AutoUpdate Issue

[red2]

I've got MalawareBytes Pro installed and it is working fine EXCEPT that I've been unable to get it to auto-update.

In "Updater Settings", I have just "download and install progam update" checked. (I'm not sure why the selection "notify me when an update is ready for installation" is also available since it would seem to be mutually exclusive to the "download" option.)

In "Scheduler", I have "hourly" selected, "recover if missed by one hour" and "repeating every hour". So I would have thought that theoretically the database should not be more than an hour out of date if my computer isn't on 24/7.

The autoupdate is NOT being blocked by my firewall (Kerio 2.15) because when I update manually, it succeeds EVERY time without issue. I assume that the manual update and autoupdate use the same process. For AV, I'm using KAV 2010 and have added both "mbam.exe" and "mbam.gui.exe" to the exclusion list for "Do not scan network traffic".

Thinking it might be an installation issue, I disabled KAV, used the MalwareBytes clear utility, rebooted, and then re-installed. It made no difference.

I'm running this under XP Pro SP3.

Any ideas on what else this could be?

[exile360]

Do you also have mbamservice.exe allowed through your firewall? Do you have mbam.exe trusted for both inbound and outbound connections (and the same for mbamgui.exe and mbamservice.exe)?

In "Updater Settings", I have just "download and install progam update" checked. (I'm not sure why the selection "notify me when an update is ready for installation" is also available since it would seem to be mutually exclusive to the "download" option.)

No, it's not mutually exclusive. If you don't have it notify you when a program update is available (this is for new versions of the program, not database updates), then you won't get prompted to install the latest version after it has been downloaded until you actually open the scanner (mbam.exe). With the notification turned on, you'll get a tray icon notification that a new version is ready to be installed, you can then click on that notification and begin the installation process for the new program version.

[red2]

Thank you for your reply, Samuel.

I did not have mbamservice.exe allowed in my firewall rule set. I've added it now and do I assume that it is a TCP connection via ports 80 and 443 just as mbam.exe? Are you saying that this is the process used for autoupdates, while manual updates are done via mbam.exe? If so, that would explain why it hasn't been updating automatically but manual updates work just fine.

Thank you for also confirming those two dialog choices. Their description in the program is confusing. Since it says "download and INSTALL program update if available" that would suggest that it will download and INSTALL the update without any user interaction. That's why the second choice of "notify me when a program update is ready for installation" option didn't make much sense. If automatically installed, no need to be informed of an available update.

Perhaps it would be clearer if you used a standard convention: Autoupdate (download and install, no user interaction required), Download but don't install (user action needed to install the downloaded file), Notification only (user action needed to download and install).

[exile360]

Thank you for your reply, Samuel.

You're welcome

I did not have mbamservice.exe allowed in my firewall rule set. I've added it now and do I assume that it is a TCP connection via ports 80 and 443 just as mbam.exe? Are you saying that this is the process used for autoupdates, while manual updates are done via mbam.exe? If so, that would explain why it hasn't been updating automatically but manual updates work just fine.

Correct, in fact, as I recall, it uses both .

Thank you for also confirming those two dialog choices. Their description in the program is confusing. Since it says "download and INSTALL program update if available" that would suggest that it will download and INSTALL the update without any user interaction. That's why the second choice of "notify me when a program update is ready for installation" option didn't make much sense. If automatically installed, no need to be informed of an available update.

Perhaps it would be clearer if you used a standard convention: Autoupdate (download and install, no user interaction required), Download but don't install (user action needed to install the downloaded file), Notification only (user action needed to download and install).

Unfortunately we don't have the option to install silently because installing a program update requires a reboot to replace the in-use files, that's why program updates are always interactive (and yes, I agree that the text should be changed to more clearly indicate this).

[red2]

You solved the problem. I just changed the scheduler to test it right now, and it autoupdated the database. So if it some point there's a hitch, I'll now open the firewall ruleset and see if I need to add a port or process. For now it just seems to need the service.exe but not the gui.exe and only ports 80 and 443. I did allow both directions as you suggested.

Thank you again.

[exile360]

You're welcome, I'm glad to be of service .