions on Windows, Linux, and macOS systems. By incorporating these scripts into your system management routine, you can ensure that your antivirus software stays up-to-date with the latest threat definitions, providing better protection against malware and other online threats.

As for how to add these scripts to a crontab file in Linux, you would use the following commands:

crontab -e

You could then add a line to schedule the script to run daily at 2 AM like this:

0 2 * * * /path/to/download/mpam-fe.exe

In Windows Batch, you can also add these scripts to your task scheduler.

Remember to replace /path/to/download with the actual path where you want to save the executable file. Additionally, make sure that the script has execution permissions and that the powershell or wget command is available on your system.