How to virus scan an EXE file in Python

Virus scanning incoming executable files is crucial for maintaining the integrity of your project’s security. We need an easy method for getting this functionality up and running in Python, so we are going to use an API that will do just that. Here’s how to set it up.

Install the client for our API first:

pip install cloudmersive-virus-api-client

Now scan_file can be called through use of an API instance. If you look at the following sample code, you will see exactly what I’m talking about.

from __future__ import print_function
import time
import cloudmersive_virus_api_client
from cloudmersive_virus_api_client.rest import ApiException
from pprint import pprint
# Configure API key authorization: Apikey
configuration = cloudmersive_virus_api_client.Configuration()
configuration.api_key['Apikey'] = 'YOUR_API_KEY'
# Uncomment below to setup prefix (e.g. Bearer) for API key, if needed
# configuration.api_key_prefix['Apikey'] = 'Bearer'
# create an instance of the API class
api_instance = cloudmersive_virus_api_client.ScanApi(cloudmersive_virus_api_client.ApiClient(configuration))
input_file = '/path/to/file' # file | Input file to perform the operation on.
try:
# Scan a file for viruses
api_response = api_instance.scan_file(input_file)
pprint(api_response)
except ApiException as e:
print("Exception when calling ScanApi->scan_file: %s\n" % e)

Now run it with your file and you will soon know if the file is safe. For additional functionality, such as restricting file types and allowing password protected files, you can use scan_file_advanced.