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Server Protection

You install a Server Protection agent on servers to protect them against malware, risky file types and websites, and malicious network traffic.

To protect a server, download the installer for your operating system and run it on the server.

Requirement

Your devices must be able to communicate with Sophos Central Admin during installation and while the Server Protection agent is running. See Domains and ports to allow.

Download and run the Windows installer

You can choose from two installers:

  • Full malware protection and lockdown
  • XDR Sensor

XDR Sensor doesn't protect against threats. You must have third-party protection installed. See XDR.

Full malware protection and lockdown

  1. Go to Devices > Installers.

  2. In Server Protection, under Full malware protection and lockdown, do one of the following:

    • Click Download Windows Server Installer. This installer includes all products your license covers.

    • Click Choose Components… to choose which products will be included in the installer.

      If you select XDR Sensor we won't install protection. You must have third-party protection installed.

  3. Go to the Downloads folder and run the installer.

XDR Sensor

You must have a licence that includes XDR.

  1. Go to Devices > Installers.
  2. In Server Protection, click Download XDR Sensor Windows Server Installer.
  3. Go to the Downloads folder and run the installer.

Download and run the Linux Server installer

You can choose from two installers:

  • Full malware protection
  • XDR Sensor

XDR Sensor doesn't protect against threats. You must have third-party protection installed. See XDR.

Install Sophos Protection for Linux

To download and run the installer, do as follows:

Note

If you have virtual machines, an auto-scaling or load-balancing environment, or a large number of Linux devices to install Sophos on, then consider using the gold image process. See Create a Linux gold image.

  1. Go to Devices > Installers.

  2. Click Download Linux Server Installer.

    Alternatively, to download the installer from a command line or script, do as follows:

    1. Right-click the installer link and copy the link address.

    2. On the Linux server, at a command prompt or in a script, use wget with the link address:

      wget {Linux installer link}

  3. Run the installer as follows:

    1. Change the file permissions to include “execute”.

      chmod +x SophosSetup.sh

    2. Run the installer.

      ./SophosSetup.sh

      If you are not signed in as root, run the installer with the sudo command.

      sudo ./SophosSetup.sh

Note

Sophos Protection for Linux always installs to /opt/sophos-spl unless you use the --install-dir command to change the installation directory. See Installation directory.

When installation is complete, you can test the protection features. See How to test Sophos Protection for Linux detection features.

XDR Sensor

You must have a licence that includes XDR.

  1. Go to Devices > Installers.
  2. In Server Protection, click Download XDR Sensor Linux Server Installer.
  3. Go to the Downloads folder and run the installer.

Sophos Linux Sensor

We also offer Sophos Linux Sensor (SLS). SLS is a lightweight agent installed on Linux hosts, collecting events from the hosts to trigger alert generation or automated response. It's a separate agent from the XDR Sensor. See How to install Sophos Linux Sensor from the Sophos package repository.

Sophos Anti-Virus for Linux

Sophos Anti-Virus for Linux only provides anti-virus protection. It doesn't provide the more advanced features of Linux XDR or Linux MDR. It's a legacy product that's no longer supported. We recommend that you migrate your Linux devices and use the new Linux Server installer. See Migrate from Sophos Anti-Virus for Linux.

What happens when you protect a server

When you protect a server:

  • The server is added to the Servers list in Sophos Central.
  • Default policies are applied to the server.