OpenVAS stands for Open Vulnerability Assessment System and is a network
security scanner with associated tools like a graphical user front-end. The
core component is a server with a set of network vulnerability tests (NVTs)
to detect security problems in remote systems and applications.

OpenVAS products are Free Software under GNU GPL and a fork of Nessus.

To build a complete OpenVAS scanner installation, however, you have to compile
and install the packages in the following sequence:
 1. openvas-libraries
 2. openvas-scanner
 3. openvas-client

The openvas-client GUI is needed to interact with the OpenVAS scanner, however
there are some new optional modules:
 1. openvas-manager for storing and organizing scans on a central server in a
 SQL database
 2. openvas-administrator for User-, Feed- and Settings-Management
 3. greenbone-security-assistant for a web-based Vulnerability Management

This package provides the OpenVAS administrator together with an init script 
to start it at system startup.