Nessus 8 7 PDF

Nessus 8.7.
x User Guide
Last Updated: September 24, 2019

Table of Contents
Welcome to Nessus 8.7.x 12
Get Started with Nessus 15
Navigate Nessus 17
System Requirements 18
Hardware Requirements 19
Software Requirements 22
Licensing Requirements 26
Deployment Considerations 27
Host-Based Firewalls 28
IPv6 Support 29
Virtual Machines 30
Antivirus Software 31
Security Warnings 32
Manage SSL Certificates 33
Custom SSL Certificates 34
SSL Client Certificate Authentication 35
Create a New Custom CA and Server Certificate 36
Upload a Custom CA Certificate 38
Add a Root CA 39
Create Nessus SSL Certificates for Login 40
Enable Connections with Smart Card or CAC Card 43
Connect with Certificate or Card Enabled Browser 44
Copyright © 2019 Tenable, Inc. All rights reserved. Tenable, Tenable.io, Tenable Network Security, Nessus, SecurityCenter, SecurityCenter Continuous View and Log Correlation Engine are registered trade-
marks of Tenable, Inc.. Tenable.sc, Lumin, Assure, and the Cyber Exposure Company are trademarks of Tenable, Inc. All other products or services are trademarks of their respective owners.
Install Nessus and Nessus Agents 46
Download Nessus 47
Install Nessus 49
Install Nessus on Linux 50
Install Nessus on Windows 51
Install Nessus on Mac OS X 53
Install Nessus Agents 55
Retrieve the Linking Key 56
Install a Nessus Agent on Linux 57
Install a Nessus Agent on Windows 61
Install a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X 65
Upgrade Nessus and Nessus Agents 68
Upgrade Nessus 69
Upgrade from Evaluation 70
Upgrade Nessus on Linux 71
Upgrade Nessus on Windows 72
Upgrade Nessus on Mac OS X 73
Upgrade a Nessus Agent 74
Configure Nessus 75
Install Nessus Essentials, Professional, or Manager 76
Link to Tenable.io 78
Link to Industrial Security 80
Link to Nessus Manager 82
Managed by Tenable.sc 84
Manage Activation Code 86
View Your Activation Code 87
Reset Activation Code 88
Update Activation Code 89
Transfer Activation Code 91
Manage Nessus Offline 93
Install Nessus Offline 95
Generate Challenge Code 98
Generate Your License 99
Download and Copy License File (nessus.license) 100
Register Your License with Nessus 101
Download and Copy Plugins 102
Install Plugins Manually 103
Update Nessus Software Manually 105
Offline Update Page Details 107
Remove Nessus and Nessus Agents 108
Nessus Removal 109
Uninstall Nessus on Linux 110
Uninstall Nessus on Windows 112
Uninstall Nessus on Mac OS X 113
Remove Nessus Agent 114
Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Linux 115
Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Windows 116
Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X 117
Scans 118
Scan and Policy Templates 119
Agent Templates 122
Scan and Policy Settings 123
Basic Scan Settings 124
Scan Targets 128
Discovery Scan Settings 131
Assessment Scan Settings 140
Report Scan Settings 154
Advanced Scan Settings 156
Credentials 160
Cloud Services 162
Database 165
Host 169
SNMPv3 170
SSH 171
Windows 181
Miscellaneous 190
Mobile 194
Patch Management 197
Plaintext Authentication 205
Compliance 208
SCAP Settings 210
Plugins 212
Configure Dynamic Plugins 213
Special Use Templates 214
Unofficial PCI ASV Validation Scan 217
Create and Manage Scans 219
Example: Host Discovery 220
Create a Scan 222
Import a Scan 223
Create an Agent Scan 224
Modify Scan Settings 225
Configure an Audit Trail 226
Delete a Scan 227
Scan Results 228
Create a New Scan from Scan Results 229
Search and Filter Results 230
Compare Scan Results 236
Dashboard 237
Vulnerabilities 239
View Vulnerabilities 240
Modify a Vulnerability 241
Group Vulnerabilities 242
Snooze a Vulnerability 244
Live Results 246
Enable or Disable Live Results 248
Remove Live Results 249
Scan Exports and Reports 250
Create a Scan Report 251
Export a Scan 254
Customized Reports 255
Customize Report Settings 256
Scan Folders 257
Manage Scan Folders 259
Policies 261
Create a Policy 263
Import a Policy 264
Modify Policy Settings 265
Delete a Policy 266
About Nessus Plugins 267
Create a Limited Plugin Policy 269
Plugin Rules 273
Create a Plugin Rule 274
Modify a Plugin Rule 275
Delete a Plugin Rule 276
Scanners 277
Link Nessus Scanner 278
Enable or Disable a Scanner 279
Remove a Scanner 280
Download Managed Scanner Logs 281
Agents 283
Modify Agent Settings 285
Agent Settings 286
Filter Agents 287
Export Agents 289
Download Linked Agent Logs 290
Unlink an Agent 292
Agent Groups 294
Create a New Agent Group 295
Modify an Agent Group 296
Delete an Agent Group 297
Blackout Windows 298
Create a Blackout Window 299
Modify a Blackout Window 300
Delete a Blackout Window 301
Clustering 302
Clustering System Requirements 304
Enable Clustering 306
Get Linking Key from Parent Node 307
Link a Node 308
Migrate Agents to a Cluster 310
View or Edit a Node 312
Rebalance Nodes 313
Enable or Disable Nodes 314
Delete a Node 315
Settings Page 316
About 317
License Utilization 319
View License Use 320
Update Nessus Software 321
Set a Master Password 323
Advanced Settings 324
Create a New Setting 348
Modify a Setting 349
Delete a Setting 350
LDAP Server 351
Configure an LDAP Server 352
Proxy Server 353
Configure a Proxy Server 354
Remote Link 355
SMTP Server 358
Configure an SMTP Server 359
Custom CA 360
Add a Custom CA 361
Upgrade Assistant 362
Password Management 363
Configure Password Management 365
Scanner Health 366
Monitor Scanner Health 368
Notifications 369
Acknowledge Notifications 370
View Notifications 371
Accounts 372
My Account 373
Modify Your User Account 374
Generate an API Key 375
Users 376
Create a User Account 377
Modify a User Account 378
Delete a User Account 379
Transfer User Data 380
Download Logs 381
Additional Resources 382
Agent Software Footprint 383
Agent Host System Utilization 384
Amazon Web Services 385
Command Line Operations 386
Start or Stop Nessus 387
Start or Stop a Nessus Agent 389
Nessus-Service 391
Nessuscli 394
Nessuscli Agent 400
Update Nessus Software 405
Default Data Directories 406
File and Process Whitelist 407
Manage Logs Using log.json 409
Nessus Credentialed Checks 414
Credentialed Checks on Windows 416
Prerequisites 419
Enable Windows Logins for Local and Remote Audits 420
Configure Nessus for Windows Logins 423
Credentialed Checks on Linux 424
Prerequisites 425
Enable SSH Local Security Checks 426
Configure Nessus for SSH Host-Based Checks 429
Run Nessus as Non-Privileged User 430
Run Nessus on Linux with Systemd as a Non-Privileged User 431
Run Nessus on Linux with init.d Script as a Non-Privileged User 434
Run Nessus on Mac OS X as a Non-Privileged User 437
Run Nessus on FreeBSD as a Non-Privileged User 442
Upgrade Assistant 446
Welcome to Nessus 8.7.x
If you are new to Nessus, see Get Started.
Nessus Solutions
Tenable.io
Tenable.io is a subscription based license and is available at the Tenable Store.
Tenable.io enables security and audit teams to share multiple Nessus scanners, scan schedules, scan
policies and most importantly scan results among an unlimited set of users or groups.
By making different resources available for sharing among users and groups, Tenable.io allows for
endless possibilities for creating highly customized work flows for your vulnerability management pro-
gram, regardless of locations, complexity, or any of the numerous regulatory or compliance drivers
that demand keeping your business secure.
In addition, Tenable.io can control multiple Nessus scanners, schedule scans, push policies and view
scan findings—all from the cloud, enabling the deployment of Nessus scanners throughout your net-
work to multiple physical locations, or even public or private clouds.
The Tenable.io subscription includes:
l Unlimited scanning of your perimeter systems
l Web application audits
l Ability to prepare for security assessments against current PCI standards
l Up to 2 quarterly report submissions for PCI ASV validation through Tenable, Inc..
l 24/7 access to the Tenable, Inc. Support Portal for Nessus knowledge base and support ticket
creation
Tenable.io Product Page
Tenable.io User Manual
Nessus Professional
Nessus Professional, the industry’s most widely deployed vulnerability assessment solution helps you
reduce your organization’s attack surface and ensure compliance. Nessus features high-speed asset
discovery, configuration auditing, target profiling, malware detection, sensitive data discovery, and
Copyright © 2019 Tenable, Inc. All rights reserved. Tenable, Tenable.io, Tenable Network Security, Nessus, SecurityCenter, SecurityCenter Continuous View and Log Correlation Engine are
registered trademarks of Tenable, Inc.. Tenable.sc, Lumin, Assure, and the Cyber Exposure Company are trademarks of Tenable, Inc. All other products or services are trademarks of their - 12 -
respective owners.
more.
Nessus supports more technologies than competitive solutions, scanning operating systems, network
devices, hypervisors, databases, web servers, and critical infrastructure for vulnerabilities, threats, and
compliance violations.
With the world’s largest continuously-updated library of vulnerability and configuration checks, and
the support of Tenable, Inc.’s expert vulnerability research team, Nessus sets the standard for vul-
nerability scanning speed and accuracy.
Nessus Professional Product Page
Nessus Agents
Nessus Agents, available with Tenable.io and Nessus Manager, increase scan flexibility by making it
easy to scan assets without needing ongoing host credentials or assets that are offline, as well as
enable large-scale concurrent scanning with little network impact.
Nessus Agents are lightweight, low-footprint programs that you install locally on hosts to supplement
traditional network-based scanning or to provide visibility into gaps that are missed by traditional
scanning. Nessus Agents collect vulnerability, compliance, and system data, and report that inform-
ation back to a manager for analysis. With Nessus Agents, you extend scan flexibility and coverage. You
can scan hosts without using credentials, as well as offline assets and endpoints that intermittently
connect to the internet. You can also run large-scale concurrent agent scans with little network impact.
Nessus Agents help you address the challenges of traditional network-based scanning, specifically for
the assets where it's impossible or nearly impossible to consistently collect information about your
organization's security posture. Traditional scanning typically occurs at selected intervals or during des-
ignated windows and requires systems to be accessible when a scan is executed. If laptops or other
transient devices are not accessible when a scan is executed, they are excluded from the scan, leaving
you blind to vulnerabilities on those devices. Nessus Agents help reduce your organization’s attack sur-
face by scanning assets that are off the network or powered-down during scheduled assessments or
by scanning other difficult-to-scan assets.
Once installed on servers, portable devices, or other assets found in today’s complex IT environments,
Nessus Agents identify vulnerabilities, policy violations, misconfigurations, and malware on the hosts
where they are installed and report results back to the managing product. You can manage Nessus
Agents with Nessus Manager or Tenable.io (including Tenable.io on-prem).
Nessus Agents Product Page
Nessus Manager
Note: Nessus Manager is no longer sold as of February 1, 2018. For existing standalone Nessus Manager
respective owners.
customers, service will continue to be provided through the duration of your contract. Nessus Manager
will continue to be supported and provisioned for the purposes of managing agents.
Nessus Manager combines the powerful detection, scanning, and auditing features of Nessus, the
world’s most widely deployed vulnerability scanner, with extensive management and collaboration
functions to reduce your attack surface.
Nessus Manager enables the sharing of resources including Nessus scanners, scan schedules, policies,
and scan results among multiple users or groups. Users can engage and share resources and respons-
ibilities with their co-workers; system owners, internal auditors, risk and compliance personnel, IT
administrators, network admins and security analysts. These collaborative features reduce the time
and cost of security scanning and compliance auditing by streamlining scanning, malware and mis-
configuration discovery, and remediation.
Nessus Manager protects physical, virtual, mobile and cloud environments. Nessus Manager is avail-
able for on-premises deployment or from the cloud, as Tenable.io. Nessus Manager supports the
widest range of systems, devices and assets, and with both agent-less and Nessus Agent deployment
options, easily extends to mobile, transient and other hard-to-reach environments.
respective owners.
Get Started with Nessus
Prepare
l Ensure that your setup meets the minimum system requirements:
l Hardware Requirements
l Software Requirements
l Obtain your Activation Code for Nessus.
Install and configure Nessus

l Follow the installation steps depending on your Nessus software and operating system:
l Install Nessus on Linux
l Install Nessus on Windows
l Install Nessus on Mac OS X
l Perform the initial configuration steps.
Create and configure scans

1. Run a host discovery scan to identify assets on your network.
2. Create a scan.
3. Select a scan template that fits your needs.

When you configure a Tenable-provided scan template, you can modify only the settings
included for the template type. When you create a user-defined template, you can modify a cus-
tom set of settings for your scan.## This content is used in both Nessus and Tenable.io. ## A
user-defined template is also known as a policy.
l Use a Tenable-provided scanner template.
l (Nessus Manager only) Use a Tenable-provided Agent template.
l Create and use a user-defined template by creating a policy.
respective owners.
4. Configure the scan:
l Configure the scan settings available for your template.
For information about scan targets, see Scan Targets.
l (Optional) To configure live results, see Live Results.
l (Optional) If you are running a credentialed scan, configure credentials.
l (Optional) If you are running a compliance scan, select the compliance audits your scan
includes.
l (Optional) If you are using an advanced scan template, select what plugins your scan
includes.
5. Launch the scan.
View and analyze scan results

l View scan results.
l View and manage vulnerabilities.
l Manage scan folders.
l Create a scan report or export.
Refine Nessus settings

l Monitor scanner health.
l Configure Nessus advanced settings.
respective owners.
Navigate Nessus
The top navigation bar displays links to the two main pages: Scans and Settings. You can perform all
Nessus primary tasks using these two pages. Click a page name to open the corresponding page.
Item Description
Toggles the Notifications box, which displays a list of noti-

fications, successful or unsuccessful login attempts, errors, and
system information generated by Nessus.
Username Displays a drop-down box with the following options: My

Account, What's New, Documentation, and Sign Out.
respective owners.
System Requirements
This section includes information related to the requirements necessary to install Nessus and Nessus
Agents.
l Hardware Requirements
l Software Requirements
l Licensing Requirements
respective owners.
Hardware Requirements
Enterprise networks can vary in performance, capacity, protocols, and overall activity. Resource
requirements to consider for Nessus deployments include raw network speed, the size of the network
being monitored, and the configuration of Nessus.
Note: The following recommendations are guidelines for the minimum hardware allocations. Certain
types of scans are more resource intensive. If you run complex scans, especially those with credentials,
you may require additional disk space, memory, and processing power.
Storage Requirements
You must install Nessus on direct-attached storage (DAS) devices. Nessus does not support storage
area networks (SANs) or network-attached storage (NAS) configurations.
Nessus Scanners and Nessus Professional

The following table lists the hardware requirements for Nessus scanners and Nessus Professional.
Scenario Minimum Recommended Hardware
Scanning up to 50,000 hosts per CPU: 4 2GHz cores

scan
Memory: 4 GB RAM (8 GB RAM recommended)
Disk space: 30 GB
Scanning more than 50,000 hosts CPU: 8 2GHz cores

per scan
Memory: 8 GB RAM (16 GB RAM recommended)
Disk space: 30 GB (Additional space may be needed for

reporting)
Nessus Manager
The following table lists the hardware requirements for Nessus Manager.
Nessus Manager with 0-10,000 CPU: 4 2GHz cores
respective owners.
agents Memory: 16 GB RAM

reporting)
Nessus Manager with 10,001-20,000 CPU: 8 2GHz cores

agents
Memory: 64 GB RAM

reporting)
Note: Engage with your Tenable representative for large

deployments.
Virtual Machine
Nessus can be installed on a Virtual Machine that meets the same requirements. If your virtual
machine is using Network Address Translation (NAT) to reach the network, many of the Nessus vul-
nerability checks, host enumeration, and operating system identification are negatively affected.
Nessus Agents
Nessus Agents are designed to be lightweight and to use only minimal system resources. Generally, a
Nessus Agent uses 40 MB of RAM (all pageable). A Nessus Agent uses almost no CPU while idle, but is
designed to use up to 100% of CPU when available during jobs.
For more information on Nessus Agent resource usage, see Agent Software Footprint and Agent
Host System Utilization.
The following table outlines the minimum recommended hardware for operating a Nessus Agent. Nes-
sus Agents can be installed on a virtual machine that meets the same requirements specified.
Hardware Minimum Requirement
Processor 1 Dual-core CPU
Processor < 1 Ghz

Speed
respective owners.
Hardware Minimum Requirement
RAM < 1 GB
Disk Space < 1 GB with normal usage
< 2 GB under certain conditions, e.g. when a plugins-code.db defragmentation

operation is in progress
Disk Speed 15-50 IOPS
Note: You can control the priority of the Nessus Agent relative to the priority of other tasks running on
the system. For more information see Agent CPU Resource Control in the Nessus Agent Deployment
and User Guide.
respective owners.
Software Requirements
Nessus supports Mac, Linux, and Windows operating systems.
Nessus Scanner, Nessus Manager, and Nessus Professional

See the following table to understand the software requirements for Nessus scanners, Nessus Pro-
fessional, and Nessus Manager.
Operating
Supported Versions
System
32-bit l Debian 7, Debian 8, and Debian 9 / Kali Linux 1, 2017.1, and Rolling
Linux
l Red Hat ES 6, CentOS 6, Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Ker-
nel)
l SUSE Enterprise 11 SP4, SUSE Enterprise 12
l Ubuntu 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, and 16.04
64-bit l Debian 7, 8, and 9 / Kali Linux 1, 2017.1, and Rolling

Linux
nel)

nel)
l FreeBSD 10, FreeBSD 11
l Fedora 24, Fedora 25
l SUSE Enterprise 11 SP4, SUSE Enterprise 12
l Ubuntu 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, 16.04, and 18.04
32-bit Win- Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10

dows
64-bit Win- l Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Win-
dows dows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016
l Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10
respective owners.
Operating
Supported Versions
System
Tip: Windows Server 2008 R2’s bundled version of Microsoft IE does not interface
with a Java installation properly. This causes Nessus to not perform as expected in
some situations: Microsoft’s policy recommends not using MSIE on server operating
systems.
For increased performance and scan reliability when installing on a Windows plat-
form, Tenable highly recommends that Nessus be installed on a server product from
the Microsoft Windows family such as Windows Server 2008 R2.
Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.8 - 10.14
Nessus Agents
See the following table to understand the software requirements for Nessus agents.
Operating
Supported Versions
System
32-bit l Debian 6, Debian 7, Debian 8, and Debian 9 / Kali Linux 1, 2017.3

Linux
l Red Hat ES 5 / CentOS 5 / Oracle Linux 5 (including Unbreakable Enterprise
Kernel)

Kernel)
l SUSE 11 Enterprise
l Ubuntu 9.10, Ubuntu 10.04, Ubuntu 11.04, Ubuntu 11.10, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu
12.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and Ubuntu
17.10
64-bit l Amazon Linux 2015.03, Amazon Linux 2015.09, Amazon Linux 2017.09, and
Linux Amazon Linux 2018.03
l Debian 6, Debian 7, Debian 8, and Debian 9 / Kali Linux 1, 2017.3
l Fedora 20, Fedora 21, Fedora 24, Fedora 25, Fedora 26, and Fedora 27

Kernel)
respective owners.
Operating
Supported Versions
System

Kernel)

Kernel)

Kernel) (64-bit)
l SUSE 11 and SUSE 12 Enterprise
l Ubuntu 9.10, Ubuntu 10.04, Ubuntu 11.04, Ubuntu 11.10, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu
12.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and Ubuntu
17.10
32-bit Win- l Windows Server 2008

dows
l Windows Server 7, Windows Server 8, and Windows Server 10
64-bit Win- l Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Win-
dows dows Server Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019
l Windows Server 7, Windows Server 8, and Windows Server 10
Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.8 - 10.14
Supported Web Browsers

Nessus supports the following browsers:
l Google Chrome (50+)
l Apple Safari (10+)
l Mozilla Firefox (50+)
l Internet Explorer (11+)
Note: For Nessus 7.0 and later, you must enable Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 in your browser.
PDF Report Requirements
The Nessus .pdf report generation feature requires the latest version of Oracle Java or OpenJDK.
respective owners.
Install Oracle Java or OpenJDK prior to installing Nessus.
Note: If you install Oracle Java or OpenJDK after you install Nessus, you must reinstall Nessus to
enable PDF report generation.
respective owners.
Licensing Requirements
Nessus is available to operate either as a subscription or managed by Tenable.sc. Nessus requires a

plugin feed Activation Code to operate in subscription mode. This code identifies which version of Nes-
sus you are licensed to install and use, and if applicable, how many IP addresses can be scanned, how
many remote scanners can be linked to Nessus, and how many Nessus Agents can be linked to Nessus
Manager. Nessus Manager licenses are specific to your deployment size, especially for large deploy-
ments or deployments with multiple Nessus Manager instances. Discuss your requirements with your
Tenable Customer Success Manager.
It is recommended that you obtain the Activation Code before starting the installation process, as it is
required before you can set up Nessus.
Additionally, your activation code:
l is a one-time code, unless your license or subscription changes, at which point a new activation
code will be issued to you.
l must be used with the Nessus installation within 24 hours.
l cannot be shared between scanners.
l is not case sensitive.
l is required to manage Nessus offline.
Note: For more information about managing Nessus offline, refer to the Nessus User Guide.
You may purchase a Nessus subscription through the Tenable, Inc. online store at https://store.ten-
able.com/ or via a purchase order through Authorized Nessus Partners. You will then receive an
Activation Code from Tenable, Inc.. This code will be used when configuring your copy of Nessus for
updates.
Note: See the Obtain an Activation Code page to obtain an Activation Code.
If you are using Tenable.sc to manage your Nessus scanners, the Activation Code and plugin updates
are managed from Tenable.sc. You must start Nessus before it communicates with Tenable.sc, which it
normally does not do without a valid Activation Code and plugins. To have Nessus ignore this require-
ment and start (so that it can get the information from Tenable.sc), when you register your scanner,
select Managed by SecurityCenter.
respective owners.
Deployment Considerations
When deploying Nessus, knowledge of routing, filters, and firewall policies is often helpful. Deploying
behind a NAT device is not desirable unless it is scanning the internal network. Any time a vulnerability
scan flows through a NAT device or application proxy of some sort, the check can be distorted and a
false positive or negative can result.
In addition, if the system running Nessus has personal or desktop firewalls in place, these tools can
drastically limit the effectiveness of a remote vulnerability scan. Host-based firewalls can interfere with
network vulnerability scanning. Depending on your firewall’s configuration, it may prevent, distort, or
hide the probes of a Nessus scan.
Certain network devices that perform stateful inspection, such as firewalls, load balancers, and Intru-
sion Detection/Prevention Systems, may react negatively when a scan is conducted through them. Nes-
sus has a number of tuning options that can help reduce the impact of scanning through such devices,
but the best method to avoid the problems inherent in scanning through such network devices is to
perform a credentialed scan.
If you configure Nessus Manager for agent management, Tenable does not recommend using Nessus
Manager as a local scanner. For example, do not configure Tenable.sc scan zones to include Nessus
Manager and avoid running network-based scans directly from Nessus Manager. These configurations
can negatively impact agent scan performance.
This section contains the following deployment considerations:
l Host-Based Firewalls
l IPv6 Support
l Virtual Machines
l Antivirus Software
l Security Warnings
respective owners.
Host-Based Firewalls
Port 8834
The Nessus user interface uses port 8834. If not already open, open port 8834 by consulting your fire-
wall vendor's documentation for configuration instructions.
Allow Connections
If your Nessus server is configured on a host with 3rd-party firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Windows
firewall, you must configure it to allow connections from the IP addresses of the clients using Nessus.
Nessus and FirewallD

Nessus can be configured to work with FirewallD. When Nessus is installed on RHEL 7, CentOS 7, and
Fedora 20+ systems using firewalld, firewalld can be configured with the Nessus service and Nes-
sus port.
To open the ports required for Nessus, use the following commands:
>> firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=nessus

>> firewall-cmd --reload
respective owners.
IPv6 Support
Nessus supports scanning of IPv6 based resources. Many operating systems and devices ship with IPv6
support enabled by default. To perform scans against IPv6 resources, at least one IPv6 interface must
be configured on the host where Nessus is installed, and Nessus must be on an IPv6 capable network
(Nessus cannot scan IPv6 resources over IPv4, but it can enumerate IPv6 interfaces via credentialed
scans over IPv4). Both full and compressed IPv6 notation is supported when initiating scans.
Scanning IPv6 Global Unicast IP address ranges is not supported unless the IPs are entered separately
(i.e., list format). Nessus does not support ranges expressed as hyphenated ranges or CIDR addresses.
Nessus supports Link-local ranges with the link6 directive as the scan target or local link with eth0.
respective owners.
Virtual Machines
If your virtual machine uses Network Address Translation (NAT) to reach the network, many of Nessus
vulnerability checks, host enumeration, and operating system identification are negatively affected.
respective owners.
Antivirus Software
Due to the large number of TCP connections generated during a scan, some anti-virus software pack-
ages may classify Nessus as a worm or a form of malware.
If your anti-virus software gives a warning, select Allow to let Nessus continue scanning.
If your anti-virus package has an option to add processes to an exception list, add nessusd.exe, nes-
sus-service.exe, and nessuscli.exe.
For more information about whitelisting Nessus folders, files, and processes in security products, see
File and Process Whitelist.
respective owners.
Security Warnings
By default, Nessus is installed and managed using HTTPS and SSL uses port 8834. The default install-
ation of Nessus uses a self-signed SSL certificate.
During the web-based portion of the Nessus installation, the following message regarding SSL
appears:
You are likely to get a security alert from your web browser saying that the SSL cer-
tificate is invalid. You may either choose to temporarily accept the risk, or you can
obtain a valid SSL certificate from a registrar.
This information refers to a security related message you encounter when accessing the Nessus UI
(https://[server IP]:8834).
Example Security Warning

l a connection privacy problem
l an untrusted site
l an unsecure connection
Because Nessus is providing a self-signed SSL certificate, this is expected and normal behavior.
Bypassing SSL warnings
Based on the browser you are using, use the steps below to proceed to the Nessus login page.
Browser Instructions
Google Chrome Select Advanced, and then Proceed to example.com (unsafe).
Mozilla Firefox Select I Understand the Risks, and then select Add Exception.
Next select Get Certificate, and finally select Confirm Security

Exception.
Microsoft Internet Select Continue to this website (not recommended).

Explorer
respective owners.
Manage SSL Certificates
This section contains information related to the management of SSL certificates. This section includes
the following topics:
l Custom SSL Certificates
l SSL Client Certificate Authentication
l Create a New Custom CA and Server Certificate
l Upload a Custom CA Certificate
l Add a Root CA
l Create Nessus SSL Certificates for Login
l Enable Connections with Smart Card or CAC Card
l Connect with Certificate or Card Enabled Browser
respective owners.
Custom SSL Certificates
By default, Nessus is installed and managed using HTTPS and SSL support and uses port 8834. Default
installation of Nessus uses a self-signed SSL certificate.
To avoid web browser warnings, a custom SSL certificate specific to your organization can be used.
During the installation, Nessus creates two files that make up the certificate: servercert.pem and
serverkey.pem. These files must be replaced with certificate files generated by your organization or
a trusted certificate authority (CA).
Before replacing the certificate files, stop the Nessus server. Replace the two files and restart the Nes-
sus server. Subsequent connections to the scanner should not display an error if the certificate was
generated by a trusted CA.
Location of Certificate Files
Operating System Directory
Linux /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem
/opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem
FreeBSD /usr/local/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem
/usr/local/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem
Windows Vista and later C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\servercert.pem
C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\serverkey.pem
Mac OS X /Library/Nessus/run/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem
/Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem
You can also use the /getcert switch to install the root CA in your browser, which will remove
the warning.
https://[IP address]:8834/getcert
Note: To set up an intermediate certificate chain, a file named serverchain.pem must be placed in
the same directory as the servercert.pem file. This file contains the 1-n intermediate certificates (con-
catenated public certificates) necessary to construct the full certificate chain from the Nessus server
to its ultimate root certificate (one trusted by the user’s browser).
respective owners.
SSL Client Certificate Authentication
Nessus supports use of SSL client certificate authentication. This allows use of SSL client certificates,
smart cards, and CAC authentication when the browser is configured for this method.
Nessus allows for password-based or SSL Certificate authentication methods for user accounts. When
creating a user for SSL certificate authentication, the nessuscli mkcert-client utility is used
through the command line on the Nessus server.
respective owners.
Create a New Custom CA and Server Certificate
To allow SSL certificate authentication in Nessus, you must configure the Nessus web server with
a certificate authority (CA) and server certificate.
This allows the web server to trust certificates created by the CA for authentication purposes. Gen-
erated files related to certificates must be owned by root:root, and have the correct permissions by
default.
Note: You must re-link any connected Nessus Agents or managed scanners after loading new cer-
tificates.
Steps
1. Create a new custom CA and server certificate for the Nessus server using the nessuscli
mkcert command at the command line. This will place the certificates in their correct dir-
ectories.
When prompted for the hostname, enter the DNS name or IP address of the server in the
browser such as https://hostname:8834/ or https://ipaddress:8834/. The default certificate
uses the hostname.
2. If you want to use a CA certificate instead of the Nessus generated one, make a copy of the self-
signed CA certificate using the appropriate command for your OS:
Linux
# cp /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem /op-
t/nessus/com/nessus/CA/ORIGcacert.pem
Windows Vista and later

C:\> copy C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\cacert.pem
C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\ORIGcacert.pem
3. If the certificates to be used for authentication are created by a CA other than the Nessus server,
the CA certificate must be installed on the Nessus server.
Linux
respective owners.
Copy the organization’s CA certificate to /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem
Windows 7 and later

Copy the organization’s CA certificate to C:\Pro-
gramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\cacert.pem
4. Configure the Nessus server for certificate authentication. Once certificate authentication is
enabled, log in using a username and password is disabled.
Caution: Nessus does not support connecting Agents, Remote Scanners, or Managed Scanners
using the force_pubkey_auth option. Configure an alternate port to enable supporting remote
agents and scanners with force_pubkey_auth enabled using remote_listen_port in the
Advanced Settings.
Linux
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fix --set force_pubkey_auth=yes
Windows
C:\> cd C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\
C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus> nessuscli.exe fix --set force_pubkey_

auth=yes
5. Once the CA is in place and the force_pubkey_auth setting is enabled, restart the Nessus ser-
vices with the service nessusd restart command.
Note: Any linked Agents will still have an old certificate (ms_cert) and communication will fail to
the Nessus Manager. Relink the Agent using the following commands:
nessuscli agent unlink
nessuscli agent link --host=<host> --port=<port> --key=<key> --groups<-

group1,group2>
After Nessus has been configured with the proper CA certificate(s), you can log in to Nessus using SSL
client certificates, Smart Cards, and CACs.
respective owners.
Upload a Custom CA Certificate
These steps describe how to upload a custom certificate authority (CA) certificate to the Nessus web
server through the command line.
Steps
1. Create one or more custom CA and server certificates.
2. Back up the original Nessus CA and server certificates and keys:
cp /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem
/opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem.orig
cp /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/cakey.pem /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/cakey.pem.orig
cp /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem
/opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem.orig
cp /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem
/opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem.orig
3. Replace the original certificates with the new custom certificates:
cp customCA.pem /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem
cp customCA.key /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/cakey.pem
cp servercert.pem /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem
cp server.key /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem
4. Restart Nessus:
service nessusd restart
Note: Any linked agent has an old certificate in its configuration, (ms_cert) and upon restart, com-
munication fails to the manager. You can remedy this by relinking the agent to the controller:
nessuscli agent unlink

nessuscli agent link --host=<host> --port=<port> --key=<key> --groups<group1,group2>
You can also load the cacert.pem file into the custom_CA.inc file in the Agents plugin directory:
scp customCA.pem root@agentip:/opt/nessus_agent/lib/nessus/custom_CA.inc
respective owners.
Add a Root CA
These steps describe how to add a root certificate authority (CA) public certificate to the list of trusted
scanners for Nessus.
Steps
1. If your certificate is in PEM format, save the certificate as a text file.
Tip: You can save more than one certificate in a single text file.
2. Rename the file custom_CA.inc.
3. Move the file to your plugins directory:
Linux
/opt/nessus/lib/nessus/plugins
Windows
C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\plugins
Mac OS X
/Library/Nessus/run/lib/nessus/plugins
The CA is available for use in Nessus.
respective owners.
Create Nessus SSL Certificates for Login
To log in to a Nessus server with SSL certificates, the certificates must be created with the proper util-
ity. For this process, the nessuscli mkcert-client command line utility is used on the system. The
six questions asked are to set defaults for the creation of users during the current session. These
include certificate lifetime, country, state, location, organization, and organizational unit. The defaults
for these options may be changed during the actual user creation if desired. The user will then be cre-
ated one at a time as prompted. At the end of the process the certificates are copied appropriately and
are used to log in to the Nessus server.
1. On the Nessus server, run the nessuscli mkcert-client command.
Linux:
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli mkcert-client
Windows (Run as a local Administrator user):

C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus> nessuscli mkcert-client
2. Fill in the fields as prompted. The process is identical on a Linux or Windows server.
respective owners.
Tip: The client certificates will be placed in the temporary directory in Nessus:
Linux: /opt/nessus/var/nessus/tmp/
Mac OS X: /Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus/tmp/
Windows: C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\tmp
respective owners.
Tip: Windows installations of Nessus do not come with man pages (local manual instructions).
Consult the Tenable, Inc. Support Portal for additional details on commonly used Nessus execut-
ables.
3. Two files are created in the temporary directory. In the example demonstrated in the previous
step, cert_sylvester.pem and key_sylvester.pem were created. These two files must be
combined and exported into a format that may be imported into the web browser such as .pfx.
This may be accomplished with the openssl program and the following command:
#openssl pkcs12 -export -out combined_sylvester.pfx -inkey key_sylvester.pem -

in cert_sylvester.pem -chain -CAfile /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem -
passout 'pass:password' -name 'Nessus User Certificate for: sylvester'
The resulting file combined_sylvester.pfx is created in the directory from which the command is
launched. This file must then be imported into the web browser’s personal certificate store.
respective owners.
Enable Connections with Smart Card or CAC Card
Once the CAcert has been created for the smart card, CAC, or similar device, you must create cor-
responding Nessus users. During this process, the users created must match the CN used on the card
that the user will use to connect.
1. On the Nessus server, run the nessus-mkcert-client command.
Linux
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli mkcert-client
Windows (Run as a local Administrator user):

C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus> nessuscli.exe mkcert-client
2. Fill in the fields as prompted. The process is identical on a Linux or Windows server. The user-
name must match the CN supplied by the certificate on the card.
Tip: Client certificates are created in a randomized temporary directory appropriate to the sys-
tem. The temporary directory will be identified on the line beginning with "Your client certificates
are in". For the use of card authentication, these certificates are not needed and may be deleted.
Once created, a user with the proper card may access the Nessus server and authenticate auto-
matically once their PIN or similar secret is provided.
respective owners.
Connect with Certificate or Card Enabled Browser
The following information is provided with the understanding that your web browser is configured for
SSL certificate authentication. This includes the proper trust of the CA by the web browser. Please
refer to your web browser’s help files or other documentation to configure this feature.
The process for certificate login begins when a user connects to Nessus.
Steps
1. Launch a web browser and navigate to the Nessus server.
The web browser presents a list of available certificate identities to select from.
2. Once a certificate has been selected, a prompt for the PIN or password for the certificate is
presented (if required) to access your certificate. When the PIN or password is successfully
entered, the certificate will be available for the current session with Nessus.
respective owners.
3. Upon navigating to the Nessus user interface, you may briefly see the username and password
screen followed by an automatic login as the designated user. The Nessus user interface may be
used normally.
Note: If you log out of the session, you will be presented with the standard Nessus login screen.
If you want to log in again with the same certificate, refresh your web browser. If you need to use
a different certificate, you must restart your web browser session.
respective owners.
Install Nessus and Nessus Agents
This section includes information and steps required for installing Nessus and Nessus agents on all
supported operating systems.
Nessus
l Install Nessus on Mac OS X
l Install Nessus on Linux
l Install Nessus on Windows
Nessus Agents
l Install a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X
l Install a Nessus Agent on Linux
l Install a Nessus Agent on Windows
respective owners.
Download Nessus
Nessus products are downloaded from the Tenable Downloads Page.
When downloading Nessus from the downloads page, ensure the package selected is specific to your
operating system and processor.
There is a single Nessus package per operating system and processor. Nessus Manager and Nessus
Professional do not have different packages; your activation code determines which Nessus product
will be installed.
Example Nessus package file names and descriptions

Nessus Packages Package Descriptions
Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Windows 7, 8, and 10 - i386

Win32.msi
Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Windows Server 2008, Server 2008
x64.msi R2*, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, 7, 8, and 10 - x86-64
Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Debian 6 and 7 / Kali Linux - AMD64
debian6_amd64.deb
Nessus-<version num- Nessus <version number> for Mac OS X 10.8, 10.9, and 10.10 - x86-
ber>.dmg 64
Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Red Hat ES 6 / CentOS 6 / Oracle
es6.i386.rpm Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel) - i386
Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Fedora 20 and 21 - x86_64

fc20.x86_64.rpm
Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for SUSE 10.0 Enterprise - x86_64
suse10.x86_64.rpm
Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Ubuntu 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04,
ubuntu1110_amd64.deb 13.10, and 14.04 - AMD64
Example Nessus Agent package file names and descriptions
respective owners.
Nessus Agent Packages Nessus Agent Package Descriptions
NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Windows Server 2008, Server
ber>-x64.msi 2008 R2*, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, 7, 8, and 10 - x86-64
NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Amazon Linux 2015.03,
ber>-amzn.x86_64.rpm 2015.09 - x86-64
NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Debian 6 and 7 / Kali Linux -
ber>-debian6_i386.deb i386
NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Mac OS X 10.8, 10.9, and 10.10
ber>.dmg - x86-64
NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Red Hat ES 6 / CentOS 6 /
ber>-es6.x86_64.rpm Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel) - x86_64
NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Fedora 20 and 21 - x86_64
ber>-fc20.x86_64.rpm
NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Ubuntu 11.10, 12.04, 12.10,
ber>-ubuntu1110_ 13.04, 13.10, and 14.04 - AMD64
amd64.deb
respective owners.
Install Nessus
This section describes how to install Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional on the following oper-
ating systems:
l Linux
l Windows
l Mac OS X
respective owners.
Install Nessus on Linux
Caution: If you install a Nessus Agent, Manager, or Scanner on a system with an existing Nessus Agent,
Manager, or Scanner running nessusd, the installation process will kill all other nessusd processes. You
may lose scan data as a result.
Download Nessus Package File

For details, refer to the Product Download topic.
Use Commands to Install Nessus

From a command prompt, run the Nessus install command specific to your operating system.
Example Nessus Install Commands
Red Hat version 6

# rpm -ivh Nessus-<version number>-es6.x86_64.rpm
Debian version 6
# dpkg -i Nessus-<version number>-debian6_amd64.deb
FreeBSD version 10
# pkg add Nessus-<version number>-fbsd10-amd64.txz
Start the Nessus Daemon

From a command prompt, restart the nessusd daemon.
Example Nessus Daemon Start Commands
Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE, FreeBSD

# service nessusd start
Debian/Kali and Ubuntu

# /etc/init.d/nessusd start
Perform the remaining Nessus installation steps in your web browser.
respective owners.
Install Nessus on Windows

Start Nessus Installation

1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Nessus installer.
2. Next, double-click the file name to start the installation process.
Complete the Windows InstallShield Wizard

1. First, the Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen appears.
Select Next to continue.
2. On the License Agreement screen, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus software license
and subscription agreement.
3. Select the I accept the terms of the license agreement option, and then click Next.
4. On the Destination Folder screen, select the Next button to accept the default installation
folder. Otherwise, select the Change button to install Nessus to a different folder.
5. On the Ready to Install the Program screen, select the Install button.
The Installing Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen will be displayed and a Status indication bar will illus-
trate the installation progress. The process may take several minutes.
If presented, Install WinPcap

As part of the Nessus installation process, WinPcap needs to be installed. If WinPcap was previously
installed as part of another network application, the following steps will not appear, and you will con-
tinue with the installation of Nessus.
respective owners.
1. On the Welcome to the WinPcap Setup Wizard screen, select the Next button.
2. On the WinPcap License Agreement screen, read the terms of the license agreement, and
then select the I Agree button to continue.
3. On the WinPcap Installation options screen, ensure that the Automatically start the WinP-
cap driver at boot time option is checked, and then select the Install button.
4. On the Completing the WinPcap Setup Wizard screen, select the Finish button.
TheTenable Nessus InstallShield Wizard Completed screen appears.
5. Select the Finish button.
After the InstallShield Wizard completes, the Welcome to Nessus page loads in your default
browser.
respective owners.
Install Nessus on Mac OS X

Extract the Nessus files

Double-click the Nessus-<version number>.dmg file.

Double-click Install Nessus.pkg.
Complete the Tenable, Inc. Nessus Server Install

When the installation begins, the Install Tenable, Inc. Nessus Server screen will be displayed and
provides an interactive navigation menu.
Introduction
The Welcome to the Tenable, Inc. Nessus Server Installer window provides general information
about the Nessus installation.
1. Read the installer information.
2. To begin, select the Continue button.
License
1. On the Software License Agreement screen, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus soft-
ware license and subscription agreement.
2. OPTIONAL: To retain a copy of the license agreement, select Print or Save.
3. Next, select the Continue button.
respective owners.
4. To continue installing Nessus, select the Agree button, otherwise, select the Disagree button to
quit and exit.
Installation Type
On the Standard Install on <DriveName> screen, choose one of the following options:
l Select the Change Install Location button.
l Select the Install button to continue using the default installation location.
Installation
When the Preparing for installation screen appears, you will be prompted for a username and pass-
word.
1. Enter the Name and Password of an administrator account or the root user account.
Next, the Installing Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen will be displayed and a Status indication bar will
illustrate the remaining installation progress. The process may take several minutes.
Summary
When the installation is complete, you will see the The installation was successful screen.
After the installation completes, select Close.
respective owners.
Install Nessus Agents
This section describes how to install a Nessus Agent on the following operating systems:
l Linux
l Windows
l Mac OS X
Once installed, Nessus Agents are linked to Nessus Manager or Tenable.io. Linked agents automatically
download plugins from the manager upon connection; this process can take several minutes and is
required before an agent can return scan results.
Once installed, an agent links to Nessus Manager or Tenable.io after a random delay ranging from zero
to five minutes. Enforcing a delay reduces network traffic when deploying or restarting large amounts
of agents, and reduces the load on Nessus Manageror Tenable.io. Agents automatically download plu-
gins from the manager upon linking; this process can take several minutes and is required before an
agent can return scan results.
respective owners.
Retrieve the Linking Key
Before you begin the Nessus Agent installation process, you must retrieve the Nessus Agent Linking
Key from Nessus Manager.
To retrieve the linking key:
1. In the top navigation bar, click Scans.
The My Scans page appears.
2. In the left navigation bar, click Agents.
The Agents page appears.
3. In the Linked Agents tab, click the setup instructions link.
The Agent Setup Instructions dialog box appears.
4. Record the host, port, and key values.
Option Set To
Link a Nessus Agent to Nessus Manager
Host The static IP address or hostname you set during the Nessus Manager
installation.
Port 8834 (customizable)
Key The Linking Key specific to your instance of Nessus Manager. For example:
2d38345603b5b59a4526e39640655c3288a00324097a08f7a93e5480940d1cae
5. Click Close.
What to do next:
l Install Nessus Agents
respective owners.
Install a Nessus Agent on Linux
Caution: If you install a Nessus Agent on a system where an existing Nessus Agent, Nessus Manager, or
Nessus scanner is running nessusd, the installation process kills all other nessusd processes. You may
lose scan data as a result.
Before You Begin

Retrieve the Nessus Agents linking key.
Download the Nessus Agent

On the Nessus Agents Download Page, download the package specific to your operating system.
Example Nessus Agent Package Names
Operating System Example Package Name
Red Hat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux NessusAgent-<version number>-es5.x86_64.rpm
NessusAgent-<version number>-es6.i386.rpm
NessusAgent-<version number>-es7.x86_64.rpm
Fedora NessusAgent-<version number>-fc20.x86_64.rpm
Ubuntu NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu1110_amd64.deb
NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu1110_i386.deb
NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu910_amd64.deb
NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu910_i386.deb
Debian NessusAgent-<version number>-debian6_amd64.deb
NessusAgent-<version number>-debian6_i386.deb
Install Nessus Agent
Note: The following steps require root privileges.
Using the command line interface, install the Nessus Agent.
respective owners.
Example Linux Install Commands
Red Hat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

# rpm -ivh NessusAgent-<version number>-es6.i386.rpm
# rpm -ivh NessusAgent-<version number>-es5.x86_64.rpm
Fedora
# rpm -ivh NessusAgent-<version number>-fc20.x86_64.rpm
Ubuntu
# dpkg -i NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu1110_i386.deb
Debian
# dpkg -i NessusAgent-<version number>-debian6_amd64.deb
You can install a full plugins set before linking for the purpose of reducing the bandwidth impact dur-
ing a mass installation. This is accomplished via the nessuscli agent update command with the
--file parameter specifying the location the plugins set. This must be done prior to starting the Nes-
sus Agent. For example:
/opt/nessus_agent/sbin/nessuscli agent update --file=./plugins_set.tgz
The plugins set must be less than five days old. A stale plugins set older than five days will force a full
plugins download to occur. You can download a recent plugins set from the Nessus Agents download
page.
Note: After installing a Nessus Agent, you must manually start the service using the command
/sbin/service nessusagent start.
Link Agent to Nessus Manager

At the command prompt, use the use the nessuscli agent link command. For example:
/opt/nessus_agent/sbin/nessuscli agent link

--key=00abcd00000efgh11111i0k222lmopq3333st4455u66v777777w88xy9999zabc00
--name=MyOSXAgent --groups="All" --host=yourcompany.com --port=8834
The supported arguments for this command are:
respective owners.
Argument Required? Value
--key yes Use the values you from the manager.
--host yes
--port yes
--name no Specify a name for your agent. If you do not specify a name for your
agent, the name defaults to the name of the computer where you are
installing the agent.
--groups no Specify existing agent group or groups where you want to add the
agent. If you do not specify an agent group during the install process,
you can add your linked agent to an agent group later in Nessus Man-
ager or Tenable.io.
Note: The agent group name is case-sensitive and must match

exactly.
--offline- no For Nessus Agents 7.0.3 or later, you can install the Nessus Agent on a
install system even if it is offline. Add the command line option offline-
install="yes" to the command line input. The Nessus Agent will
periodically attempt to link itself to either Tenable.io or Nessus Man-
ager.
If the agent cannot connect to the controller then it retries every

hour, and if the agent can connect to the controller but the link fails
then it retries every 24 hours.
--cloud no Specify the --cloud argument to link to Tenable.io.
The --cloud argument is a shortcut to specifying --host-

t=cloud.tenable.com --port=443.
If the information that you provide is incorrect, a "Failed to link agent" error appears.
Note: If you attempt to clone an agent and link it to Nessus Manager or Tenable.io, a 409 error may
appear. This error appears because another machine has been linked with the same uuid value in the
/etc/machine_id or /etc/tenable_tag file. To resolve this issue, replace the value in the /etc/ten-
able_tag file with a valid UUIDv4 value. If the /etc/machine_id file does not exist, you can delete
/etc/tenable_tag to generate a new value.
respective owners.
Verify a Linked Agent
To verify a linked agent in Nessus Manager:
3. Locate the new agent in the linked agents table.
respective owners.
Install a Nessus Agent on Windows
Note: This procedure describes deploying Nessus Agents via the command line. You can also deploy
Nessus Agents with a standard Windows service such as Active Directory (AD), Systems Management
Server (SMS), or other software delivery system for MSI packages. For more information on deploying
via these methods, see the appropriate vendor's documentation.
Before You Begin

Deploy and Link via the Command Line

You can deploy and link Nessus Agents via the command line. For example:
msiexec /i NessusAgent-<version number>-x64.msi NESSUS_GROUPS="Agent Group Name"

NESSUS_SERVER="192.168.0.1:8834" NESSUS_
KEY=00abcd00000efgh11111i0k222lmopq3333st4455u66v777777w88xy9999zabc00 /qn
The following are available linking parameters:
l For Nessus Agents 7.0.3 or later, you can install the Nessus Agent on a system even if it is offline.
Add the command line option NESSUS_OFFLINE_INSTALL="yes" to the command line input.
The Nessus Agent will periodically attempt to link itself to either Tenable.io or Nessus Manager. If
the agent cannot connect to the controller then it retries every hour, and if the agent can con-
nect to the controller but the link fails then it retries every 24 hours.
l Additionally, you can install a full plugins set before linking for the purpose of reducing the band-
width impact during a mass installation. Add the command line option NESSUS_PLUGINS_
FILEPATH="C:\path\to\plugins_set.tgz" where plugins_set.tgz is a recent plugins set
tarball less than five days old. A stale plugins set older than five days will force a full plugins
download to occur. You can download a recent plugins set from the Nessus Agents download
page.
l NESSUS_GROUPS - Specify existing agent group or groups where you want to add the agent. If
respective owners.
you do not specify an agent group during the install process, you can add your linked agent to
an agent group later in Nessus Manager or Tenable.io.
Note: The agent group name is case-sensitive and must match exactly.
Note: Quotation marks (") are necessary when listing multiple groups, or one group with spaces
in its name. For example:
l GroupName
l "Group Name"
l "Group, Another Group"
l NESSUS_NAME
l NESSUS_PROXY_AGENT
l NESSUS_PROXY_PASSWORD
l NESSUS_PROXY_SERVER
l NESSUS_PROXY_USERNAME
l NESSUS_CA_PATH
l NESSUS_PROCESS_PRIORITY
l NESSUS_PLUGINS_FILEPATH
Download Nessus Agent

On the Nessus Agents Download Page, download the package specific to your operating system.
Example: Nessus Agent package file

NessusAgent-<version number>-Win32.msi
Windows Server 7, and 8 (32-bit)
Start Nessus Agent Installation

1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Nessus Agent installer.
2. Next, double-click the file name to start the installation process. The Welcome to the
InstallShield Wizard for Nessus Agent window appears.
respective owners.
Caution: On Windows 7 x64 Enterprise, Windows 8 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2012, you may be
required to perform a reboot to complete installation.
Note: For Nessus Agents 7.0 and later, if you want to include the system tray application in your install-
ation, see the procedure described in System Tray Application.
1. In the Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for Nessus Agent window, click Next to con-
tinue.
2. In the License Agreement window, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus software license
3. Click I accept the terms of the license agreement.
4. Click Next.
5. In the Destination Folder window, click Next to accept the default installation folder.
-or-
Click Change to browse and select a different folder where you want to install Nessus Agents.
6. In the Configuration Options window, type the Agent Key values:
Field Required? Value
Key yes Use the values you from the manager.
Server yes
(host)
Groups no Specify existing agent groups(s) where you want to add the
agent.
If you do not specify an agent group during the install process,

you can later add your linked agent to an agent group.
Note: The agent name defaults to the name of the computer where you are installing the agent.
7. Click Next.
8. In the Ready to Install the Program window, click Install.
respective owners.
9. If presented with a User Account Control message, click Yes to allow the Nessus Agent to
install.
10. In the InstallShield Wizard Complete window, click Finish.
Note: If you attempt to clone an Agent and link it to Nessus Manager or Tenable.io, a 409 error may
appear. This error appears because another machine has been linked with the same uuid value in the
HKLM/Software/Tenable/TAG file. To resolve this issue, replace the value in the HKLM/Soft-
ware/Tenable/TAG file with a valid UUIDv4 value.

respective owners.
Install a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X
Before You Begin

Download Nessus Agent

From the Nessus Agents Download Page, download the package specific to your operating system.
Example: Compressed Nessus Installer File

NessusAgent-<version number>.dmg
Install Nessus Agent
Note: The following steps require root privileges.
To install the Nessus Agent, you can use either the GUI installation wizard or the command line.
GUI Installation:
1. Double-click the Nessus agent .dmg (Mac OS X Disk Image) file.
2. Double-click Install Nessus Agent.pkg.
3. Complete the Nessus Agent Install Wizard.
Command Line Installation:
1. Extract Install Nessus Agent.pkg and .NessusAgent.pkg from NessusAgent-<ver-

sion number>.dmg.
Note: The .NessusAgent.pkg file is normally invisible in macOS Finder.
2. Open Terminal.
respective owners.
3. At the command prompt, enter the following command:
# installer -pkg /<path-to>/Install Nessus Agent.pkg -target /
You can install a full plugins set before linking for the purpose of reducing the bandwidth impact dur-
ing a mass installation. This is accomplished via the nessuscli agent update command with the
--file parameter specifying the location the plugins set. This must be done prior to starting the Nes-
sus Agent. For example:
/opt/nessus_agent/sbin/nessuscli agent update --file=./plugins_set.tgz
The plugins set must be less than five days old. A stale plugins set older than five days will force a full
plugins download to occur. You can download a recent plugins set from the Nessus Agents download
page.
Link Agent Using Command Line Interface

To link an agent on a Mac OS X:
1. Open Terminal.
2. At the command prompt, use the nessuscli agent link command.
For example:
# /Library/NessusAgent/run/sbin/nessuscli agent link

--key=00abcd00000efgh11111i0k222lmopq3333st4455u66v777777w88xy9999zabc00
--name=MyOSXAgent --groups=All --host=yourcompany.com --port=8834
The supported arguments for this command are:
Argument Required? Value
--key yes Use the values you from the manager.
--host yes
--port yes
--name no Specify a name for your agent. If you do not specify a name for
respective owners.
your agent, the name defaults to the name of the computer
where you are installing the agent.
--groups no Specify existing agent group or groups where you want to add
the agent. If you do not specify an agent group during the
install process, you can add your linked agent to an agent
group later in Nessus Manager or Tenable.io.

exactly.
--offline- no For Nessus Agents 7.0.3 or later, you can install the Nessus
install Agent on a system even if it is offline. Add the command line
option NESSUS_OFFLINE_INSTALL="yes" to the command
line input. The Nessus Agent will periodically attempt to link
itself to either Tenable.io or Nessus Manager.
If the agent cannot connect to the controller then it retries

every hour, and if the agent can connect to the controller but
the link fails then it retries every 24 hours.
--cloud no Specify the --cloud argument to link to Tenable.io.
The --cloud argument is a shortcut to specifying --host-

t=cloud.tenable.com --port=443.

respective owners.
Upgrade Nessus and Nessus Agents
This section included information for upgrading Nessus and Nessus Agents on all supported operating
systems.
l Upgrade Nessus
l Upgrade from Evaluation
l Upgrade Nessus on Mac OS X
l Upgrade Nessus on Linux
l Upgrade Nessus on Windows
l Upgrade a Nessus Agent
respective owners.
Upgrade Nessus
This section includes information for upgrading Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional.
l Upgrade from Evaluation
l Upgrade Nessus on Linux
l Upgrade Nessus on Windows
l Upgrade Nessus on Mac OS X
respective owners.
Upgrade from Evaluation
If you used an evaluation version of Nessus and are now upgrading to a full-licensed version of Nes-
sus, you simply need to type your full-version Activation Code on the Settings page, on the About tab.
Update the Activation Code

1. Select the button next to the Activation Code.
2. In the Registration box, select your Nessus type.
3. In the Activation Code box, type your new Activation Code.
4. Click Activate.
Nessus downloads and install the Nessus engine and the latest Nessus plugins, and then
restarts.
respective owners.
Upgrade Nessus on Linux
Download Nessus
From the Tenable Downloads Page, download the latest, full-license version of Nessus.
Use Commands to Upgrade Nessus

From a command prompt, run the Nessus upgrade command.
Note: Nessus automatically stops nessusd when you run the upgrade command.
Red Hat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

# rpm -Uvh Nessus-<version number>-es6.i386.rpm
SUSE version 11
# rpm -Uvh Nessus-<version number>-suse11.i586.rpm
Fedora version 20
# rpm -Uvh Nessus-<version number>-fc20.x86_64.rpm
Ubuntu version 910

# dpkg -i Nessus-<version number>-ubuntu910_i386.deb
Start the Nessus Daemon

From a command prompt, restart the nessusd daemon.

# service nessusd start

# /etc/init.d/nessusd start
This completes the process of upgrading Nessus on a Linux operating system.
respective owners.
Upgrade Nessus on Windows
Download Nessus
From the Tenable Downloads Page, download the latest, full-license version of Nessus. The down-
load package is specific the Nessus build version, your platform, your platform version, and your CPU.
Example Nessus Installer Files

Nessus-<version number>-Win32.msi
Nessus-<version number>-x64.msi

1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Nessus installer.
2. Next, double-click the file name to start the installation process.

1. At the Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen, select Next.
2. On the License Agreement screen, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus software license
3. Select the I accept the terms of the license agreement option, and then select the Next but-
ton.
4. On the Destination Folder screen, select the Next button to accept the default installation
folder. Otherwise, select the Change button to install Nessus to a different folder.
The Installing Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen will appear and a Status indication bar will display
the upgrade progress.
6. On the Tenable Nessus InstallShield Wizard Completed screen, select the Finish button.
Nessus will load in your default browser, where you can log in.
respective owners.
Upgrade Nessus on Mac OS X
The process of upgrading Nessus on a Mac is the same process as a new Mac Install.
respective owners.
Upgrade a Nessus Agent
After you install Nessus Agents, Nessus Manager or Tenable.io updates the agents automatically.
In certain cases, such as airgapped or Internet restricted networks, you may want to download applic-
ation updates manually from the Tenable Support Portal.
To download agent application updates:
1. Visit the Tenable Downloads page.
2. Click Nessus Agents.
The latest application update files for agents are available.
3. Click the application update file that you want to download.
The License Agreement window appears.
4. Click I Agree.
The download begins automatically.
respective owners.
Configure Nessus
Before You Begin

When you access Nessus in a web browser, a warning appears regarding a connection privacy prob-
lem, an untrusted site, an unsecure connection, or a related security certificate issue. This is expected
and normal behavior. Nessus provides a self-signed SSL certificate.
Refer to the Security Warnings section for steps necessary to bypass the SSL warnings.
Note: Depending on your environment, plugin configuration and initialization can take several minutes.
To configure Nessus:
1. On the Welcome to Nessus screen, select how you want to deploy Nessus.
2. Follow the configuration steps for your selected product:
l Nessus Essentials, Nessus Professional, or Nessus Manager
l Managed Scanner - Tenable.io
l Managed Scanner - Industrial Security
l Managed by Tenable.sc
l Managed Scanner - Nessus Manager
l Managed Scanner - Nessus Manager Cluster
l Offline
respective owners.
Install Nessus Essentials, Professional, or Manager
This option installs a standalone versions of Nessus Essentials, Nessus Professional, or Nessus Man-
ager. During installation, you will be prompted to enter your Nessus Activation Code; this Activation
Code determines which product will be installed.
To configure Nessus as Nessus Essentials, Nessus Professional, or Nessus Manager:
1. On the Welcome to Nessus screen, select how you want to install Nessus:
l Nessus Essentials — The free version of Nessus for educators, students, and hobbyists.
l Nessus Professional — The de-facto industry standard vulnerability assessment solution

for security practitioners.
l Nessus Manager — The enterprise solution for managing Nessus Agents at scale.
2. Click Continue.
If you selected Nessus Professional or Nessus Manager, the Register Nessus screen
appears.
If you selected Nessus Essentials, the Get an activation code screen appears.
3. If you selected Nessus Essentials, do one of the following:
l If you need an activation code:
a. On the Get an activation code screen, type your name and email address.
b. Click Email.
c. Check your email for your free activation code.
l If you already have an activation code, click Skip.
4. On the Register Nessus screen, type your Activation Code.
The Activation Code is the code you obtained from your activation email or from the Tenable
Downloads Page.
5. Click Continue.
The Create a user account screen appears.
respective owners.
6. Create a Nessus administrator user account that you use to log in to Nessus:
a. In the Username box, enter a username.
b. In the Password box, enter a password for the user account.
7. Click Submit.
Nessus finishes the configuration process, which may take several minutes.
8. Using the administrator user account you created, Sign In to Nessus.
respective owners.
Link to Tenable.io
During initial installation, you can install Nessus as a remote scanner linked to Tenable.io. If you
choose not to link the scanner during initial installation, you can link your Nessus scanner later.
Note: Once you link Nessus to Tenable.io, it remains linked until you unlink it.
To link Nessus to Tenable.io:
1. On the Welcome to Nessus screen, select Managed Scanner.
2. Click Continue.
The Managed Scanner screen appears.
3. From the Managed by drop-down box, select Tenable.io.
4. In the Linking Key box, type the linking key of your Tenable.io instance.
5. (Optional) If you want to use a proxy, select Use Proxy.
You must configure the proxy settings in Settings.
6. (Optional) To configure advanced settings such as proxy, plugin feed, and master password, click
Settings.
l (Optional) In the Proxy tab:
a. In the Host box, type the hostname or IP address of your proxy server.
b. In the Port box, type the port number of the proxy server.
c. In the Username box, type the name of a user account that has permissions to
access and use the proxy server.
d. In the Password box, type the password of the user account that you specified in
the previous step.
e. In the Auth Method drop-down box, select an authentication method to use for the
proxy. If you do not know, select AUTO DETECT.
f. If your proxy requires a preset user agent, in the User-Agent box, type the user
respective owners.
agent name; otherwise, leave it blank.
g. Click Save.
l (Optional) In the Plugin Feed tab:
a. In the Custom Host box, type the hostname or IP address of a custom plugin feed.
b. Click Save.
l (Optional) In the Master Password tab:
a. In the Password box, type a master password.
If you set a master password, Nessus encrypts all policies and credentials contained
in the policy, and prompts you for the password as needed.
Caution: If you lose your master password, it cannot be recovered.
b. Click Save.
7. Click Continue.
9. Click Submit.
respective owners.
Link to Industrial Security
During initial installation, you can install Nessus as a remote scanner linked to Industrial Security. If
you choose not to link the scanner during initial installation, you can link your Nessus scanner later.
Before you begin
l Configure Nessus as described in Configure Nessus.
To link Nessus to Industrial Security:
2. Click Continue.
3. From the Managed by drop-down box, select Industrial Security.
4. In the Host box, type Industrial Security host.
5. In the Port box, type the Industrial Security port.
6. In the Linking Key box, type the linking key that appears on the Settings > Sensor Con-
figuration page in Industrial Security.
Settings.
the previous step.
respective owners.
g. Click Save.
b. Click Save.
b. Click Save.
9. Click Continue.
11. Click Submit.
respective owners.
Link to Nessus Manager
During initial installation, you can install Nessus as a remote scanner linked to Nessus Manager. If you
Note: Once you link Nessus to Nessus Manager, it remains linked until you unlink it.
To link Nessus to Nessus Manager:
2. Click Continue.
3. From the Managed by drop-down box, select Nessus Manager (Scanner).
4. In the Host box, type Nessus Manager host.
5. In the Port box, type the Nessus Manager port.
6. In the Linking Key box, type the linking key from Nessus Manager.
Settings.
the previous step.
respective owners.
g. Click Save.
b. Click Save.
b. Click Save.
9. Click Continue.
10. Create a Nessus administrator user account, which you use to log in to Nessus:
11. Click Submit.
respective owners.
Managed by Tenable.sc
During initial installation, you can install Nessus as a remote scanner linked to Tenable.sc. If you
Note: Once you link Nessus to Tenable.sc, it remains linked until you unlink it.
Before you begin
l Configure Nessus as described in Configure Nessus.
To link Nessus to Tenable.sc:
2. Click Continue.
3. From the Managed by drop-down box, select Tenable.sc.
Settings.
the previous step.
respective owners.
g. Click Save.
b. Click Save.
b. Click Save.
5. Click Continue.
7. Click Submit.
What to do next:
l Add the Nessus scanner to Tenable.sc as described in Add a Nessus Scanner.
respective owners.
Manage Activation Code
To manage your activation code, use the following topics:
l View Your Activation Code
l Reset Activation Code
l Update Activation Code
l Transfer Activation Code
respective owners.
View Your Activation Code
View on the Support Portal

1. Navigate and log in to the Tenable Support Portal.
2. In the Main Menu of the support portal, select the Activation Codes.
3. Next to your product name, select the x button to expand the product details.
View from Command Line

Use the nessuscli fetch --code-in-use command specific to your operating system.
Platform Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --code-in-use
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --code-in-use
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --code-in-use
Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe fetch --code-in-

use
respective owners.
Reset Activation Code
In Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional legacy versions, if you uninstall and reinstall Nessus, you
need to reset your activation code.
1. Navigate and log in to the Tenable Support Portal.
2. In the Main Menu of the support portal, select Activation Codes .
3. Next to your product name, select the x button to expand the product details.
4. Under the Reset column, select X button.
Once reset, your activation code is available for use.
Note: Reset codes have a 10 day waiting period before you can reset your code again.
respective owners.
Update Activation Code
In the event that you receive a new license with a corresponding activation code, you must register the
new activation code in Nessus.
Note: If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.
User Interface
1. In Nessus, in the top navigation bar, click Settings.
2. In the Overview tab, click the button next to the activation code.
3. Type the activation code and click Activate.
The license is now active on this instance of Nessus.
Command Line Interface

1. On the system running Nessus, open a command prompt.
2. Run the nessuscli fetch --register <Activation Code> command specific to your
operating system.
Platform Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-

xxxx-xxxx
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-

xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-

xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe fetch --

register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Nessus downloads and installs the Nessus engine and the latest Nessus plugins, and then
restarts.
respective owners.
Note: To register Nessus without automatically downloading and installing the latest updates,
use the command nessuscli fetch --register-only.
respective owners.
Transfer Activation Code
In Nessus Professional 7.0 or later, you can use an activation code on multiple systems. This allows you
to easily transfer a Nessus license from one system to another without resetting your activation code
each time.
When you transfer the activation code to a system, it becomes the active instance of Nessus for that
license. Only the most recently activated system can receive plugin updates. All previous instances of
Nessus with that activation code still function, but cannot receive plugin updates. On inactive
instances, the following error message appears: Access to the feed has been denied, likely due
to an invalid or transferred license code.
To transfer an activation code, use one of the following procedures on the system that you want to
make the active instance of Nessus.
Nessus User Interface

Activate a new Nessus instance
1. Install Nessus as described in the appropriate procedure for your operating system.
2. Access the system in a web browser.
3. In the Create an account window, type a username and password.
4. Click Continue.
5. In the Register your scanner window, in the Scanner Type drop-down box, select Nessus
Essentials, Professional, or Manager.
6. In the Activation Code box, type your activation code.
7. Click Continue.
Nessus finishes the installation process, which may take several minutes. Once installation is
complete, the license is active on this instance of Nessus.
Update an existing Nessus instance

1. Access the system on which you want to activate Nessus.
2. In the top navigation bar, click Settings.
respective owners.
3. In the Overview tab, click the button next to the activation code.
4. Type the activation code and click Activate.
The license is now active on this instance of Nessus.
Command Line Interface

Perform the following procedure as root, or use sudo as a non-root user.
1. On the system on which you want to activate Nessus, open a command prompt.
2. Run the nessuscli fetch --register <Activation Code> command specific to your
operating system.
Platform Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-

xxxx-xxxx
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-

xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-

xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Nessus downloads and installs the Nessus engine and the latest Nessus plugins, and then
restarts.
respective owners.
Manage Nessus Offline
To manage Nessus offline, you need two computers: the Nessus server, which is not connected to the
internet, and another computer that is connected to the internet.
Scenario 1: New Nessus Install

If you want to install Nessus, but, for security purposes, the server is not connected to the internet,
then follow the steps to install Nessus while offline. This process downloads and installs Nessus plu-
gins on the offline Nessus server.
Scenario 2: Update Nessus Licensing

If you have an existing Nessus server that is offline, and you want to update Nessus with the new
license/activation code, then follow the steps below:
1. Generate Challenge Code.
2. Generate Your License.
3. Download and copy the license file (nessus.license).
These instructions apply to Nessus 6.3 and newer and direct you to the following
URL: https://plugins.nessus.org/v2/offline.php .
If you are using a version of Nessus 6.2 or earlier, you must use the information and instructions
displayed at the following URL: https://plugins.nessus.org/offline.php .
4. Register Your License with Nessus.
5. Download and copy plugins to Nessus.
6. Install plugins manually.
7. Update Nessus Software Manually.
Scenario 3: Update Nessus Plugins

You have an existing Nessus server that is offline and you need to update Nessus plugins. In this scen-
ario, you have already completed steps to Install Nessus Offline but you need to install the latest plu-
gins.
respective owners.
In this case, you will perform the following operations:
1. Use the Custom URL that you saved and copied during your first offline Download and Copy
Plugins operation.
2. Download and Copy Plugins
3. Install Plugins Manually
Nessus Offline Operations

For the explanation purposes, we'll use computers A (offline Nessus server) and B (online computer)
to demonstrate operations performed when managing Nessus offline.
Computer A Computer B
Operation
(Offline Nessus) (Online Computer)
Generate Challenge Code X
Generate Your License X
Download and Copy License File (nessus.license) X
Download and Copy Plugins X
Download and Copy Plugins X
Register Your License with Nessus X
Install Plugins Manually X
respective owners.
Install Nessus Offline
A Nessus Offline registration is suitable for computers that will be running Nessus, but are not con-
nected to the internet. To ensure that Nessus has the most up-to-date plugins, Nessus servers not con-
nected to the internet must perform these specific steps to register Nessus.
This process requires the use of two computers: the computer where you are installing Nessus, which
is not connected to the internet, and another computer that is connected to the internet.
For the instructions below, we'll use computers A (offline Nessus server) and B (online computer) as
examples.
1. During the browser portion of the Nessus installation, in the Registration drop-down, select
Offline.
2. Once Offline is selected, the page displays a unique Challenge Code. In the example below, the
challenge code is: aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999.
This challenge code is used in the next step.
3. (Optional) Configure your Nessus setup to use Custom Settings.
Generate the License

1. On a system with internet access (B), navigate to the Nessus Offline Registration Page.
2. In the top field, type the challenge code that was displayed on the Nessus Product Regis-
tration screen.
Example Challenge Code: aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999
3. Next, where prompted, type your Nessus activation code.

Example Activation Code: AB-CDE-1111-F222-3E4D-55E5-CD6F
4. Click the Submit button.
The Offline Update Page Details displays and includes the following elements:
l Custom URL: The custom URL displayed downloads a compressed plugins file. This file is
used by Nessus to obtain plugin information. This URL is specific to your Nessus license
and must be saved and used each time plugins need to be updated.
respective owners.
l License: The complete text-string starting with -----BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE-----
and ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- is your Nessus product license
information. Tenable uses this text-string to confirm your product license and registration.
l nessus.license file: At the bottom of the web page, there is an embedded file that
includes the license text-string.
Download and Copy Latest Plugins

1. While still using the computer with internet access (B), select the on-screen, custom URL.
A compressed TAR file will download.
Tip: This custom URL is specific to your Nessus license and must be saved and used each time
plugins need to be updated.
2. Copy the compressed TAR file to the Nessus offline (A) system.
Use the directory specific to your operating system:
Platform Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/
Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus
Copy and Paste License Text

1. While still using the computer with internet access (B), copy complete text-string starting with --
---BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- and ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE-----
2. On the computer where you are installing Nessus (A), on the Nessus Product Registration
screen, paste the complete text-string starting with -----BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- and
ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- .
3. Select Continue.
respective owners.
Nessus will finish the installation process; this may take several minutes.
4. Using the System Administrator account you created during setup, Sign In to Nessus.
respective owners.
Generate Challenge Code
Before performing offline update operations, you may need to generate a unique identifier on the Nes-
sus server. This identifier is called a challenge code.
Whereas an activation code is used when performing Nessus operations when connected to the inter-
net, a license is used when performing offline operations; the generated challenge code enables you
to view and use your license for offline operations.
Steps
1. On the offline system running Nessus (A), open a command prompt.
2. Use the nessuscli fetch --challenge command specific to your operating system.
Platform Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --challenge
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --challenge
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --challenge
Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe fetch --challenge
3. Copy the alphanumeric challenge code.

Example Challenge Code:
aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999
4. Use the copied challenge code to Generate Your License.
respective owners.
Generate Your License
By default, when Nessus is installed, your license is hidden, and is automatically registered. This
license is not viewable.
However, in the event that your Nessus Server is not connected to the internet (i.e., is offline) a license
must be generated. This license is unique to your Nessus product and cannot be shared.
Your license is a text-based file that contains a string of alphanumeric characters. The license is cre-
ated and based on your unique generated challenge code.
1. On a system with internet access (B), navigate to the Nessus Offline Registration Page.
2. Where prompted, type in your challenge code.
Example Challenge Code: aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999
3. Next, where prompted, enter your Nessus activation code.

Example Activation Code: AB-CDE-1111-F222-3E4D-55E5-CD6F
4. Select Submit.
At the bottom of the resulting web page, there is an embedded nessus.license file that
includes the license text string displayed.
5. Next, Download and Copy License File (nessus.license).
respective owners.
Download and Copy License File (nessus.license)
After you have generated your Nessus license, you now need to download and then copy the license
to the offline system (A) running Nessus.
Note: These instructions apply to Nessus 6.3 and newer and directs you to the following
URL: https://plugins.nessus.org/v2/offline.php.
If you are using a version of Nessus 6.2 or earlier, you must use the information and instructions dis-
played on the following URL: https://plugins.nessus.org/offline.php.
1. While still using the computer with internet access (B), select the on-screen nessus.license link.
The link will download the nessus.license file.
2. Copy the nessus.license file to the offline system (A) running Nessus 6.3 and newer.
Platform Directory
Linux # /opt/nessus/etc/nessus/
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/etc/nessus
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/etc/nessus
Windows C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\conf
3. Next, register your license with Nessus.
respective owners.
Register Your License with Nessus
In the event that you receive a new license and Activation Code, the license must be re-registered with
Nessus.
When your Nessus server is offline, you must generate a license, download the license, and then
register your license with Nessus.
Once downloaded and copied to your offline Nessus server, use the nessuscli fetch -- register
command that corresponds to your operating system.
2. Use the nessuscli fetch --register-offline command specific to your operating system.
Platform Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register-offline /op-

t/nessus/etc/nessus/nessus.license
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register-offline

/usr/local/nessus/etc/nessus/nessus.license
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register-off-

line /Library/Nessus/run/etc/nessus/nessus.license

register-offline "C:\Pro-
gramData\Tenable\Nessus\conf\nessus.license"
respective owners.
Download and Copy Plugins
After submitting the required information on the Offline Update Page Details, download the Nessus
Plugins compressed TAR file.
Download Plugins
1. Using the computer with internet access (B), copy and save the on-screen custom URL link.
Note: This custom URL is specific to your Nessus license and must be used each time plugins
need to be downloaded and updated again.
2. Next, select the on-screen custom URL link.

The link will download the compressed TAR file.
Copy Plugins to Nessus

3. Copy the compressed TAR file to the offline (A) system.
Platform Directory
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/
4. Next, on the offline (A) system running Nessus, Install Plugins Manually.
respective owners.
Install Plugins Manually
You can manually update Nessus plugins in two ways: the user interface or the command line inter-
face.
Before you begin
l Download and copy the Nessus plugins compressed TAR file to your system.
To install plugins manually using the Nessus user interface:
The About page appears.
2. Click the Software Update tab.
3. In the upper-right corner, click the Manual Software Update button.
The Manual Software Update dialog box appears.
4. In the Manual Software Update dialog box, select Upload your own plugin archive, and then
select Continue.
5. Navigate to the compressed TAR file you downloaded, select it, then click Open.
Nessus updates with the uploaded plugins.
To install plugins manually using the command line interface:
1. On the system running Nessus, open a command prompt.
2. Use the nessuscli update <tar.gz filename> command specific to your operating sys-
tem.
Platform Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz file-

name>
respective owners.
Platform Command
Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe update <tar.gz

filename>
respective owners.
Update Nessus Software Manually
On Nessus Manager, you can manually update software on an offline system in two ways.
l Option 1: Use the Manual Software Update feature in the Nessus user interface.
l Option 2: Use the command line interface and the nessuscli update command.
Option 1: Manual Software Update via the User Interface

1. Download the file nessus-updates-x.x.x.tar.gz, where x.x.x is the version number, from
https://www.tenable.com/downloads/nessus.
2. On the offline system running Nessus (A), in the top navigation bar, select Settings.
3. From the left navigation menu, select Software Update.
4. Select the Manual Software Update button.
5. In the Manual Software Update dialog box, select Upload your own plugin archive, and then
select Continue.
6. Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the compressed TAR file.
7. Select the compressed TAR file and then select Open.
Nessus updates with the uploaded plugins.
Option 2: Update via the Command Line

1. Download the file nessus-updates-x.x.x.tar.gz, where x.x.x is the version number, from
https://www.tenable.com/downloads/nessus.
3. Use the nessuscli update <tar.gz filename> command specific to your operating sys-
tem.
Platform Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>
respective owners.
Platform Command
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz file-

name>
Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe update <tar.gz

filename>
respective owners.
Offline Update Page Details
When you are working with Nessus offline, use the https://plugins.nessus.org/v2/offline.php page.
Based on the steps you are using to Manage Nessus Offline, the resulting web page displayed
includes the following elements:
l Custom URL: The custom URL displayed downloads a compressed plugins file. This file is used
by Nessus to obtain plugin information. This URL is specific to your Nessus license and must be
saved and used each time plugins need to be updated.
l License: The complete text-string starting with -----BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- and
ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- is your Nessus product license information.
Tenable uses this text-string to confirm your product license and registration.
l nessus.license file: At the bottom of the web page, there is an embedded file that includes the
license text-string.
respective owners.
Remove Nessus and Nessus Agents
This section includes information for removing Nessus and Nessus Agents.
l Nessus Removal
l Uninstall Nessus on Mac OS X
l Uninstall Nessus on Linux
l Uninstall Nessus on Windows
l Remove Nessus Agent
l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X
l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Linux
l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Windows
respective owners.
Nessus Removal
This section includes information for uninstalling and removing Nessus.
l Uninstall Nessus on Linux
l Uninstall Nessus on Windows
l Uninstall Nessus on Mac OS X
respective owners.
Uninstall Nessus on Linux
OPTIONAL: Export your Scans and Policies

1. Go to the folder(s) where your scans are stored.
2. Double-click the scan to view its dashboard.
3. In the upper right corner, select the Export button, and then choose the Nessus DB option.
Stop Nessus Processes

1. From within Nessus, verify any running scans have completed.
2. From a command prompt, stop the nessusd daemon.
Examples: Nessus Daemon Stop Commands
Red Hat, CentOS and Oracle Linux

# /sbin/service nessusd stop
SUSE
# /etc/rc.d/nessusd stop
FreeBSD
# service nessusd stop

# /etc/init.d/nessusd stop
Determine Nessus Package Name

From a command prompt, determine your package name.
Examples: Nessus Package Name Determination

# rpm -qa | grep Nessus
respective owners.
# dpkg -l | grep Nessus
FreeBSD
# pkg_info | grep Nessus
Remove Nessus
1. Using the package name identified, use the remove command specific to your Linux-style oper-
ating system.
Examples: Nessus Remove Commands
Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE,

# rpm -e <Package Name>

# dpkg -r <package name>
FreeBSD
# pkg delete <package name>
2. Using the command specific to your Linux-style operating system, remove remaining files that
were not part of the original installation.
Examples: Nessus Remove Command
Linux
# rm -rf /opt/nessus
FreeBSD
# rm -rf /usr/local/nessus/bin
This completes the process of uninstalling the Nessus on the Linux operating systems.
respective owners.
Uninstall Nessus on Windows
1. Navigate to the portion of Windows that allows you to Add or Remove Programs or Uninstall
or change a program.
2. In the list of installed programs, select the Tenable Nessus product.
3. Click Uninstall.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to remove Nessus.
4. Click Yes.
Windows deletes all Nessus related files and folders.
respective owners.
Uninstall Nessus on Mac OS X
Stop Nessus
1. In System Preferences, select the Nessus button.
2. On the Nessus.Preferences screen, select the lock to make changes.
3. Next, enter your username and password.
4. Select the Stop Nessus button.
The Status becomes red and displays Stopped.
5. Finally, exit the Nessus.Preferences screen.
Remove the following Nessus directories, subdirectories, or files
/Library/Nessus
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist
/Library/PreferencePanes/Nessus Preferences.prefPane
/Applications/Nessus
Disable the Nessus service

1. To prevent the Mac OS X from trying to start the now non-existent service, type the following
command from a command prompt.
$ sudo launchctl remove com.tenablesecurity.nessusd
2. If prompted, provide the administrator password.
respective owners.
Remove Nessus Agent
This section includes information for uninstalling a Nessus Agent from hosts.
l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Linux
l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Windows
l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X
Note: For instructions on how to remove an agent from a manager while leaving the agent installed on
the host, see Unlink an Agent.
respective owners.
Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Linux
Before you begin:
l Unlink the agent from the manager.
To uninstall Nessus Agent on Linux:
1. From a command prompt, determine your package name.
Example Nessus Package Name Determination Commands

# rpm -qa | grep NessusAgent

# dpkg -l | grep NessusAgent
FreeBSD
# pkg_info | grep NessusAgent
2. Using the package name identified, type the remove command specific to your Linux-style oper-
ating system.
Example Nessus Agent Remove Commands
Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE

# rpm -e <Agent package name>

# dpkg -r <Agent package name>
FreeBSD
# pkg delete <Agent package name>
respective owners.
Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Windows
Before you begin:
To uninstall Nessus Agent on Windows:
1. Navigate to the portion of Windows where you can Add or Remove Programs or Uninstall or
change a program.
2. In the list of installed programs, select the Tenable Nessus product.
3. Click Uninstall.
A dialog box appears, prompting you to confirm your selection to remove Nessus.
4. Click Yes.
Windows deletes all Nessus related files and folders.
respective owners.
Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X
Before you begin:
To uninstall Nessus Agent on Mac OS X:
1. Remove the Nessus directories. Using Finder, locate and delete the following items.
l /Library/NessusAgent
l /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent.plist
l /Library/PreferencePanes/Nessus Agent Preferences.prefPane
2. Disable the Nessus Agent service:

a. From a command prompt, type the following command:
$ sudo launchctl remove com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent
b. If prompted, provide the administrator password.
respective owners.
Scans
On the Scans page, you can create, view, and manage scans and resources. To access the Scans page,
in the top navigation bar, click Scans. The left navigation bar displays the Folders and Resources sec-
tions.
For more information, see the following sections:
l Scan and Policy Templates
l Create and Manage Scans
l Scan Results
l Scan Folders
l Policies
l Plugins
l Customized Reports
l Scanners
l Agents
respective owners.
Scan and Policy Templates
Templates facilitate the creation of Scans and Policies.
When you first create a Scan or Policy, the Scan Templates section or Policy Templates section
appears, respectively. Templates are provided for scanners and agents. If you have created custom
policies, they appear in the User Defined tab.
Note: If a plugin requires authentication or settings to communicate with another system, the plugin is
not available on agents. This includes, but is not limited to:
l Patch management.
l Mobile device management.
l Cloud infrastructure audit.
l Database checks that require authentication.
For information on agent templates, see Agent Scan and Policy Templates.
The following tables list the templates that are available in Nessus and brief explanations of each tem-
plate.
When you configure a Tenable-provided scan template, you can modify only the settings included for
the template type. When you create a user-defined template, you can modify a custom set of settings
for your scan.
For descriptions of all settings, see Settings.
Scanner Templates
Scanner templates fall into three categories: Discovery, Vulnerabilities, and Compliance.
Tip: In the Nessus interface, use the search box to quickly find a template.
Template Description
Discovery
Host Dis- Performs a simple scan to discover live hosts and open ports.
covery
Vulnerabilities
respective owners.
Advanced An advanced scan without any recommendations, where you can configure a
Dynamic Scan dynamic plugin filter instead of manually selecting plugin families or individual
plugins. As Tenable releases new plugins or plugin attributes change, the scan
dynamically includes or excludes plugins depending on your filter. This allows
you to tailor your scans for specific vulnerabilities while ensuring that the scan
stays up to date as new plugins are released. See Configure Dynamic Plugins.
Advanced Scans without any recommendations.

Scan
Basic Net- Performs a full system scan that is suitable for any host. For example, you could
work Scan use this template to perform an internal vulnerability scan on your organization's
systems.
Badlock Performs remote and local checks for CVE-2016-2118 and CVE-2016-0128.
Detection
Bash Shell- Performs remote and local checks for CVE-2014-6271 and CVE-2014-7169.
shock Detec-
tion
Credentialed Authenticates hosts and enumerates missing updates.

Patch Audit
DROWN Performs remote checks for CVE-2016-0800.

Detection
Intel Performs remote and local checks for CVE-2017-5689.

AMT Security
Bypass
Malware Scan Scans for malware on Windows and Unix systems.
Mobile Device Assesses mobile devices via Microsoft Exchange or an MDM.

Scan
Shadow Scans for vulnerabilities disclosed in the Shadow Brokers leaks.

Brokers Scan
Spectre and Performs remote and local checks for CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5715, and CVE-
Meltdown 2017-5754.
respective owners.
WannaCry Scans for the WannaCry ransomware.

Ransomware
Web Applic- Scan for published and unknown web vulnerabilities.

ation Tests
Compliance
Audit Cloud Audits the configuration of third-party cloud services.

Infrastructure
Internal PCI Performs an internal PCI DSS (11.2.1) vulnerability scan.

Network Scan
MDM Config Audits the configuration of mobile device managers.

Audit
Offline Config Audits the configuration of network devices.

Audit
PCI Quarterly Performs quarterly external scans as required by PCI.

External Scan
Note: Because the nature of a PCI ASV scan is more paranoid and may lead to
false positives, the scan data is not included in the aggregate Tenable.io data.
This is by design.
Policy Com- Audits system configurations against a known baseline.

pliance Audit-
ing
SCAP and Audits systems using SCAP and OVAL definitions.

OVAL Audit-
ing
respective owners.
Agent Templates
You can use templates to create an agent scan or policy.
In both Nessus Manager and Tenable.io, default templates for agent scans appear in the Agent tab.
The manager interface provides brief explanations of each default template.
Note: If you create custom policies for agent scans, those templates appear in the User Defined tab.
The table below briefly describes the settings for the default agent scan templates. You may also have
access to special templates.
For a comprehensive explanation of template settings, see the documentation for Nessus Manager or
Tenable.io.
Agent Templates
Agent templates fall into two categories: Vulnerabilities and Compliance.
Vulnerabilities
Advanced Agent Scan Scans without any recom-

mendations.
Note: When you create an agent scan using the Advanced Agent
Scan template, you must also select the plugins you want to use
for the scan.
Basic Agent Scan Scans systems connected via

Nessus Agents.
Malware Scan Scans for malware on sys-

tems connected via Nessus
Agents.
Compliance
Policy Compliance Auditing Audits systems connected

via Nessus Agents.
SCAP and OVAL Auditing Audits systems using SCAP

and OVAL definitions.
respective owners.
Scan and Policy Settings
Scan or Policy Settings are organized into collections of configuration items, specifically Basic, Dis-
covery, Assessment, Report, and Advanced settings. Each of these collections are subdivided into
further sections. For example, the Basic settings include the General, Schedule, Notifications, and
Permissions sections. Additionally, the sections may contain groups of related configuration items.
For example, the Host Discovery section contains the General Settings, Ping Methods, Fragile
Devices, Wake-on-LAN, and Network Type groups.
The following sections of the documentation are organized to reflect the interface. For example, if you
wanted to find information about the General section ( 3 in the previous image) of the Basic settings ( 2
in the previous image) that appears when you select the Settings tab ( 1 in the previous image), you
should locate the table labeled General in the Basic topic. The tables include subheadings to reflect
groups of related configuration items that appear in a particular section.
The following settings exist for each policy, though available configuration items may vary based on
the selected template:
l Basic
l Discovery
l Assessment
l Report
l Advanced
respective owners.
Basic Scan Settings
The Basic scan settings are used to specify certain organizational and security-related aspects of the
scan or policy, including the name of the scan, its targets, whether the scan is scheduled, and who has
access to the scan, among other settings.
Note: Configuration items that are required by a particular scan or policy are indicated in the Nessus
interface.
The Basic settings include the follow sections:
l General
l Schedule
l Notifications
l Permissions
The following tables list all available Basic settings by section.
General
Default
Setting Description
Value
Name None Specifies the name of the scan or policy. This value is displayed on the
Nessus interface.
Description None (Optional) Specifies a description of the scan or policy.
Folder My Specifies the folder where the scan appears after being saved.
Scans
Dashboard Disabled (Nessus Manager only) (Optional) Determines whether the scan results

page defaults to the interactive dashboard view.
Agent None (Agent scans only) Specifies the agent group or groups you want the
Groups scan to target. Select an existing agent group from the drop-down box,
or create a new agent group. For more information, see Create a New
Agent Group .
respective owners.
Scan Win- 1 hour (Agent scans only) (Required) Specifies the time frame during which
dow agents must report in order to be included and visible in vulnerability
reports. Use the drop-down box to select an interval of time, or click
to type a custom scan window.
Scanner Varies (Nessus Manager only) Specifies the scanner that performs the scan.
The default scanner varies based on the organization and user.
Targets None Specifies one or more targets to be scanned. If you select a target
group or upload a targets file, you are not required to specify addi-
tional targets.
Targets can be specified using a number of different formats.
Tip: You can force Nessus to use a given host name for a server during
a scan by using the hostname[ip] syntax (e.g., www.example.com
[192.168.1.1]).
Upload Tar- None Uploads a text file that specifies targets.

gets
The targets file must be formatted in the following manner:
l ASCII file format
l Only one target per line
l No extra spaces at the end of a line
l No extra lines following the last target
Note: Unicode/UTF-8 encoding is not supported.
Schedule
By default, scans are not scheduled. When you first access the Schedule section, the Enable Sched-
ule setting appears, set to Off. To modify the settings listed on the following table, click the Off but-
ton. The rest of the settings appear.
Default
Setting Description
Value
Frequency Once Specifies how often the scan is launched.
respective owners.
l Once: Schedule the scan at a specific time.
l Daily: Schedule the scan to occur on a daily basis, at a spe-

cific time or to repeat up to every 20 days.
l Weekly: Schedule the scan to occur on a recurring basis, by

time and day of week, for up to 20 weeks.
l Monthly: Schedule the scan to occur every month, by time

and day or week of month, for up to 20 months.
l Yearly: Schedule the scan to occur every year, by time and

day, for up to 20 years.
Starts Varies Specifies the exact date and time when a scan launches.
The starting date defaults to the date when you are creating the
scan. The starting time is the nearest half-hour interval. For
example, if you create your scan on 09/31/2018 at 9:12 AM, the
default starting date and time is set to 09/31/2018 and 09:30.
Note: If you schedule your scan to repeat monthly, Tenable recom-

mends setting a start date no later than the 28th day. If you select
a start date that does not exist in some months (e.g., the 29th),
Nessus cannot run the scan on those days.
Timezone America/New Specifies the timezone of the value set for Starts.
York
Repeat Varies Specifies the interval at which a scan is relaunched. The default
Every value of this item varies based on the frequency you choose.
Repeat Varies Specifies what day of the week a scan repeats. This item appears
On only if you specify Weekly for Frequency.
The value for Repeat On defaults to the day of the week on which
you create the scan.
Repeat By Day of the Specifies when a monthly scan is relaunched. This item appears
Month only if you specify Monthly for Frequency.
Summary N/A Provides a summary of the schedule for your scan based on the val-
ues you have specified for the available settings.
respective owners.
Notifications
Default
Setting Description
Value
Email Recip- None Specifies zero or more email addresses, separated by commas, that are
ient(s) alerted when a scan completes and the results are available.
Attach Off (Nessus Professional only) Specifies whether you want to attach a

Report report to each email notification. This option toggles the Report Type
and Max Attachment Size settings.
Report Nessus (Nessus Professional only) Specifies the report type (CSV, Nessus, or
Type PDF) that you want to attach to the email.
Max Attach- 25 (Nessus Professional only) Specifies the maximum size, in megabytes
ment Size (MB), of any report attachment. If the report exceeds the maximum size,
then it is not attached to the email. Nessus does not support report
attachments larger than 50 MB.
Result Fil- None Defines the type of information to be emailed.

ters
Permissions
Using settings in the Permissions section, you can assign various permissions to groups and indi-
vidual users. When you assign a permission to a group, that permission applies to all users within the
group. The following table describes the permissions that can be assigned.
Permission Description
No Access Groups and users set to No Access cannot interact with the scan in any way. When
you create a scan or policy, by default no other users or groups have access to it.
Can View Groups and users set to Can View can view the results of the scan.
Can Control Groups and users set to Can Control can launch, pause, and stop a scan, as well
as view its results.
Can Con- Groups and users set to Can Configure can modify the configuration of the scan
figure in addition to all other permissions.
respective owners.
Scan Targets
Hostname targets that look like either a link6 target (start with the text "link6") or like one of the two
IPv6 range forms can be forced to be processed as a hostname by putting single quotes around the tar-
get.
The following table explains target types, examples, and a short explanation of what happens when
that target type is scanned.
Target
Example Explanation
Description
A single IPv4 192.168.0.1 The single IPv4 address is scanned

address
A single IPv6 2001:db8::2120:17ff:fe56:333b The single IPv6 address is scanned

address
A single link fe80:0:0:0:216:cbff:fe92:88d0%eth0 The single IPv6 address is scanned. Note

local IPv6 that usage of interfaces names instead of
address with interface indexes for the scope identifier
a scope iden- is not support on Windows platforms
tifier
An IPv4 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.255 All IPv4 addresses between the start

range address and end address including both
addresses.
An IPv4 192.168.0-1.3-5 The example will expand to all com-

address with binations of the values given in the octet
one or more ranges: 192.168.0.3, 192.168.0.4,
octets 192.168.0.5, 192.168.1.3, 192.168.1.4 and
replaced 192.168.1.5
with numeric
ranges
An IPv4 sub- 192.168.0.0/24 All addresses within the specified subnet

net with are scanned. The address given is not the
CIDR nota- start address. Specifying any address
tion within the subnet with the same CIDR will
scan the same set of hosts.
respective owners.
Target
Example Explanation
Description
An IPv4 sub- 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.128 All addresses within the specified subnet

net with net- are scanned. The address is not a start
mask address. Specifying any address within
notation the subnet with the same netmask will
scan the same hosts
A host resolv- www.yourdomain.com The single host is scanned. If the host-

able to name resolves to multiple addresses the
either an address to scan is the first IPv4 address
IPv4 or an or if it did not resolve to an IPv4 address,
IPv6 address the first IPv6 address.
A host resolv- www.yourdomain.com/24 The hostname is resolved to an IPv4

able to an address and then treated like any other
IPv4 address IPv4 address with CIDR target.
with CIDR
notation
A host resolv- www.yourdomain.com/255.255.252.0 The hostname is resolved to an IPv4

able to an address and then treated like any other
IPv4 address IPv4 address with netmask notation
with net-
mask nota-
tion
The text link6 or link6%16 Multicast ICMPv6 echo requests are sent
'link6' option- out on the interface specified by the
ally followed scope identifier to the ff02::1 address. All
by an IPv6 hosts that respond to the request are
scope iden- scanned. If no IPv6 scope identifier is
tifier given the requests are sent out on all
interfaces. Note that usage of interfaces
names for the scope identifier is not sup-
ported on Windows platforms
Some text www.tenable.com[10.0.1.1] The virtual server is targeted at the spe-

with either a cific IP address within the brackets, and
or
that host is scanned.
respective owners.
Target
Example Explanation
Description
single IPv4 www.nessus.org[2001:db8::abcd]

or IPv6
address
within
square
brackets
respective owners.
Discovery Scan Settings
The Discovery scan settings relate to discovery and port scanning, including port ranges and meth-
ods.
Note: Configuration items that are required by a particular scan or policy are indicated in the Nessus
interface.
The Discovery settings include the following sections:
l Host Discovery
l Port Scanning
l Service Discovery
The following tables list by section all available settings. When you select any template other than
Advanced Network Scan, the Scan Type setting also appears.
Scan Type
The Scan Type setting appears for all templates that have Discovery settings, except Advanced Net-
work Scan. The options that are available for the Scan Type setting vary from template to template.
The following table describes the options that are available per template. If a template is not listed in
the table, no Discovery settings are available for that template.
The Nessus user interface provides descriptions of each option.
Note: When Custom is selected, the following sections appear: Host Discovery, Port Scanning, and
Service Discovery.
Template Available Options
Badlock Detection Four options are available:
Bash Shellshock Detection l Quick

DROWN Detection l Normal (default)
l Thorough
l Custom
respective owners.
Basic Network Scan Three options are available:
Basic Web App Scan l Port scan (common ports) (default)

Credentialed Patch Audit l Port scan (all ports)
Internal PCI Network Scan l Custom
Web Application Tests
Host Discovery Five options are available:
l Host enumeration (default)
l OS Identification
l Port scan (common ports)
l Port scan (all ports)
l Custom
Malware Scan Three options are available:
l Host enumeration (include fragile hosts)
l Custom
Policy Compliance Auditing Two options are available:
l Default (default)
l Custom
SCAP and OVAL Auditing Two options are available:
l Custom
Host Discovery
By default, some settings in the Host Discovery section are enabled. When you first access the Host
Discovery section, the Ping the remote host item appears and is set to On.
The Host Discovery section includes the following groups of settings:
respective owners.
l General Settings
l Ping Methods
l Fragile Devices
l Wake-on-LAN
l Network Type
Default
Setting Description
Value
Ping the On This option enables Nessus to ping remote hosts on multiple ports
remote host to determine if they are alive. When set to On, General Settings
and Ping Methods appear.
Note: To scan VMware guest systems, Ping the remote host must
be set to Off.
General Settings
Use Fast Net- Disabled If a host responds to ping, Nessus attempts to avoid false positives,
work Discovery performing additional tests to verify the response did not come
from a proxy or load balancer. Fast network discovery bypasses
those additional tests.
Ping Methods
ARP Enabled Ping a host using its hardware address via Address Resolution Pro-
tocol (ARP). This only works on a local network.
TCP Enabled Ping a host using TCP.
Destination built- Destination ports can be configured to use specific ports for TCP
ports (TCP) in ping. This specifies the list of ports that are checked via TCP ping.
Type one of the following: built-in, a single port, or a comma-

separated list of ports.
For more information about which ports built-in specifies, see

the knowledge base article.
ICMP Enabled Ping a host using the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP).
respective owners.
Assume ICMP Disabled Assume ICMP unreachable from the gateway means the host is
unreachable down When a ping is sent to a host that is down, its gateway may
from the gate- return an ICMP unreachable message. When this option is enabled,
way means the when Nessus receives an ICMP Unreachable message, it considers
host is down the targeted host dead. This is to help speed up discovery on some
networks.
Note: Some firewalls and packet filters use this same behavior for
hosts that are up, but connected to a port or protocol that is
filtered. With this option enabled, this leads to the scan con-
sidering the host is down when it is indeed up.
Maximum num- 2 Specifies the number of attempts to retry pinging the remote host.
ber of retries
UDP Disabled Ping a host using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
UDP is a stateless protocol, meaning that communication is not per-
formed with handshake dialogues. UDP-based communication is
not always reliable, and because of the nature of UDP services and
screening devices, they are not always remotely detectable.
Fragile Devices
Scan Network Disabled When enabled, Nessus scans network printers.

Printers
Scan Novell Disabled When enabled, Nessus scans Novell NetWare hosts.
Netware hosts
Scan Oper- Disabled When enabled, Nessus performs a full scan of Operational Tech-
ational Tech- nology (OT) devices such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs)
nology devices and remote terminal units (RTUs) that monitor environmental
factors and the activity and state of machinery. When disabled, Nes-
sus uses ICS/SCADA Smart Scanning to cautiously identify OT
devices and stops scanning them once they are discovered.
Wake-on-LAN
List of None The Wake-on-LAN (WOL) menu controls which hosts to send WOL
MAC Addresses magic packets to before performing a scan.
Hosts that you want to start prior to scanning are provided by

uploading a text file that lists one MAC address per line.
respective owners.
For example:
33:24:4C:03:CC:C7
FF:5C:2C:71:57:79
Boot time wait 5 The amount of time to wait for hosts to start before performing the
(in minutes) scan.
Network Type
Network Type Mixed Specifies if you are using publicly routable IPs, private non-internet
(use RFC routable IPs, or a mix of these.
1918)
This setting has three options:
l Mixed (use RFC 1918)
l Private LAN
l Public WAN (internet)
The default value, Mixed, should be selected if you are using RFC
1918 addresses and have multiple routers within your network.
Port Scanning
The Port Scanning section includes settings that define how the port scanner behaves and which
ports to scan.
The Port Scanning section includes the following groups of settings:
l Ports
l Local Port Enumerators
l Network Port Scanners
Default
Setting Description
Value
Ports
Consider Disabled If a port is not scanned with a selected port scanner (for example,
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
Unscanned the port falls outside of the specified range), Nessus considers it
Ports as closed.
Closed
Port Scan Default Two keywords can be typed into the Port scan range box.
Range
l default instructs Nessus to scan approximately 4,790 com-
monly used ports. The list of ports can be found in the nessus-
services file.
l all instructs Nessus to scan all 65,536 ports, including port 0.
Additionally, you can type a custom range of ports by using a

comma-delimited list of ports or port ranges. For example,
21,23,25,80,110 or 1-1024,8080,9000-9200. If you wanted to
scan all ports excluding port 0, you would type 1-65535.
The custom range specified for a port scan is applied to the pro-
tocols you have selected in the Network Port Scanners group of
settings.
If scanning both TCP and UDP, you can specify a split range specific
to each protocol. For example, if you want to scan a different range
of ports for TCP and UDP in the same policy, you would type T:1-
1024,U:300-500.
You can also specify a set of ports to scan for both protocols, as well
as individual ranges for each separate protocol. For example, 1-
1024,T:1024-65535,U:1025.
Local Port Enumerators
SSH (net- Enabled This option uses netstat to check for open ports from the local
stat) machine. It relies on the netstat command being available via an SSH
connection to the target. This scan is intended for Linux-based sys-
tems and requires authentication credentials.
WMI (net- Enabled A WMI-based scan uses netstat to determine open ports.
stat)
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
Note: If enabled, any custom range typed in the Port Scan Range
box is ignored.
If any port enumerator (netstat or SNMP) is successful, the port

range becomes all. Nessus still treats unscanned ports as closed if
the Consider unscanned ports as closed check box is selected.
SNMP Enabled When enabled, if the appropriate credentials are provided by the
user, Nessus can better test the remote host and produce more
detailed audit results. For example, there are many Cisco router
checks that determine the vulnerabilities present by examining the
version of the returned SNMP string. This information is necessary
for these audits.
Only run net- Enabled Rely on local port enumeration first before relying on network port
work port scans.
scanners if
local port
enumeration
failed
Verify open Disabled If a local port enumerator (e.g., WMI or netstat) finds a port, Nessus
TCP ports also verifies that it is open remotely. This helps determine if some
form of access control is being used (e.g., TCP wrappers, firewall).
found by
local port
enumerators
Network Port Scanners
TCP Disabled On some platforms (e.g., Windows and Mac OS X), enabling this scan-
ner causes Nessus to use the SYN scanner to avoid serious per-
formance issues native to those operating systems.
Override auto- Disabled When enabled, this setting overrides automatic firewall detection.
matic firewall
detection
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
l Use aggressive detection attempts to run plugins even if the

port appears to be closed. It is recommended that this option
not be used on a production network.
l Use soft detection disables the ability to monitor how often

resets are set and to determine if there is a limitation con-
figured by a downstream network device.
l Disable detection disables the Firewall detection feature.
This description also applies to the Override automatic firewall

detection setting that is available following SYN.
SYN Enabled Use the Nessus SYN scanner to identify open TCP ports on the target
hosts. SYN scans are generally considered to be less intrusive than
TCP scans depending on the security monitoring device, such as a
firewall or Intrusion Detection System (IDS). The scanner sends a SYN
packet to the port, waits for SYN-ACK reply, and determines the port
state based on a reply or lack of reply.
UDP Disabled This option engages Nessus built-in UDP scanner to identify open
UDP ports on the targets.
Due to the nature of the protocol, it is generally not possible for a

port scanner to tell the difference between open and filtered UDP
ports. Enabling the UDP port scanner may dramatically increase the
scan time and produce unreliable results. Consider using the netstat
or SNMP port enumeration options instead if possible.
Service Discovery
The Service Discovery section includes settings that attempt to map each open port with the service
that is running on that port.
The Service Discovery section includes the following groups of settings:
l General Settings
l Search for SSL/TLS Services
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
General Settings
Probe all Enabled Attempts to map each open port with the service that is running on
ports to find that port.
services
Caution: In some rare cases, probing might disrupt some services
and cause unforeseen side effects.
Search for On Controls how Nessus will test SSL-based services.

SSL based ser-
Caution: Testing for SSL capability on all ports may be disruptive
vices
for the tested host.
Search for SSL/TLS Services (enabled)
Search for Known This setting has two options:

SSL/TLS on SSL/TLS
l Known SSL/TLS ports
ports
l All ports
Identify cer- 60 Identifies SSL and TLS certificates that are within the specified num-
tificates expir- ber of days of expiring.
ing within x
days
Enumerate all True When enabled, Nessus ignores the list of ciphers advertised by
SSL ciphers SSL/TLS services and enumerates them by attempting to establish
connections using all possible ciphers.
Enable CRL False When enabled, Nessus checks that none of the identified cer-
checking (con- tificates have been revoked.
nects to inter-
net)
respective owners.
Assessment Scan Settings
The Assessment scan settings are used for configuring how a scan identifies vulnerabilities, as well as
what vulnerabilities are identified. This includes identifying malware, assessing the vulnerability of a
system to brute force attacks, and the susceptibility of web applications.
The Assessment settings include the following sections:
l General
l Brute Force
l SCADA
l Web Applications
l Windows
l Malware
Scan Type
The Scan Type setting contains options that vary from template to template.
The Nessus interface provides descriptions of each option. The Custom option displays different
Assessment settings depending on the selected template.
Template Available Options
Basic Network Scan Four options are available:
Basic Web App Scan l Scan for known web vulnerabilities

Internal PCI Network Scan l Scan for all web vulnerabilities (quick)
l Scan for all web vulnerabilities (complex)
l Custom
General
The General section includes the following groups of settings:
respective owners.
l Accuracy
l Antivirus
l SMTP
Setting Default Value Description
Accuracy
Override Disabled In some cases, Nessus cannot remotely determine whether a flaw
normal is present or not. If report paranoia is set to Show potential
Accuracy false alarms then a flaw is reported every time, even when there
is a doubt about the remote host being affected. Conversely, a
paranoia setting of Avoid potential false alarms causes Nessus
to not report any flaw whenever there is a hint of uncertainty
about the remote host. Not enabling Override normal accuracy is a
middle ground between these two settings.
Perform Disabled Causes various plugins to work harder. For example, when looking
thorough through SMB file shares, a plugin can analyze 3 directory levels
tests deep instead of 1. This could cause much more network traffic and
(may dis- analysis in some cases. By being more thorough, the scan is more
rupt your intrusive and is more likely to disrupt the network, while poten-
network tially providing better audit results.
or impact
scan
speed)
Antivirus
Antivirus 0 Configure the delay of the Antivirus software check for a set num-
definition ber of days (0-7). The Antivirus Software Check menu allows you to
grace direct Nessus to allow for a specific grace time in reporting when
period antivirus signatures are considered out of date. By default, Nessus
(in days) considers signatures out of date regardless of how long ago an
update was available (e.g., a few hours ago). This can be con-
figured to allow for up to 7 days before reporting them out of
date.
SMTP
respective owners.
Third Nessus attempts to send spam through each SMTP device to the address listed in this
party field. This third party domain address must be outside the range of the site being
domain scanned or the site performing the scan. Otherwise, the test may be aborted by the
SMTP server.
From The test messages sent to the SMTP server(s) appear as if they originated from the
address address specified in this field.
To Nessus attempts to send messages addressed to the mail recipient listed in this field.
address The postmaster address is the default value since it is a valid address on most mail
servers.
Brute Force
The Brute Force section includes the following groups of settings:
l General Settings
l Oracle Database
l Hydra
Default
Setting Description
Value
General Settings
Only use Enabled In some cases, Nessus can test default accounts and known default
credentials passwords. This can cause the account to be locked out if too many
provided consecutive invalid attempts trigger security protocols on the oper-
by the user ating system or application. By default, this setting is enabled to pre-
vent Nessus from performing these tests.
Oracle Database
Test Disabled Test for known default accounts in Oracle software.

default
accounts
(slow)
Hydra
respective owners.
Hydra options only appear when Hydra is installed on the same computer as the scanner or agent
executing the scan.
Always Disabled Enables Hydra whenever the scan is performed.

enable
Hydra
(slow)
Logins file A file that contains user names that Hydra uses during the scan.
Passwords A file that contains passwords for user accounts that Hydra uses dur-
file ing the scan.
Number of 16 The number of simultaneous Hydra tests that you want to execute. By
parallel default, this value is 16.
tasks
Timeout (in 30 The number of seconds per log on attempt.

seconds)
Try empty Enabled If enabled, Hydra tries user names without using a password.
passwords
Try login as Enabled If enabled, Hydra tries a user name as the corresponding password.
password
Stop brute Disabled If enabled, Hydra stops brute forcing user accounts after the first time
forcing an account is successfully accessed.
after the
first suc-
cess
Add Enabled If disabled, only the user names specified in the logins file are used for
accounts the scan. Otherwise, additional user names discovered by other plu-
found by gins are added to the logins file and used for the scan.
other plu-
gins to the
login file
PostgreSQL The database that you want Hydra to test.

database
name
respective owners.
SAP R/3 Cli- The ID of the SAP R/3 client that you want Hydra to test.
ent ID (0 -
99)
Windows Local Can be set to Local accounts, Domain Accounts, or Either.

accounts to accounts
test
Interpret Disabled If enabled, Hydra interprets passwords as NTLM hashes.

passwords
as NTLM
hashes
Cisco login This password is used to log in to a Cisco system before brute forcing
password enable passwords. If no password is provided here, Hydra attempts to
log in using credentials that were successfully brute forced earlier in
the scan.
Web page Enter a web page that is protected by HTTP basic or digest authen-
to brute tication. If a web page is not provided here, Hydra attempts to brute
force force a page discovered by the Nessus web crawler that requires HTTP
authentication.
HTTP proxy If Hydra successfully brute forces an HTTP proxy, it attempts to access
test web- the website provided here via the brute forced proxy.
site
LDAP DN The LDAP Distinguish Name scope that Hydra authenticates against.
SCADA
Default
Setting Description
Value
Modbus/TCP Coil Modbus uses a function code of 1 to read coils in a Modbus slave. Coils rep-
Access resent binary output settings and are typically mapped to actuators. The
ability to read coils may help an attacker profile a system and identify
ranges of registers to alter via a write coil message.
Start at 0 The register at which to start scanning.

Register
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
Modbus/TCP Coil Modbus uses a function code of 1 to read coils in a Modbus slave. Coils rep-
Access resent binary output settings and are typically mapped to actuators. The
ability to read coils may help an attacker profile a system and identify
ranges of registers to alter via a write coil message.
End at 16 The register at which to stop scanning.

Register
ICCP/COTP TSAP The ICCP/COTP TSAP Addressing menu determines a Connection Oriented
Addressing Weak- Transport Protocol (COTP) Transport Service Access Points (TSAP) value on
ness an ICCP server by trying possible values.
Start 8 Specifies the starting TSAP value to try.

COTP
TSAP
Stop 8 Specifies the ending TSAP value to try. All values between the Start and
COTP Stop values are tried.
TSAP
Web Applications
By default, web applications are not scanned. When you first access the Web Application section, the
Scan Web Applications setting appears and is set to Off. To modify the Web Application settings lis-
ted on the following table, click the Off button. The rest of the settings appear.
The Web Applications section includes the following groups of settings:
l General Settings
l Web Crawler
l Application Test Settings
General Settings
Use the Disabled This option enables Nessus to take screenshots to
respective owners.
cloud to better demonstrate some findings. This includes

take screen- some services (e.g., VNC, RDP) as well as con-
shots of figuration specific options (e.g., web server dir-
public web ectory indexing). The feature only works for
servers internet-facing hosts, as the screenshots are gen-
erated on a managed server and sent to the Nessus
scanner.
Screen shots are not exported with a Nessus scan

report.
Use a cus- Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Specifies which type of web browser Nessus imper-
tom User- MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; sonates while scanning.
Agent Trident/4.0)
Web Crawler
Start crawl- / The URL of the first page that is tested. If multiple
ing from pages are required, use a colon delimiter to sep-
arate them (e.g., /:/php4:/base).
Excluded /server_privileges\.php <> Specifies portions of the web site to exclude from
pages log out being crawled. For example, to exclude the /manual
(regex) directory and all Perl CGI, set this field to:
(^/manual) <> (\.pl(\?.*)?$).
Nessus supports POSIX regular expressions for

string matching and handling, as well as Perl-com-
patible regular expressions (PCRE).
Maximum 1000 The maximum number of pages to crawl.

pages to
crawl
Maximum 6 Limit the number of links Nessus follows for each

depth to start page.
crawl
Follow Disabled If selected, Nessus follows dynamic links and may

dynamic exceed the parameters set above.
pages
respective owners.
Application Test Settings
Enable gen- Disabled Enables the options listed below.

eric web
application
tests
Abort web Disabled If Nessus cannot log in to the target via HTTP, then
application do not run any web application tests.
tests if
HTTP login
fails
Try all HTTP Disabled This option instructs Nessus to also use POST
methods requests for enhanced web form testing. By default,
the web application tests only use GET requests,
unless this option is enabled. Generally, more com-
plex applications use the POST method when a user
submits data to the application. This setting
provides more thorough testing, but may con-
siderably increase the time required. When selected,
Nessus tests each script or variable with both GET
and POST requests. This setting provides more thor-
ough testing, but may considerably increase the
time required.
Attempt Disabled When performing web application tests, attempt to

HTTP Para- bypass filtering mechanisms by injecting content
meter Pol- into a variable while also supplying the same vari-
lution able with valid content. For example, a normal SQL
injection test may look like /target.cgi?a='&b=2.
With HTTP Parameter Pollution (HPP) enabled, the
request may look like /target.cgi?a='&a=1&b=2.
Test embed- Disabled Embedded web servers are often static and contain
ded web no customizable CGI scripts. In addition, embedded
servers web servers may be prone to crash or become non-
responsive when scanned. Tenable recommends
scanning embedded web servers separately from
respective owners.
other web servers using this option.
Test more Disabled This setting manages the combination of argument

than one values used in the HTTP requests. The default,
parameter without checking this option, is testing one para-
at a time meter at a time with an attack string, without trying
per form non-attack variations for additional parameters. For
example, Nessus would attempt
/test.php?arg1=XSS&b=1&c=1, where b and c
allow other values, without testing each com-
bination. This is the quickest method of testing with
the smallest result set generated.
This setting has four options:
l Test random pairs of parameters: This

form of testing randomly checks a com-
bination of random pairs of parameters. This
is the fastest way to test multiple parameters.
l Test all pairs of parameters (slow): This

form of testing is slightly slower but more effi-
cient than the one value test. While testing
multiple parameters, it tests an attack string,
variations for a single variable and then use
the first value for all other variables. For
example, Nessus would attempt
/test.php?a=XSS&b=1&c=1&d=1 and then
cycle through the variables so that one is
given the attack string, one is cycled through
all possible values (as discovered during the
mirror process) and any other variables are
given the first value. In this case, Nessus
would never test for /test.php?a-
a=XSS&b=3&c=3&d=3 when the first value of
each variable is 1.
l Test random combinations of three or
respective owners.
more parameters (slower): This form of test-

ing randomly checks a combination of three
or more parameters. This is more thorough
than testing only pairs of parameters. Increas-
ing the amount of combinations by three or
more increases the web application test time.
l Test all combinations of parameters (slow-

est): This method of testing checks all pos-
sible combinations of attack strings with valid
input to variables. Where all pairs testing
seeks to create a smaller data set as a tradeoff
for speed, all combinations makes no com-
promise on time and uses a complete data set
of tests. This testing method may take a long
time to complete.
Do not stop Disabled This setting determines when a new flaw is targeted.
after first This applies at the script level. Finding an XSS flaw
flaw is does not disable searching for SQL injection or
found per header injection, but unless otherwise specified,
web page there is at most one report for each type on a given
port. Note that several flaws of the same type (e.g.,
XSS, SQLi, etc.) may be reported if they were caught
by the same attack.
l Stop after one flaw is found per web

server (fastest): As soon as a flaw is found
on a web server by a script, Nessus stops and
switches to another web server on a different
port.
l Stop after one flaw is found per para-

meter (slow): As soon as one type of flaw is
found in a parameter of a CGI (e.g., XSS), Nes-
sus switches to the next parameter of the
respective owners.
same CGI, the next known CGI, or to the next

port or server.
l Look for all flaws (slowest): Perform extens-

ive tests regardless of flaws found. This option
can produce a very verbose report and is not
recommend in most cases.
URL for http://rfi.nessus.org/rfi.txt During Remote File Inclusion (RFI) testing, this set-
Remote File ting specifies a file on a remote host to use for tests.
Inclusion By default, Nessus uses a safe file hosted by Ten-
able, Inc. for RFI testing. If the scanner cannot reach
the internet, you can use an internally hosted file
for more accurate RFI testing.
Maximum 5 This option manages the amount of time in minutes

run time spent performing web application tests. This option
(min) defaults to 60 minutes and applies to all ports and
CGIs for a given website. Scanning the local network
for web sites with small applications typically com-
pletes in under an hour, however web sites with
large applications may require a higher value.
Windows
The Windows section contains the following groups of settings:
l General Settings
l User Enumeration Methods
Default
Setting Description
Value
General Settings
Request inform- Disabled If enabled, domain users are queried instead of local users.
ation about the
SMB Domain
respective owners.
User Enumeration Methods
You can enable as many of the user enumeration methods as appropriate for user discovery.
SAM Registry Enabled Nessus enumerates users via the Security Account Manager
(SAM) registry.
ADSI Query Enabled Nessus enumerates users via Active Directory Service Interfaces
(ADSI). To use ADSI, you must configure credentials under Cre-
dentials > Miscellaneous > ADSI.
WMI Query Enabled Nessus enumerates users via Windows Management Interface

(WMI).
RID Brute For- Disabled Nessus enumerates users via relative identifier (RID) brute for-
cing cing. Enabling this setting enables the Enumerate Domain Users
and Enumerate Local User settings.
Enumerate Domain Users (available with RID Brute Forcing enabled)
Start UID 1000 The beginning of a range of IDs where Nessus attempts to enu-
merate domain users.
End UID 1200 The end of a range of IDs where Nessus attempts to enumerate
domain users.
Enumerate Local User (available with RID Brute Forcing enabled)
Start UID 1000 The beginning of a range of IDs where Nessus attempts to enu-
merate local users.
End UID 1200 The end of a range of IDs where Nessus attempts to enumerate
local users.
Malware
The Malware section contains the following groups of settings:
l General Settings
l Hash and Whitelist Files
l File System Scanning
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
General Settings
Disable DNS res- Disabled Checking this option prevents Nessus from using the cloud to
olution compare scan findings against known malware.
Hash and Whitelist Files
Custom Netstat None A text file that contains a list of known bad IP addresses that you
IP Threat List want to detect.
Each line in the file must begin with an IPv4 address. Optionally,
you can add a description by adding a comma after the
IP address, followed by the description. You can also use hash-
delimited comments (e.g., #) in addition to comma-delimited com-
ments.
Provide your None Additional known bad MD5 hashes can be uploaded via a text file
own list of that contains one MD5 hash per line. Optionally, you can include
known bad MD5 a description for a hash by adding a comma after the hash, fol-
hashes lowed by the description. If any matches are found when scan-
ning a target, the description appears in the scan results. Hash-
delimited comments (e.g., #) can also be used in addition to the
comma-delimited ones.
Provide your None Additional known good MD5 hashes can be uploaded via a text
own list of file that contains one MD5 hash per line. It is possible to (option-
known good ally) add a description for each hash in the uploaded file. This is
MD5 hashes done by adding a comma after the hash, followed by the descrip-
tion. If any matches are found when scanning a target, and a
description was provided for the hash, the description appears in
the scan results. Standard hash-delimited comments (e.g., # ) can
optionally be used in addition to the comma-delimited ones.
Hosts file whitel- None Nessus checks system hosts files for signs of a compromise (e.g.,
ist Plugin ID 23910 titled Compromised Windows System (hosts File
Check)). This option allows you to upload a file containing a list of
IPs and hostnames to be ignored by Nessus during a scan.
Include one IP and one hostname (formatted identically to your
hosts file on the target) per line in a regular text file.
respective owners.
Yara Rules
Yara Rules File None A .yar file containing the YARA rules to be applied in the scan.
You can only upload one file per scan, so include all rules in a
single file. For more information, see yara.readthedocs.io.
File System Scanning
Scan file system Off Turning on this option allows you to scan system directories and
files on host computers.
Caution: Enabling this setting in scans targeting 10 or more hosts

could result in performance degradation.
Scan %Sys- Off Enables file system scanning to scan %Systemroot%.

temroot%
Scan %Pro- Off Enables file system scanning to scan %ProgramFiles%.

gramFiles%
Scan %Pro- Off Enables file system scanning to scan %ProgramFiles(x86)%.

gramFiles(x86)%
Scan %Pro- Off Enables file system scanning to scan %ProgramData%.

gramData%
Scan User Pro- Off Enables file system scanning to scan user profiles.
files
Custom Filescan None A custom file that lists directories to be scanned by malware file
Directories scanning. List each directory on one line.
respective owners.
Report Scan Settings
The Report scan settings include the following groups of settings:
l Processing
l Output
Default
Setting Description
Value
Processing
Override nor- Disabled This setting has two options:

mal verbosity
l I have limited disk space. Report as little information
as possible: Provides less information about plugin activity
in the report to minimize impact on disk space.
l Report as much information as possible: Provides more

information about plugin activity in the report.
Show missing Enabled If enabled, includes superseded patch information in the scan
patches that report.
have been
superseded
Hide results Enabled If enabled, the list of dependencies is not included in the report. If
from plugins ini- you want to include the list of dependencies in the report, disable
tiated as a this setting.
dependency
Output
Allow users to Enabled When enabled, allows users to delete items from the report. When
edit scan results performing a scan for regulatory compliance or other types of
audits, disable the setting to show that the scan was not tampered
with.
Designate hosts Disabled Uses the host name rather than IP address for report output.
by their DNS
name
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
Display hosts Disabled Reports hosts that successfully respond to a ping.

that respond to
ping
Display unreach- Disabled When enabled, hosts that did not reply to the ping request are
able hosts included in the security report as dead hosts. Do not enable this
option for large IP blocks.
respective owners.
Advanced Scan Settings
The Advanced scan settings provide increased control over scan efficiency and the operations of a
scan, as well as the ability to enabled plugin debugging.
The Advanced settings include the following sections:
l General Settings
l Performance
l Debug Settings
Scan Type
The Scan Type setting appears for the following templates:
l Basic Network Scan
l Basic Web App Scan
l Credentialed Patch Audit
l Internal PCI Network Scan
l Malware Scan
l PCI Quarterly External Scan
l Policy Compliance Auditing
l SCAP and OVAL Auditing
All templates that include the Scan Type setting have the same options:
l Default
l Scan low bandwidth links
l Custom
The Nessus interface provides descriptions of each option.
Note: When Custom is selected, the General section appears. The General section includes the settings
that appear on the following table.
respective owners.
The following table includes the default values for the Advanced Network Scan template. Depending
on the template you select, certain default values may vary.
Default
Setting Description
Value
General Settings
Enable Safe Enabled When enabled, disables all plugins that may have an adverse effect
Checks on the remote host.
Stop scan- Disabled When enabled, Nessus stops scanning if it detects that the host has
ning hosts become unresponsive. This may occur if users turn off their PCs
that become during a scan, a host has stopped responding after a denial of ser-
unresponsive vice plugin, or a security mechanism (for example, an IDS) has star-
during the ted to block traffic to a server. Normally, continuing scans on these
scan machines sends unnecessary traffic across the network and delay
the scan.
Scan IP Disabled By default, Nessus scans a list of IP addresses in sequential order.

addresses in When enabled, Nessus scans the list of hosts in a random order
a random within an IP address range. This is typically useful in helping to dis-
order tribute the network traffic during large scans.
Performance
Slow down Disabled This enables Nessus to detect when it is sending too many packets
the scan and the network pipe is approaching capacity. If detected, Nessus
when net- throttles the scan to accommodate and alleviate the congestion.
work con- Once the congestion has subsided, Nessus automatically attempts
gestion is to use the available space within the network pipe again.
detected
Network 5 Specifies the time that Nessus waits for a response from a host
timeout (in unless otherwise specified within a plugin. If you are scanning over
seconds) a slow connection, you may want to set this to a higher number of
seconds.
Max sim- 5 Specifies the maximum number of checks a Nessus scanner will per-
ultaneous form against a single host at one time.
checks per
host
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
Max sim- 30, or the Specifies the maximum number of hosts that a Nessus scanner will
ultaneous Nessus scan at the same time.
hosts per scanner
scan advanced
setting
max_
hosts,
whichever
is smaller.
Max number none Specifies the maximum number of established TCP sessions for a
of con- single host.
current TCP
sessions per This TCP throttling option also controls the number of packets per
host second the SYN scanner sends, which is 10 times the number of
TCP sessions. E.g., if this option is set to 15, the SYN scanner sends
150 packets per second at most.
Max number none This setting limits the maximum number of established TCP ses-
of con- sions for the entire scan, regardless of the number of hosts being
current TCP scanned.
sessions per
scan
Unix find command exclusions
Custom file- none A plain text file containing a list of filepaths to exclude from all plu-
path exclu- gins that search using the find command on Unix systems.
sions for
In the file, enter one filepath per line, formatted per patterns
Unix find
command allowed by the Unix find command -path argument. For more
information, see the find command man page.
Custom none A plain text file containing a list of filesystems to exclude from all
filesystem plugins that search using the find command on Unix systems.
exclusions
In the file, enter one filesystem per line, using filesystem types sup-
for Unix find
respective owners.
Default
Setting Description
Value
command ported by the Unix find command -fstype argument. For more
information, see the find command man page.
Debug Settings
Log scan Disabled Logs the start and finish time for each plugin used during a scan to
details nessusd.messages.
Enable plu- Disabled Attaches available debug logs from plugins to the vulnerability out-
gin debug- put of this scan.
ging
Audit Trail Default Controls verbosity of the plugin audit trail. All audit trail data
Verbosity includes the reason why plugins were not included in the scan.
Default uses the audit trail verbosity global setting set in

Advanced Settings. For Nessus scans, the scan uses the advanced
setting Audit Trail Verbosity (audit_trail). For agent scans,
the scan uses the advanced setting Include Audit Trail Data
(agent_merge_audit_trail).
Include the Default Controls whether to include the scan KB, which includes additional
KB debugging data, in the scan results.
For Nessus scans, Default includes the KB. For agent scans,
Default uses the global setting Include KB Data (agent_merge_
kb) set in Advanced Settings.
Enumerate Disabled Displays a list of plugins that were launched during the scan. You
launched plu- can view the list in scan results under plugin 112154.
gins
respective owners.
Credentials
When you configure a scan or policy's Credentials, the Nessus scanner can be granted local access to
scan the target system without requiring an agent. This can facilitate scanning of a very large network
to determine local exposures or compliance violations. As noted, some steps of policy creation may be
optional. Once created, the policy is saved with recommended settings.
Nessus leverages the ability to log into remote Linux hosts via Secure Shell (SSH); and with Windows
hosts, Nessus leverages a variety of Microsoft authentication technologies. Note that Nessus also uses
the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to make version and information queries to routers
and switches.
The scan or policy’s Credentials page allows you to configure the Nessus scanner to use authen-
tication credentials during scanning. Configuring credentials allows Nessus to perform a wider variety
of checks that result in more accurate scan results.
Note: By default, when creating credentialed scans or polices, hosts are identified and marked with a
Tenable Asset Identifier (TAI). This globally unique identifier is written to the host's registry or file sys-
tem and subsequent scans can retrieve and use the TAI.
This option is enabled (by default) or disabled in the Advanced > General Settings of a scan or policy's
configuration settings: Create unique identifier on hosts scanned using credentials
There are several forms of authentication supported including but not limited to databases, SSH, Win-
dows, network devices, patch management servers, and various plaintext authentication protocols.
In addition to operating system credentials, Nessus supports other forms of local authentication.
The following types of credentials are managed in the Credentials section of the scan or policy:
l Cloud Services
l Database, which includes MongoDB, Oracle, MySQL, DB2, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server
l Host, which includes Windows logins, SSH, and SNMPv3
l Miscellaneous services, which include VMware, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV), IBM
iSeries, Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS, and directory services (ADSI and X.509)
l Mobile Device Management
l Patch Management servers
l Plaintext authentication mechanisms including FTP, HTTP, POP3, and other services
respective owners.
Credentialed scans can perform any operation that a local user can perform. The level of scanning is
dependent on the privileges granted to the user account. The more privileges the scanner has via the
login account (e.g., root or administrator access), the more thorough the scan results.
Note: Nessus opens several concurrent authenticated connections. Ensure that the host being audited
does not have a strict account lockout policy based on concurrent sessions.
respective owners.
Cloud Services
Nessus supports Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Rackspace, and Salesforce.com.
AWS
Users can select Amazon AWS from the Credentials menu and enter credentials for compliance audit-
ing an account in AWS.
Option Description
AWS Access Key IDS The AWS access key ID string.
AWS Secret Key AWS secret key that provides the authentication for AWS Access Key ID.
AWS Global Credential Settings
Option Default Description
Regions Rest of In order for Nessus to audit an AWS account, you must define the regions
to access the you want to scan. Per Amazon policy, you need different credentials to
World audit account configuration for the China region than you need for the
Rest of the World. Choosing the Rest of the World opens the fol-
lowing choices:
l us-east-1
l us-east-2
l us-west-1
l us-west-2
l ca-central-1
l eu-west-1
l eu-west-2
l eu-central-1
l ap-northeast-1
l ap-northeast-2
l ap-southeast-1
respective owners.
l ap-southeast-2
l sa-east-1
l us-gov-west-1
HTTPS Enabled Use HTTPS to access AWS.
Verify SSL Enabled Verify the validity of the SSL digital certificate.
Certificate
Microsoft Azure
Option Description
Username Username required to log in to Microsoft Azure.
Password Password associated with the username.
Client Id The application ID (also known as client ID) for your registered application.
Subscription List subscription IDs to scan, separated by a comma. If this field is blank, all sub-
IDs scriptions will be audited.
Office 365
Option Description
Username Username required to log in to Office 365.
Password Password associated with the username.
Client Id The application ID (also known as client ID) for your registered application.
Client Secret The secret key for your registered application.
Rackspace
Option Description
Username Username required to log in.
Password or API Password or API keys associated with the username.

Keys
respective owners.
Authentication Specify Password or API-Key from the drop-down box.
Method
Global Settings Location of Rackspace Cloud instance.
Salesforce.com
Users can select Salesforce.com from the Credentials menu. This allows Nessus to log in to Sales-
force.com as the specified user to perform compliance audits.
Option Description
Username Username required to log in to Salesforce.com
Password Password associated with the Salesforce.com username
respective owners.
Database
Nessus supports database authentication using PostgreSQL, DB2, MySQL SQL Server, Oracle, and Mon-
goDB.
Database
Nessus supports the following authentication methods:
Password
Option Description
Username The username for the database.
Password The password for the supplied username.
Database Nessus supports Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, DB2, Informix/DRDA, and Post-
Type greSQL.
CyberArk (Nessus Manager only)

In Nessus Manager, you have the option of using CyberArk to manage your credentials. CyberArk is a
popular enterprise password vault that helps you manage privileged credentials to use in a scan.
Option Description
Username The target system’s username.
Central Cre- The CyberArk Central Credential Provider IP/DNS address.

dential Provider
Host
Central Cre- The port on which the CyberArk Central Credential Provider is listening.
dential Provider
Port
CyberArk AIM The URL of the AIM service. By default, this field uses /AIMWeb-
Service URL service/v1.1/AIM.asmx.
Central Cre- If the CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to use basic authen-
respective owners.
Option Description
dential Provider tication, you can fill in this field for authentication.
Username
Password
Safe The safe on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contained the
authentication information you would like to retrieve.
CyberArk Client The file that contains the PEM certificate used to communicate with the Cyber-
Certificate Ark host.
CyberArk Client The file that contains the PEM private key for the client certificate.
Certificate Priv-
ate Key
CyberArk Client (Optional) The passphrase for the private key, if required.
Certificate Priv-
ate Key Pass-
phrase
AppId The AppId that has been allocated permissions on the CyberArk Central Cre-
dential Provider to retrieve the target password.
Folder The folder on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contains the
CyberArk The unique name of the credential you want to retrieve from CyberArk.
Account Details
Name
Use SSL If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through IIS
check for secure communication.
Verify SSL Cer- If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through IIS
tificate and you want to validate the certificate, select this option. Refer to the custom_
CA.inc documentation for how to use self-signed certificates.
Database Type Nessus supports Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, DB2, Informix/DRDA, and Post-
greSQL.
respective owners.
Lieberman (Nessus Manager only)
Option Description Required
Username The target system’s username. yes
Lieberman host The Lieberman IP/DNS address. yes
Note: If your Lieberman installation is in a subdirectory, you

must include the subdirectory path. For example, type IP
address or hostname / subdirectory path .
Lieberman port The port on which Lieberman listens. yes
Lieberman API The URL Nessus uses to access Lieberman. no

URL
Lieberman user The Lieberman explicit user for authenticating to the Lieberman yes
API.
Lieberman pass- The password for the Lieberman explicit user. yes
word
Lieberman The alias used for the authenticator in Lieberman. The name no
Authenticator should match the name used in Lieberman.
Note: If you use this option, append a domain to the Lieberman

user option, i.e., domain\user.
Lieberman Cli- The file that contains the PEM certificate used to communicate no
ent Certificate with the Lieberman host.
Note: If you use this option, you do not have to enter inform-
ation in the Lieberman user, Lieberman password, and Lieber-
man Authenticator fields.
Lieberman Cli- The file that contains the PEM private key for the client cer- no
ent Certificate tificate.
Private Key
Lieberman Cli- The passphrase for the private key, if required. no

ent Certificate
respective owners.
Private Key Pass-

phrase
Use SSL If Lieberman is configured to support SSL through IIS, check for no
secure communication.
Verify SSL Cer- If Lieberman is configured to support SSL through IIS and you no
tificate want to validate the certificate, check this option. Refer to Cus-
tom CA documentation for how to use self-signed certificates.
System Name In the rare case your organization uses one default Lieberman no
entry for all managed systems, enter the default entry name.
Database Port The port on which Nessus communicates with the database. yes
Database Name (PostgreSQL and DB2 databases only) The name of the database. no
MongoDB
Option Description
Username The username for the database.
Password The password for the supplied username.
Database Name of the database to audit.
Port Port the database listens on.
respective owners.
Host
Nessus supports the following forms of host authentication:
l SNMPv3
l Secure Shell (SSH)
l Windows
respective owners.
SNMPv3
Users can select SNMPv3 settings from the Credentials menu and enter credentials for scanning sys-
tems using an encrypted network management protocol.
These credentials are used to obtain local information from remote systems, including network
devices, for patch auditing or compliance checks.
There is a field for entering the SNMPv3 user name for the account that will perform the checks on the
target system, along with the SNMPv3 port, security level, authentication algorithm and password, and
privacy algorithm and password.
If Nessus is unable to determine the community string or password, it may not perform a full audit of
the service.
Option Description
Username The username for a SNMPv3 based account.
Port Direct Nessus to scan a different port if SNMP is running on a port other
than 161.
Security level Select the security level for SNMP: authentication, privacy, or both.
Authentication Select MD5 or SHA1 based on which algorithm the remote service sup-
algorithm ports.
Authentication pass- The password for the username specified.

word
Privacy algorithm The encryption algorithm to use for SNMP traffic.
Privacy password A password used to protect encrypted SNMP communication.
respective owners.
SSH
On Linux systems and supported network devices, Nessus uses Secure Shell (SSH) protocol version 2
based programs (e.g., OpenSSH, Solaris SSH, etc.) for host-based checks.
This mechanism encrypts the data in transit to protect it from being viewed by sniffer programs. Nes-
sus supports five types of authentication methods for use with SSH: username and password, pub-
lic/private keys, digital certificates, and Kerberos.
Users can select SSH settings from the Credentials menu and enter credentials for scanning Linux sys-
tems.
These credentials are used to obtain local information from remote Linux systems for patch auditing
or compliance checks.
Note: Non-privileged users with local access on Linux systems can determine basic security issues,
such as patch levels or entries in the /etc/passwd file. For more comprehensive information, such as
system configuration data or file permissions across the entire system, an account with root privileges
is required
Global Credential Settings

There are four settings for SSH credentials that apply to all SSH Authentication methods.
Default
Option Description
Value
known_hosts none If an SSH known_hosts file is available and provided as part of

file the Global Credential Settings of the scan policy in the known_
hosts file field, Nessus will only attempt to log into hosts in this
file. This can ensure that the same username and password you
are using to audit your known SSH servers is not used to attempt a
log into a system that may not be under your control.
Preferred port 22 This option can be set to direct Nessus to connect to SSH if it is
running on a port other than 22.
Client version OpenSSH_ Specifies which type of SSH client Nessus will impersonate while
5.0 scanning.
Attempt least Cleared Enables or disables dynamic privilege escalation. When enabled,
respective owners.
Default
Option Description
Value
privilege Nessus attempts to run the scan with an account with lesser priv-
(experimental) ileges, even if the Elevate privileges with option is enabled. If a
command fails, Nessus will escalate privileges. Plugins 102095 and
102094 report which plugins ran with or without escalated priv-
ileges.
Note: Enabling this option may increase scan run time by up to

30%.
Public Key
Public Key Encryption, also referred to as asymmetric key encryption, provides a more secure authen-
tication mechanism by the use of a public and private key pair. In asymmetric cryptography, the public
key is used to encrypt data and the private key is used to decrypt it. The use of public and private keys
is a more secure and flexible method for SSH authentication. Nessus supports both DSA and RSA key
formats.
Like Public Key Encryption, Nessus supports RSA and DSA OpenSSH certificates. Nessus also requires
the user certificate, which is signed by a Certificate Authority (CA), and the user’s private key.
Note: Nessus supports the OpenSSH SSH public key format. Formats from other SSH applications,
including PuTTY and SSH Communications Security, must be converted to OpenSSH public key format.
The most effective credentialed scans are when the supplied credentials have root privileges. Since
many sites do not permit a remote login as root, Nessus can invoke su, sudo, su+sudo, dzdo, .k5login,
or pbrun with a separate password for an account that has been set up to have su or sudo privileges.
In addition, Nessus can escalate privileges on Cisco devices by selecting Cisco ‘enable’ or .k5login for
Kerberos logins.
Note: Nessus supports the blowfish-cbc, aes-cbc, and aes-ctr cipher algorithms. Some commercial vari-
ants of SSH do not have support for the blowfish algorithm, possibly for export reasons. It is also pos-
sible to configure an SSH server to only accept certain types of encryption. Check your SSH server to
ensure the correct algorithm is supported.
Nessus encrypts all passwords stored in policies. However, the use of SSH keys for authentication
rather than SSH passwords is recommended. This helps ensure that the same username and password
you are using to audit your known SSH servers is not used to attempt a log in to a system that may not
be under your control.
respective owners.
Note: For supported network devices, Nessus will only support the network device’s username and pass-
word for SSH connections.
If an account other than root must be used for privilege escalation, it can be specified under the Escal-
ation account with the Escalation password.
Option Description
Username Username of the account which is being used for authentication on the
host system.
Private Key RSA or DSA Open SSH key file of the user.
Private key pass- Passphrase of the Private Key.

phrase
Elevate privileges Allows for increasing privileges once authenticated.

with
Certificate
Option Description
Username Username of the account which is being used for authentication on the
host system.
User Certificate RSA or DSA Open SSH certificate file of the user.
Private Key RSA or DSA Open SSH key file of the user.
Private key pass- Passphrase of the Private Key.

phrase
Elevate privileges Allows for increasing privileges once authenticated.

with

CyberArk is a popular enterprise password vault that helps you manage privileged credentials. Nessus
Manager can get credentials from CyberArk to use in a scan.
respective owners.
Option Description

dential Provider
Host
dential Provider
Port
Username
Password
Safe The safe on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contained the
Certificate Priv-
ate Key
CyberArk Client (Optional) The passphrase for the private key, if required.
Certificate Priv-
ate Key Pass-
phrase
Folder The folder on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contains
the authentication information you would like to retrieve.
respective owners.
Option Description
PolicyId The PolicyID assigned to the credentials you would like to retrieve from the
CyberArk Central Credential Provider.
Use SSL If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through
IIS check for secure communication.
Verify SSL Cer- If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through
tificate IIS and you want to validate the certificate check this. Refer to the custom_
CA.inc documentation for how to use self-signed certificates.
Account Details
Name
CyberArk The domain for the user account.

Address
CyberArk Elev- The privilege escalation method you want to use to increase the user's priv-
ate Privileges ileges after initial authentication. Your selection determines the specific
With options you must configure.
Kerberos
Kerberos, developed by MIT’s Project Athena, is a client/server application that uses a symmetric key
encryption protocol. In symmetric encryption, the key used to encrypt the data is the same as the key
used to decrypt the data. Organizations deploy a KDC (Key Distribution Center) that contains all users
and services that require Kerberos authentication. Users authenticate to Kerberos by requesting a TGT
(Ticket Granting Ticket). Once a user is granted a TGT, it can be used to request service tickets from the
KDC to be able to utilize other Kerberos based services. Kerberos uses the CBC (Cipher Block Chain)
DES encryption protocol to encrypt all communications.
Note: You must already have a Kerberos environment established to use this method of authentication.
The Nessus implementation of Linux-based Kerberos authentication for SSH supports the aes-cbc and
aes-ctr encryption algorithms. An overview of how Nessus interacts with Kerberos is as follows:
l End-user gives the IP of the KDC
l nessusd asks sshd if it supports Kerberos authentication
l sshd says yes
respective owners.
l nessusd requests a Kerberos TGT, along with login and password
l Kerberos sends a ticket back to nessusd
l nessusd gives the ticket to sshd
l nessusd is logged in
In both Windows and SSH credentials settings, you can specify credentials using Kerberos keys from a
remote system. Note that there are differences in the configurations for Windows and SSH.
Option Description
Password Password of the username specified.
Key Dis- This host supplies the session tickets for the user.
tribution
Center
(KDC)
KDC Port This option can be set to direct Nessus to connect to the KDC if it is running on a
port other than 88.
KDC Trans- The KDC uses TCP by default in Linux implementations. For UDP, change this
port option. Note that if you need to change the KDC Transport value, you may also
need to change the port as the KDC UDP uses either port 88 or 750 by default,
depending on the implementation.
Realm The Realm is the authentication domain, usually noted as the domain name of the
target (e.g., example.com).
Elevate priv- Allows for increasing privileges once authenticated.

ileges with
If Kerberos is used, sshd must be configured with Kerberos support to verify the ticket with the KDC.
Reverse DNS lookups must be properly configured for this to work. The Kerberos interaction method
must be gssapi-with-mic.
Password
respective owners.
Option Description
Password Password of the username specified.
Elevate privileges with Allows for increasing privileges once authenticated.
Thycotic Secret Server (Nessus Manager only)

Option Default Value
Username The username that is used to authenticate via ssh to the system.
(required)
Domain Set the domain the username is part of if using Windows credentials.
Thycotic This is the value that the secret is stored as on the Thycotic server. It is referred to
Secret Name as the “Secret Name” on the Thycotic server.
(required)
Thycotic This is used to set the transfer method, target , and target directory for the scan-
Secret ner. The value can be found in Admin > Configuration > Application Settings >
Server URL Secret Server URL on the Thycotic server. For example consider the following
(required) address https://pw.mydomain.com/SecretServer/. We will parse this to know that
https defines it is a ssl connection, pw.mydomain.com is the target address,
/SecretServer/ is the root directory.
Thycotic The username to authenticate to the Thycotic server.

Login Name
(required)
Thycotic The password associated with the Thycotic Login Name.

Password
(required)
Thycotic This value is used in cloud instances of Thycotic to define which organization your
Organization query should hit.
(required)
Thycotic This is an optional value set if the domain value is set for the Thycotic server.
Domain
(optional)
respective owners.
Private Key Use key based authentication for SSH connections instead of password.
(optional)
Verify SSL Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trusted CA.
Certificate
Thycotic elev- The privilege escalation method you want to use to increase the user's privileges
ate priv- after initial authentication. Multiple options for privilege escalation are supported,
ileges with including su, su+sudo and sudo. Your selection determines the specific options
you must configure.
BeyondTrust (Nessus Manager only)

Username (Required) The username to log in to the hosts you want to scan.
BeyondTrust (Required) The BeyondTrust IP address or DNS address.

host
BeyondTrust (Required) The port BeyondTrust is listening on.

port
BeyondTrust (Required) The API key provided by BeyondTrust.

API key
Checkout (Required) The length of time, in minutes, that you want to keep credentials
duration checked out in BeyondTrust. Configure the Checkout duration to exceed the typ-
ical duration of your Nessus scans. If a password from a previous scan is still
checked out when a new scan begins, the new scan fails.
Note: Configure the password change interval in BeyondTrust so that password

changes do not disrupt your Nessus scans. If BeyondTrust changes a password dur-
ing a scan, the scan fails.
Use SSL If enabled, Nessus uses SSL through IIS for secure communications. You must con-
figure SSL through IIS in BeyondTrust before enabling this option.
Verify SSL If enabled, Nessus validates the SSL certificate. You must configure SSL through IIS
certificate in BeyondTrust before enabling this option.
Use private If enabled, Nessus uses private key-based authentication for SSH connections
key instead of password authentication. If it fails, the password will be requested.
respective owners.
Use priv- If enabled, BeyondTrust uses the configured privilege escalation command. If it
ilege escal- returns something, it will use it for the scan.
ation

Lieberman The Lieberman IP/DNS address. yes

host
Note: If your Lieberman installation is in a subdirectory, you
must include the subdirectory path. For example, type IP address
or hostname / subdirectory path .
Lieberman The port on which Lieberman listens. yes

port
Lieberman API The URL Nessus uses to access Lieberman. no

URL
Lieberman The Lieberman explicit user for authenticating to the Lieberman yes
user RED API.
Lieberman The password for the Lieberman explicit user. yes

password
Lieberman The alias used for the authenticator in Lieberman. The name no
Authenticator should match the name used in Lieberman.
Note: If you use this option, append a domain to the Lieberman

user option, i.e., domain\user.
Lieberman Cli- The file that contains the PEM certificate used to communicate no
ent Certificate with the Lieberman host.
Note: If you use this option, you do not have to enter information
in the Lieberman user, Lieberman password, and Lieberman
Authenticator fields.
Lieberman Cli- The file that contains the PEM private key for the client certificate. no
respective owners.
ent Certificate
Private Key
Lieberman Cli- The passphrase for the private key, if required. no

ent Certificate
Private Key
Passphrase
Use SSL If Lieberman is configured to support SSL through IIS, check for no
secure communication.
Verify SSL Cer- If Lieberman is configured to support SSL through IIS and you no
tificate want to validate the certificate, check this option. Refer to Custom
CA documentation for how to use self-signed certificates.
System Name In the rare case your organization uses one default Lieberman no
entry for all managed systems, enter the default entry name.
Custom pass- The password prompt used by the target host. Only use this set- no
word prompt ting when an interactive SSH session fails due to Nessus receiving
an unrecognized password prompt on the target host's interactive
SSH shell.
respective owners.
Windows
The Windows credentials menu item has settings to provide Nessus with information such as SMB
account name, password, and domain name. By default, you can specify a username, password, and
domain with which to log in to Windows hosts. Additionally, Nessus supports several different types of
authentication methods for Windows-based systems: CyberArk, Kerberos, LM Hash, NTLM Hash, and
Thycotic Secret Server.
Regarding the authentication methods:
l The Lanman authentication method was prevalent on Windows NT and early Windows 2000
server deployments. It is retained for backward compatibility.
l The NTLM authentication method, introduced with Windows NT, provided improved security
over Lanman authentication. The enhanced version, NTLMv2, is cryptographically more secure
than NTLM and is the default authentication method chosen by Nessus when attempting to log
into a Windows server. NTLMv2 can make use of SMB Signing.
l SMB signing is a cryptographic checksum applied to all SMB traffic to and from a Windows
server. Many system administrators enable this feature on their servers to ensure that remote
users are 100% authenticated and part of a domain. In addition, make sure you enforce a policy
that mandates the use of strong passwords that cannot be easily broken via dictionary attacks
from tools like John the Ripper and L0phtCrack. It is automatically used by Nessus if it is
required by the remote Windows server. Note that there have been many different types of
attacks against Windows security to illicit hashes from computers for re-use in attacking servers.
SMB Signing adds a layer of security to prevent these man-in-the-middle attacks.
l The SPNEGO (Simple and Protected Negotiate) protocol provides Single Sign On (SSO) capability
from a Windows client to a variety of protected resources via the users’ Windows login cre-
dentials. Nessus supports use of SPNEGO Scans and Policies: Scans 54 of 151 with either
NTLMSSP with LMv2 authentication or Kerberos and RC4 encryption. SPNEGO authentication hap-
pens through NTLM or Kerberos authentication; nothing needs to be configured in the Nessus
policy.
l If an extended security scheme (such as Kerberos or SPNEGO) is not supported or fails, Nessus
will attempt to log in via NTLMSSP/LMv2 authentication. If that fails, Nessus will then attempt to
log in using NTLM authentication.
l Nessus also supports the use of Kerberos authentication in a Windows domain. To configure
this, the IP address of the Kerberos Domain Controller (actually, the IP address of the Windows
Active Directory Server) must be provided.
respective owners.
Server Message Block (SMB) is a file-sharing protocol that allows computers to share information
across the network. Providing this information to Nessus will allow it to find local information from a
remote Windows host. For example, using credentials enables Nessus to determine if important secur-
ity patches have been applied. It is not necessary to modify other SMB parameters from default set-
tings.
The SMB domain field is optional and Nessus will be able to log on with domain credentials without
this field. The username, password, and optional domain refer to an account that the target machine
is aware of. For example, given a username of joesmith and a password of my4x4mpl3, a Windows
server first looks for this username in the local system’s list of users, and then determines if it is part
of a domain.
Regardless of credentials used, Nessus always attempts to log into a Windows server with the fol-
lowing combinations:
l Administrator without a password
l A random username and password to test Guest accounts
l No username or password to test null sessions
The actual domain name is only required if an account name is different on the domain from that on
the computer. It is entirely possible to have an Administrator account on a Windows server and within
the domain. In this case, to log onto the local server, the username of Administrator is used with the
password of that account. To log onto the domain, the Administrator username would also be used,
but with the domain password and the name of the domain.
When multiple SMB accounts are configured, Nessus will try to log in with the supplied credentials
sequentially. Once Nessus is able to authenticate with a set of credentials, it will check subsequent cre-
dentials supplied, but only use them if administrative privileges are granted when previous accounts
provided user access.
Some versions of Windows allow you to create a new account and designate it as an administrator.
These accounts are not always suitable for performing credentialed scans. Tenable recommends that
the original administrative account, named Administrator be used for credentialed scanning to ensure
full access is permitted. On some versions of Windows, this account may be hidden. The real admin-
istrator account can be unhidden by running a DOS prompt with administrative privileges and typing
the following command:
C:\> net user administrator /active:yes
If an SMB account is created with limited administrator privileges, Nessus can easily and securely scan
multiple domains. Tenable recommends that network administrators consider creating specific
respective owners.
domain accounts to facilitate testing. Nessus includes a variety of security checks for Windows Vista,
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Win-
dows Server 2012 R2 that are more accurate if a domain account is provided. Nessus does attempt to
try several checks in most cases if no account is provided.
Note: The Windows Remote Registry service allows remote computers with credentials to access the
registry of the computer being audited. If the service is not running, reading keys and values from the
registry will not be possible, even with full credentials. This service must be started for a Nessus cre-
dentialed scan to fully audit a system using credentials.
For more information, see the Tenable, Inc. blog post Dynamic Remote Registry Auditing - Now you
see it, now you don’t!
Credentialed scans on Windows systems require that a full administrator level account be used.
Several bulletins and software updates by Microsoft have made reading the registry to determine soft-
ware patch level unreliable without administrator privileges, but not all of them. Nessus plugins will
check that the provided credentials have full administrative access to ensure they execute properly.
For example, full administrative access is required to perform direct reading of the file system. This
allows Nessus to attach to a computer and perform direct file analysis to determine the true patch
level of the systems being evaluated.

Never send Enabled For security reasons, Windows credentials are not sent in the clear
credentials in by default.
the clear
Do not use Enabled If this option is disabled, then it is theoretically possible to trick Nes-
NTLMv1 sus into attempting to log into a Windows server with domain cre-
authentication dentials via the NTLM version 1 protocol. This provides the remote
attacker with the ability to use a hash obtained from Nessus. This
hash can be potentially cracked to reveal a username or password.
It may also be used to directly log into other servers. Force Nessus
to use NTLMv2 by enabling the Only use NTLMv2 setting at scan
time. This prevents a hostile Windows server from using NTLM and
receiving a hash. Because NTLMv1 is an insecure protocol this
option is enabled by default.
Start the Disabled This option tells Nessus to start the Remote Registry service on com-
Remote puters being scanned if it is not running. This service must be run-
respective owners.
Registry ser- ning in order for Nessus to execute some Windows local check plu-
vice during gins.
the scan
Enable admin- Disabled This option will allow Nessus to access certain registry entries that
istrative can be read with administrator privileges.
shares during
the scan

CyberArk is a popular enterprise password vault that helps you manage privileged credentials. Nessus
Manager can get credentials from CyberArk to use in a scan.
Option Description

dential Provider
Host
dential Provider
Port
Username
Password
Safe The safe on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contained
respective owners.
Option Description
Certificate Priv-
ate Key
CyberArk Client The passphrase for the private key, if required.

Certificate Priv-
ate Key Pass-
phrase
Folder The folder on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contains
PolicyId The PolicyID assigned to the credentials you would like to retrieve from the
CyberArk Central Credential Provider.
Use SSL If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through
IIS check for secure communication.
Verify SSL Cer- If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through
tificate IIS and you want to validate the certificate check this. Refer to custom_CA.inc
documentation for how to use self-signed certificates.
Account Details
Name
Kerberos
Password none Like with other credentials methods, this is the user password on the
target system. This is a required field.
Key Dis- none This host supplies the session tickets for the user. This is a required
tribution field.
Center
respective owners.
(KDC)
KDC Port 88 This option can be set to direct Nessus to connect to the KDC if it is run-
ning on a port other than 88.
KDC Trans- TCP Note that if you need to change the KDC Transport value, you may also
port need to change the port as the KDC UDP uses either port 88 or 750 by
default, depending on the implementation.
Domain none The Windows domain that the KDC administers. This is a required field.
LM Hash
Option Description
Hash Hash being utilized.
Domain The Windows domain of the specified user’s name.
NTLM Hash
Option Description
Hash Hash being utilized.
Domain The Windows domain of the specified user’s name.
Thycotic Secret Server (Nessus Manager only)

Username (Required) The username for a user on the target system.
Domain The domain of the username, if set on the Thycotic server.
Thycotic (Required) The Secret Name value on the Thycotic server.

Secret Name
Thycotic (Required) The value you want Nessus to use when setting the transfer method,
respective owners.
Secret target, and target directory for the scanner. Find the value on the Thycotic server,
Server URL in Admin > Configuration > Application Settings > Secret Server URL.
For example, if you type https://pw.mydomain.com/SecretServer, Nessus

determines it is an SSL connection, that pw.mydomain.com is the target address,
and that /SecretServer is the root directory.
Thycotic (Required) The username for a user on the Thycotic server.

Login Name
Thycotic (Required) The password associated with the Thycotic Login Name you
Password provided.
Thycotic In cloud instances of Thycotic, the value that identifies which organization the Nes-
Organization sus query should target.
Thycotic The domain, if set for the Thycotic server.

Domain
Private Key If enabled, Nessus uses key-based authentication for SSH connections instead of
password authentication.
Verify SSL If enabled, Nessus verifies the SSL Certificate on the Thycotic server.
Certificate
For more information about using self-signed certificates, see Custom SSL Cer-
tificates.
BeyondTrust (Nessus Manager only)

Username (Required) The username to log in to the hosts you want to scan.
Domain The domain of the username, if required by BeyondTrust.
BeyondTrust (Required) The BeyondTrust IP address or DNS address.

host
BeyondTrust (Required) The port BeyondTrust is listening on.

port
BeyondTrust (Required) The API key provided by BeyondTrust.

API key
respective owners.
Checkout (Required) The length of time, in minutes, that you want to keep credentials
duration checked out in BeyondTrust. Configure the Checkout duration to exceed the typ-
ical duration of your Nessus scans. If a password from a previous scan is still
checked out when a new scan begins, the new scan fails.
Note: Configure the password change interval in BeyondTrust so that password

changes do not disrupt your Nessus scans. If BeyondTrust changes a password dur-
ing a scan, the scan fails.
Use SSL If enabled, Nessus uses SSL through IIS for secure communications. You must con-
figure SSL through IIS in BeyondTrust before enabling this option.
Verify SSL If enabled, Nessus validates the SSL certificate. You must configure SSL through IIS
certificate in BeyondTrust before enabling this option.
Use private If enabled, Nessus uses private key-based authentication for SSH connections
key instead of password authentication. If it fails, the password will be requested.
Use priv- If enabled, BeyondTrust uses the configured privilege escalation command. If it
ilege escal- returns something, it will use it for the scan.
ation

Domain The domain, if the username is part of a domain. no
Lieberman host The Lieberman IP/DNS address. yes
Note: If your Lieberman installation is in a sub-

directory, you must include the subdirectory
path. For example, type IP address or host-
name / subdirectory path .
Lieberman port The port on which Lieberman listens. yes
Lieberman API URL The URL Nessus uses to access Lieberman. no
Lieberman user The Lieberman explicit user for authenticating to yes

the Lieberman RED API.
respective owners.
Lieberman password The password for the Lieberman explicit user. yes
Lieberman Authenticator The alias used for the authenticator in Lieber- no

man. The name should match the name used in
Lieberman.
Note: If you use this option, append a domain

to the Lieberman user option, i.e.,
domain\user.
Lieberman Client Certificate The file that contains the PEM certificate used to no
communicate with the Lieberman host.
Note: If you use this option, you do not have to

enter information in the Lieberman user,
Lieberman password, and Lieberman
Authenticator fields.
Lieberman Client Certificate The file that contains the PEM private key for the no
Private Key client certificate.
Lieberman Client Certificate The passphrase for the private key, if required. no
Private Key Passphrase
Use SSL If Lieberman is configured to support SSL no

through IIS, check for secure communication.
Verify SSL Certificate If Lieberman is configured to support SSL no

through IIS and you want to validate the cer-
tificate, check this. Refer to custom_CA.inc doc-
umentation for how to use self-signed
certificates.
System Name In the rare case your organization uses one no

default Lieberman entry for all managed systems,
enter the default entry name.
respective owners.
Miscellaneous
This section includes information and settings for credentials in the Miscellaneous section.
ADSI
ADSI requires the domain controller information, domain, and domain admin and password.
ADSI allows Nessus to query an ActiveSync server to determine if any Android or iOS-based devices are
connected. Using the credentials and server information, Nessus authenticates to the domain con-
troller (not the Exchange server) to directly query it for device information. This feature does not
require any ports be specified in the scan policy. These settings are required for mobile device scan-
ning.
Option Description
Domain Controller (Required) Name of the domain controller for ActiveSync
Domain (Required) Name of the Windows domain for ActiveSync
Domain Admin (Required) Domain admin’s username
Domain Password (Required) Domain admin’s password
Nessus supports obtaining the mobile information from Exchange Server 2010 and 2013 only; Nessus
cannot retrieve information from Exchange Server 2007.
F5
Option Description
Username (Required) Username for a scanning account on the F5 target.
Password (Required) Password associated with the scanning account.
Port Port to use when connecting to the F5 target.
HTTPS When enabled, connect using secure communication (HTTPS). When disabled,
connect using standard HTTP.
Verify SSL Cer- Verify that the SSL certificate is valid. If you are using a self-signed certificate, dis-
tificate able this setting.
IBM iSeries
respective owners.
Option Description
Username (Required) An iSeries username.
Password (Required) An iSeries password.
Netapp API
Option Description
Username (Required) Username for an account on the Netapp system that has HTTPS access.
Password (Required) Password associated with the account.
vFiler If this setting is blank, the scan audits for all discovered Netapp virtual filers (vFilers)
on target systems. To limit the audit to a single vFiler, type the name of the vFiler.
Port Ports to scan on target systems. Type a comma-separated list of port numbers.
OpenStack
Option Description
Username (Required) Username for an account on the OpenStack deployment.
Password (Required) Password associated with the account.
Tenant Name (Required) Name of the specific tenant the scan uses to authenticate. A tenant
for Authentic- (also known as a project) is a group of resources that can be controlled by users
ation in the tenant.
Port (Required) Port that the scanner uses to connect to OpenStack.
HTTPS When enabled, connect using secure communication (HTTPS). When disabled,
connect using standard HTTP.
Verify SSL Cer- Verify that the SSL certificate is valid. If you are using a self-signed certificate, dis-
tificate able this setting.
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS

Option Description
Username (Required) The PAN-OS username.
respective owners.
Password (Required) The Pan-OS password.
Port (Required) The management port number.
HTTPS Whether Tenable.io authenticates over an encrypted (HTTPS) or an unencrypted

(HTTP) connection.
Verify SSL Cer- Verify that the SSL certificate is valid. If the target is using a self-signed cer-
tificate tificate, disable this setting.
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV)

Option Description
Username Username to login to the RHEV server. This is a required field.
Password Username to the password to login to the RHEV server. This is a required
field.
Port Port to connect to the RHEV server.
Verify SSL Cer- Verify that the SSL certificate for the RHEV server is valid.
tificate
VMware ESX SOAP API

Access to VMware servers is available through its native SOAP API. VMware ESX SOAP API allows you to
access the ESX and ESXi servers via username and password. Additionally, you have the option of not
enabling SSL certificate verification:
Option Description
Username Username to login to the ESXi server. This is a required field.
Password Username to the password to login to the ESXi server. This is a

required field.
Do not verify SSL Cer- Do not verify that the SSL certificate for the ESXi server is valid.
tificate
VMware vCenter SOAP API

VMware vCenter SOAP API allows you to access vCenter.
respective owners.
Credential Description
vCenter Host (Required) Name of the vCenter host.
vCenter Port Port to access the vCenter host.
Username (Required) Username to login to the vCenter server.
Password (Required) Username to the password to login to the vCenter server.
HTTPS Connect to the vCenter via SSL.
Verify SSL Certificate Verify that the SSL certificate for the ESXi server is valid.
X.509
Option Description
Client certificate (Required) The client certificate.
Client key (Required) The client private key.
Password for key (Required) The passphrase for the key.
CA certificate to trust (Required) The trusted Certificate Authority's (CA) digital certificate.
respective owners.
Mobile
AirWatch
Option Description
AirWatch Environment API URL The URL of the SOAP or REST API
(required)
Port Set to use a different port to authenticate with Airwatch
Username (required) The username to authenticate with Airwatch’s API
Password (required) The password to authenticate with Airwatch’s API
API Keys (required) The API Key for the Airwatch REST API
HTTPS Set to use HTTPS instead of HTTP
Verify SSL Certificate Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trus-
ted CA.
Apple Profile Manager

Option Description
Server (required) The server URL to authenticate with Apple Profile Manager
Port Set to use a different port to authenticate with Apple Profile Man-
ager
Username (required) The username to authenticate
Password (required) The password to authenticate
Verify SSL Certificate Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trusted CA.
Force device updates Force devices to update with Apple Profile Manager immediately
Device update timeout Number of minutes to wait for devices to reconnect with Apple Pro-
(minutes) file Manager
respective owners.
Good MDM
Option Description
Server (required) The server URL to authenticate with Good MDM
Port (required) Set the port to use to authenticate with Good MDM
Domain (required) The domain name for Good MDM
Verify SSL Certificate Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trusted CA.
MaaS360
Option Description
Root URL (required) The server URL to authenticate with MaaS360
Platform ID (required) The Platform ID provided for MaaS360
Billing ID (required) The Billing ID provided for MaaS360
App ID (required) The App ID provided for MaaS360
App Version (required) The App Version of MaaS360
App access key (required) The App Access Key provided for MaaS360
MobileIron
Option Description
VSP Admin The server URL Nessus uses to authenticate to the MobileIron administrator portal.
Portal URL
VSP Admin (Optional) The port Nessus uses to authenticate to the MobileIron administrator
respective owners.
Portal portal (typically, port 443 or 8443). The system assumes port 443 by default.
Port
Port (Optional) The port Nessus uses to authenticate to MobileIron (typically, port 443).
Username The username for the account you want Nessus to use to authenticate to MobileIron.
Password The password for the account you want Nessus to use to authenticate to MobileIron.
HTTPS (Optional) When enabled, Nessus uses an encrypted connection to authenticate to

MobileIron.
Verify SSL When enabled, Nessus verifies that the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a
Certificate trusted CA.
respective owners.
Patch Management
Nessus Manager can leverage credentials for the Red Hat Network Satellite, IBM BigFix, Dell KACE 1000,
WSUS, and SCCM patch management systems to perform patch auditing on systems for which cre-
dentials may not be available to the Nessus scanner.
Options for these patch management systems can be found under Credentials in their respective
drop-down boxes: Symantec Altiris, IBM BigFix, Red Hat Satellite Server, Microsoft SCCM, Dell KACE
K1000, and Microsoft WSUS.
IT administrators are expected to manage the patch monitoring software and install any agents
required by the patch management system on their systems.
Scanning with Multiple Patch Managers

If you provide multiple sets of credentials to Nessus for patch management tools, Nessus uses all of
them. Available credentials are:
l Credentials supplied to directly authenticate to the target
l Dell KACE 1000
l IBM BigFix
l Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
l Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
l Red Hat Network Satellite Server
l Symantec Altiris
If you provide credentials for a host, as well as one or more patch management systems, Nessus com-
pares the findings between all methods and report on conflicts or provide a satisfied finding. Use the
Patch Management Windows Auditing Conflicts plugins to highlight patch data differences between the
host and a patch management system.
Dell KACE K1000

KACE K1000 is available from Dell to manage the distribution of updates and hotfixes for Linux, Win-
dows, and Mac OS X systems. Nessus and Tenable.sc have the ability to query KACE K1000 to verify
whether or not patches are installed on systems managed by KACE K1000 and display the patch inform-
ation through the Nessus or Tenable.sc user interface.
respective owners.
l If the credential check sees a system but it is unable to authenticate against the system, it uses
the data obtained from the patch management system to perform the check. If Nessus is able to
connect to the target system, it performs checks on that system and ignores KACE K1000 output.
l The data returned to Nessus by KACE K1000 is only as current as the most recent data that the
KACE K1000 has obtained from its managed hosts.
KACE K1000 scanning uses four Nessus plugins.
l kace_k1000_get_computer_info.nbin (Plugin ID 76867)
l kace_k1000_get_missing_updates.nbin (Plugin ID 76868)
l kace_k1000_init_info.nbin (Plugin ID 76866)
l kace_k1000_report.nbin (Plugin ID 76869)
You must provide credentials for the Dell KACE K1000 system for K1000 scanning to work properly.
Under the Credentials tab, select Patch Management, then select Dell KACE K1000.
Server none KACE K1000 IP address or system name. This is a required field.
Database 3306 Port the K1000 database is running on (typically TCP 3306).
Port
Organization ORG1 The name of the organization component for the KACE K1000 data-
Database base. This component will begin with the letters ORG and end with a
Name number that corresponds with the K1000 database username.
Database none Username required to log into the K1000 database. R1 is the default if
Username no user is defined. The username will begin with the letter R. This user-
name will end in the same number that represents the number of the
organization to scan. This is a required field
K1000 Data- none Password required to authenticate the K1000 Database Username.
base Pass- This is a required field.
word
IBM BigFix
IBM BigFix is available from IBM to manage the distribution of updates and hotfixes for desktop sys-
tems. Nessus and Tenable.sc have the ability to query IBM BigFix to verify whether or not patches are
installed on systems managed by IBM BigFix and display the patch information.
respective owners.
l If the credential check sees a system but it is unable to authenticate against the system, it will
use the data obtained from the patch management system to perform the check. If Nessus is
able to connect to the target system, it will perform checks on that system and ignore IBM BigFix
output.
l The data returned to Nessus by TEM is only as current as the most recent data that the IBM BigFix
server has obtained from its managed hosts.
IBM BigFix scanning uses five Nessus plugins:
l Patch Management: Tivoli Endpoint Manager Compute Info Initialization (Plugin ID 62559)
l Patch Management: Missing updates from Tivoli Endpoint Manager (Plugin ID 62560)
l Patch Management: IBM Tivoli Endpoint Manager Server Settings (Plugin ID 62558)
l Patch Management: Tivoli Endpoint Manager Report (Plugin ID 62561)
l Patch Management: Tivoli Endpoint Manager Get Installed Packages (Plugin ID 65703)
Credentials for the IBM BigFix server must be provided for IBM BigFix scanning to work properly.
Web Reports Server None Name of IBM BigFix Web Reports Server
Web Reports Port none Port that the IBM BigFix Web Reports Server listens
Web Reports Username none Web Reports administrative username
Web Reports Password none Web Reports administrative username’s password
HTTPS Enabled If the Web Reports service is using SSL
Verify SSL certificate Enabled Verify that the SSL certificate is valid
Package reporting is supported by RPM-based and Debian-based distributions that IBM BigFix officially
supports. This includes Red Hat derivatives such as RHEL, CentOS, Scientific Linux, and Oracle Linux, as
well as Debian and Ubuntu. Other distributions may also work, but unless IBM BigFix officially supports
them, there is no support available.
For local check plugins to trigger, only RHEL, CentOS, Scientific Linux, Oracle Linux, Debian, and
Ubuntu are supported. The plugin Patch Management: Tivoli Endpoint Manager Get Installed Packages
must be enabled.
In order to use these auditing features, you must make changes to the IBM BigFix server. You must
import a custom analysis into IBM BigFix so that detailed package information is retrieved and made
respective owners.
available to Nessus. Before beginning, save the following text to a file on the IBM BigFix system, and
name it with a .bes extension.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<BES xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="BES.xsd">
<Analysis>
<Title>Tenable</Title>
<Description>This analysis provides Nessus with the data it needs for vulnerability
reporting. </Description>
<Relevance>true</Relevance>
<Source>Internal</Source>
<SourceReleaseDate>2013-01-31</SourceReleaseDate>
<MIMEField>
<Name>x-fixlet-modification-time</Name>
<Value>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:54:09 +0000</Value>
</MIMEField>
<Domain>BESC</Domain>
<Property Name="Packages - With Versions (Tenable)" ID="1"><![CDATA[if
(exists true whose (if true then (exists debianpackage) else false)) then unique
values of (name of it & "|" & version of it as string & "|" & "deb" & "|" &
architecture of it & "|" & architecture of operating system) of packages whose
(exists version of it) of debianpackages else if (exists true whose (if true then
(exists rpm) else false)) then unique values of (name of it & "|" & version of it as
string & "|" & "rpm" & "|" & architecture of it & "|" & architecture of operating
system) of packages of rpm else "<unsupported>" ]]></Property>
</Analysis>
</BES>
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) is available to manage large groups of Win-
dows-based systems. Nessus has the ability to query the SCCM service to verify whether or not patches
are installed on systems managed by SCCM and display the patch information through the Nessus or
Tenable.sc web interface.
l If the credentialed check sees a system but it is unable to authenticate against the system, it will
able to connect to the target system, it will perform checks on that system and ignore SCCM out-
put.
respective owners.
l The data returned by SCCM is only as current as the most recent data that the SCCM server has
obtained from its managed hosts.
l Nessus connects to the server that is running the SCCM site (e.g., credentials must be valid for
the SCCM service, meaning an admin account in SCCM with the privileges to query all the data in
the SCCM MMC). This server may also run the SQL database, or the database as well as the SCCM
repository can be on separate servers. When leveraging this audit, Nessus must connect to the
SCCM Server, not the SQL or SCCM server if they are on a separate box.
Nessus SCCM patch management plugins support SCCM 2007 and SCCM 2012.
SCCM scanning is performed using four Nessus plugins.
l Patch Management: SCCM Server Settings (Plugin ID 57029)
l Patch Management: Missing updates from SCCM(Plugin ID 57030)
l Patch Management: SCCM Computer Info Initialization(Plugin ID 73636)
l Patch Management: SCCM Report(Plugin ID 58186)
Credentials for the SCCM system must be provided for SCCM scanning to work properly. Under the Cre-
dentials tab, select Patch Management and then Microsoft SCCM.
Credential Description
Server SCCM IP address or system name
Domain The domain the SCCM server is a part of
Username SCCM admin username
Password SCCM admin password
Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is available from Microsoft to manage the distribution of
updates and hotfixes for Microsoft products. Nessus and Tenable.sc have the ability to query WSUS to
verify whether or not patches are installed on systems managed by WSUS and display the patch inform-
ation through the Nessus or Tenable.sc web interface.
able to connect to the target system, it will perform checks on that system and ignore WSUS out-
put.
respective owners.
l The data returned to Nessus by WSUS is only as current as the most recent data that the WSUS
server has obtained from its managed hosts.
WSUS scanning is performed using three Nessus plugins.
l Patch Management: WSUS Server Settings (Plugin ID 57031)
l Patch Management: Missing updates from WSUS (Plugin ID 57032)
l Patch Management: WSUS Report (Plugin ID 58133)
Credentials for the WSUS system must be provided for WSUS scanning to work properly. Under the Cre-
dentials tab, select Patch Management and then Microsoft WSUS.
Credential Default Description
Server None WSUS IP address or system name
Port 8530 Port WSUS is running on (typically TCP 80 or 443)
Username none WSUS admin username
Password none WSUS admin password
HTTPS Enabled If the WSUS service is using SSL
Verify SSL certificate Enabled Verify that the SSL certificate is valid
Red Hat Satellite Server

Red Hat Satellite is a systems management platform for Linux-based systems. Nessus has the ability to
query Satellite to verify whether or not patches are installed on systems managed by Satellite and dis-
play the patch information.
Although not supported by Tenable, Inc., the RHN Satellite plugin will also work with Spacewalk Server,
the Open Source Upstream Version of Red Hat Satellite. Spacewalk has the capability of managing dis-
tributions based on Red Hat (RHEL, CentOS, Fedora) and SUSE. Tenable supports the Satellite server
for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
l If the credential check sees a system, but it is unable to authenticate against the system, it will
able to connect to the target system, it will perform checks on that system and ignore RHN Satel-
lite output.
l The data returned to Nessus by RHN Satellite is only as current as the most recent data that the
Satellite server has obtained from its managed hosts.
respective owners.
Satellite scanning is performed using five Nessus plugins:
l Patch Management: Patch Schedule From Red Hat Satellite Server (Plugin ID 84236)
l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Get Installed Packages (Plugin ID 84235)
l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Get Managed Servers (Plugin ID 84234)
l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Get System Information (Plugin ID 84237)
l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Settings (Plugin ID 84238)
If the RHN Satellite server is version 6, three additional Nessus plugins are used:
l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Get Installed Packages (Plugin ID 84231)
l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite 6 Settings (Plugin ID 84232)
l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite 6 Report (Plugin ID 84233)
Red Hat Satellite 6 Server

Satellite server none RHN Satellite IP address or system name
Port 443 Port Satellite is running on (typically TCP 80 or 443)
Username none Red Hat Satellite username
Password none Red Hat Satellite password
HTTPS Enabled If the Red Hat Satellite service is using SSL
Verify SSL Certificate Enabled Verify that the SSL certificate is valid
Symantec Altris
Altiris is available from Symantec to manage the distribution of updates and hotfixes for Linux, Win-
dows, and Mac OS X systems. Nessus and Tenable.sc have the ability to use the Altiris API to verify
whether or not patches are installed on systems managed by Altiris and display the patch information
through the Nessus or Tenable.sc web interface.
able to connect to the target system, it will perform checks on that system and ignore Altiris out-
put.
respective owners.
l The data returned to Nessus by Altiris is only as current as the most recent data that the Altiris
has obtained from its managed hosts.
l Nessus connects to the Microsoft SQL server that is running on the Altiris host (e.g., credentials
must be valid for the MSSQL database, meaning a database account with the privileges to query
all the data in the Altiris MSSQL database). The database server may be run on a separate host
from the Altiris deployment. When leveraging this audit, Nessus must connect to the MSSQL data-
base, not the Altiris server if they are on a separate box.
Altiris scanning is performed using four Nessus plugins.
l symantec_altiris_get_computer_info.nbin (Plugin ID 78013)
l symantec_altiris_get_missing_updates.nbin (Plugin ID 78012)
l symantec_altiris_init_info.nbin (Plugin ID 78011)
l symantec_altiris_report.nbin (Plugin ID 78014)
Credentials for the Altiris Microsoft SQL (MSSQL) database must be provided for Altiris scanning to
work properly. Under the Credentials tab, select Patch Management and then Symantec Altiris.
Server none Altiris IP address or system name. This is a required field.
Database Port 5690 Port the Altiris database is running on (Typically TCP 5690)
Database Symantec_ The name of the MSSQL database that manages Altiris patch
Name CMDB information.
Database User- None Username required to log into the Altiris MSSQL database. This is
name a required field.
Database Pass- none Password required to authenticate the Altiris MSSQL database.
word This is a required field.
Use Windows Disabled Denotes whether or not to use NTLMSSP for compatibility with
Authentication older Windows Servers, otherwise it will use Kerberos
To ensure Nessus can properly utilize Altiris to pull patch management information, it must be con-
figured to do so.
respective owners.
Plaintext Authentication
Caution: Using plaintext credentials is not recommended. Use encrypted authentication methods when
possible.
If a secure method of performing credentialed checks is not available, users can force Nessus to try to
perform checks over unsecure protocols; use the Plaintext Authentication options.
This menu allows the Nessus scanner to use credentials when testing HTTP, NNTP, FTP, POP2, POP3,
IMAP, IPMI, SNMPv1/v2c, and telnet/rsh/rexec.
By supplying credentials, Nessus may have the ability to do more extensive checks to determine vul-
nerabilities. HTTP credentials supplied will be used for Basic and Digest authentication only.
Credentials for FTP, IPMI, NNTP, POP2, and POP3 require only a username and password.
HTTP
There are four different types of HTTP Authentication methods: Automatic authentication, Basic/Digest
authentication, HTTP login form, and HTTP cookies import.
HTTP Global Settings
Login method POST Specify if the login action is performed via a GET or POST request.
Re-authenticate 0 The time delay between authentication attempts. This is useful to

delay (seconds) avoid triggering brute force lockout mechanisms.
Follow 30x redir- 0 If a 30x redirect code is received from a web server, this directs
ections Nessus to follow the link provided or not.
(# of levels)
Invert authen- Disabled A regex pattern to look for on the login page, that if found, tells
ticated regex Nessus authentication was not successful (e.g., Authentication
failed!).
Use authen- Disabled Rather than search the body of a response, Nessus can search
ticated regex on the HTTP response headers for a given regex pattern to better
HTTP headers determine authentication state.
respective owners.
Use authen- Disabled The regex searches are case sensitive by default. This instructs
ticated regex on Nessus to ignore case.
HTTP headers
Authentication methods
Automatic authentication
Username and Password Required
Basic/Digest authentication
Username and Password Required
HTTP Login Form

The HTTP login page settings provide control over where authenticated testing of a custom web-based
application begins.
Option Description
Username Login user’s name.
Password Password of the user specified.
Login page The absolute path to the login page of the application, e.g., /login.html.
Login sub- The action parameter for the form method. For example, the login form for
mission page <form method="POST" name="auth_form" action="/login.php"> would be /lo-
gin.php.
Login para- Specify the authentication parameters (e.g., login-

meters n=%USER%&password=%PASS%). If the keywords %USER% and %PASS% are
used, they will be substituted with values supplied on the Login configurations
drop-down box. This field can be used to provide more than two parameters if
required (e.g., a group name or some other piece of information is required for
the authentication process).
Check authen- The absolute path of a protected web page that requires authentication, to bet-
tication on ter assist Nessus in determining authentication status, e.g., /admin.html.
respective owners.
Option Description
page
Regex to verify A regex pattern to look for on the login page. Simply receiving a 200 response
successful code is not always sufficient to determine session state. Nessus can attempt to
authentication match a given string such as Authentication successful!
HTTP cookies import

To facilitate web application testing, Nessus can import HTTP cookies from another piece of software
(e.g., web browser, web proxy, etc.) with the HTTP cookies import settings. A cookie file can be
uploaded so that Nessus uses the cookies when attempting to access a web application. The cookie
file must be in Netscape format.
telnet/rsh/rexec
The telnet/rsh/rexec authentication section is also username and password, but there are additional
Global Settings for this section that can allow you to perform patch audits using any of these three pro-
tocols.
SNMPv1/v2c
SNMPv1/v2c configuration allows you to use community strings for authentication to network devices.
Up to 4 SNMP community strings can be configured.
respective owners.
Compliance
Nessus can perform vulnerability scans of network services as well as log in to servers to discover any
missing patches.
However, a lack of vulnerabilities does not mean the servers are configured correctly or are “com-
pliant” with a particular standard.
The advantage of using Nessus to perform vulnerability scans and compliance audits is that all of this
data can be obtained at one time. Knowing how a server is configured, how it is patched and what vul-
nerabilities are present can help determine measures to mitigate risk.
At a higher level, if this information is aggregated for an entire network or asset class, security and risk
can be analyzed globally. This allows auditors and network managers to spot trends in non-compliant
systems and adjust controls to fix these on a larger scale.
When configuring a scan or policy, you can include one or more compliance checks.
Audit Capability Required Credentials
Adtran AOS SSH
Amazon AWS Amazon AWS
Blue Coat ProxySG SSH
Brocade FabricOS SSH
Check Point GAiA SSH
Cisco IOS SSH
Citrix XenServer SSH
Database Database credentials
Dell Force10 FTOS SSH
Extreme ExtremeXOS SSH
FireEye SSH
Fortigate FortiOS SSH
HP ProCurve SSH
respective owners.
Huawei SSH
IBM iSeries IBM iSeries
Juniper Junos SSH
Microsoft Azure Microsoft Azure
Mobile Device Manager AirWatch/Apple Profile Manager/MobileironÂ
MongoDB MongoDB
NetApp Data ONTAP SSH
Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS PAN-OS
Rackspace Rackspace
RHEV RHEV
Salesforce.com Salesforce SOAP API
SonicWALL SonicOS SSH
Unix SSH
Unix File Contents SSH
VMware vCenter/vSphere VMware ESX SOAP API or VMware vCenter SOAP API
WatchGuard SSH
Windows Windows
Windows File Contents Windows
respective owners.
SCAP Settings
Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) is an open standard that enables automated man-
agement of vulnerabilities and policy compliance for an organization. It relies on multiple open stand-
ards and policies, including OVAL, CVE, CVSS, CPE, and FDCC policies.
When you select the SCAP and OVAL Auditing template, you can modify SCAP settings.
You can select Linux (SCAP), Linux (OVAL), Windows (SCAP), or Windows (OVAL). The settings for
each option are described in the following table.
Default
Setting Description
Value
Linux (SCAP) or Windows (SCAP)
SCAP File None A valid zip file that contains full SCAP content (XCCDF, OVAL,
and CPE for versions 1.0 and 1.1; DataStream for version
1.2).
SCAP Version 1.2 The SCAP version that is appropriate for the content in the
uploaded SCAP file.
SCAP Data None (SCAP Version 1.2 only) The Data Stream ID that you copied
Stream ID from the SCAP XML file.
Example:
<data-stream id="scap_gov.nist_datastream_
USGCB-Windows-7-1.2.3.1.zip">
SCAP Benchmark None The Benchmark ID that you copied from the SCAP XML file.
ID
Example:
<xccdf:Benchmark id="xccdf_gov.nist_
benchmark_USGCB-Windows-7">
SCAP Profile ID None The Profile ID that you copied from the SCAP XML file.
Example:
respective owners.
<xccdf:Profile id="xccdf_gov.nist_profile_
united_states_government_configuration_
baseline_version_1.2.3.1">
OVAL Result Full results w/ The information you want the results file to include.
Type system char-
The results file can be one of the following types: full results
acteristics
with system characteristics, full results without system char-
acteristics, or thin results.
Linux (OVAL) or Windows (OVAL)
OVAL definitions None A valid zip file that contains OVAL standalone content.
file
respective owners.
Plugins
The Advanced Scan templates include Plugin options.
Plugins options enables you to select security checks by Plugin Family or individual plugins checks.
Clicking on the Plugin Family allows you to enable (green) or disable (gray) the entire family. Select-
ing a family displays the list of its plugins. Individual plugins can be enabled or disabled to create very
specific scans.
A family with some plugins disabled is blue and displays Mixed to indicate only some plugins are
enabled. Clicking on the plugin family loads the complete list of plugins, and allow for granular selec-
tion based on your scanning preferences.
Selecting a specific Plugin Name displays the plugin output that would be seen in a report.
The plugin details include a Synopsis, Description, Solution, Plugin Information, and Risk Inform-
ation.
When a scan or policy is created and saved, it records all of the plugins that are initially selected. When
new plugins are received via a plugin update, they are automatically enabled if the family they are asso-
ciated with is enabled. If the family has been disabled or partially enabled, new plugins in that family
are also automatically disabled.
Caution: The Denial of Service family contains some plugins that could cause outages on a network if
the Safe Checks option is not enabled, in addition to some useful checks that will not cause any harm.
The Denial of Service family can be used in conjunction with Safe Checks to ensure that any potentially
dangerous plugins are not run. However, it is recommended that the Denial of Service family not be
used on a production network unless scheduled during a maintenance window and with staff ready to
respond to any issues.
respective owners.
Configure Dynamic Plugins
With the Advanced Dynamic Scan template, you can create a scan or policy with dynamic plugin fil-
ters instead of manually selecting plugin families or individual plugins. As Tenable, Inc. releases new
plugins, any plugins that match your filters are automatically added to the scan or policy. This allows
you to tailor your scans for specific vulnerabilities while ensuring that the scan stays up to date as new
plugins are released.
To configure dynamic plugins:
1. Do one of the following:

l Create a Scan.
l Create a Policy.
2. Click the Advanced Dynamic Scan template.
3. Click the Dynamic Plugins tab.
4. Specify your filter options:

l Match Any or Match All: If you select All, only results that match all filters appear. If you
select Any, results that match any one of the filters appear.
l Plugin attribute: See the Plugin Attributes table for plugin attribute descriptions.
l Filter argument: Select is equal to, is not equal to, contains, does not contain,
greater than, or less than to specify how the filter should match for the selected plugin
attribute.
l Value: Depending on the plugin attribute you selected, enter a value or select a value from
the drop-down menu.
5. (Optional) Click to add another filter.
6. Click Preview Plugins.
Nessus lists the plugins that match the specified filters.
7. Click Save.
Nessus creates the scan or policy, which automatically updates when Tenable adds new plugins
that match the dynamic plugin filters.
respective owners.
Special Use Templates
Note: For more information about performing custom audits with Nessus, see the Custom Auditing
video.
Compliance
Nessus compliance auditing can be configured using one or more of the following Scanner and Agent
templates.
l Audit Cloud Infrastructure
l MDM Config Audit
l Offline Config Audit
l SCAP and OVAL Auditing
l Policy Compliance Auditing
Mobile Device
With Nessus Manager, the Nessus Mobile Devices plugin family provides the ability to obtain inform-
ation from devices registered in a Mobile Device Manager (MDM) and from Active Directory servers that
contain information from Microsoft Exchange Servers.
l To query for information, the Nessus scanner must be able to reach the Mobile Device Man-
agement servers. You must ensure no screening devices block traffic to these systems from the
Nessus scanner. In addition, Nessus must be given administrative credentials (e.g., domain
administrator) to the Active Directory servers.
l To scan for mobile devices, Nessus must be configured with authentication information for the
management server and the mobile plugins. Since Nessus authenticates directly to the man-
agement servers, a scan policy does not need to be configured to scan specific hosts.
l For ActiveSync scans that access data from Microsoft Exchange servers, Nessus will retrieve
information from phones that have been updated in the last 365 days.
Payment Card Industry (PCI)

Tenable offers two Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) templates: one for
testing internal systems (11.2.1) and one for Internet facing systems (11.2.2). Also, these scan templates
respective owners.
may also be used to complete scans after significant changes to your network, as required by PCI DSS
11.2.3.
Template Product Description
PCI Tenable.io The PCI Quarterly External Scan template is only available in Ten-
Quarterly Only able.io. Using this template, Tenable.io tests for all PCI DSS
External external scanning requirements, including web applications.
Scan
The scan results obtained using the PCI Quarterly External Scan
template may be submitted to Tenable, Inc. (an Approved Scanning
Vendor) for PCI validation.
Refer to the Scan Results section for details on creating, reviewing,

and submitting PCI scan results.
PCI Nessus Man- For Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional versions, Tenable
Quarterly ager provides the PCI Quarterly External Scan (Unofficial) template.
External
This template can be used to simulate an external scan (PCI DSS
Scan (Unof-
Nessus Pro- 11.2.2) to meet PCI DSS quarterly scanning requirements. However,
ficial)
fessional the scan results from the Unofficial template cannot be submitted
to Tenable, Inc. for PCI Validation.
The PCI Quarterly External Scan (Unofficial) Template performs the

identical scanning functions as the Tenable.io version of this tem-
plate.
PCI Nessus Man- The Internal PCI Network Scan template can be used to meet PCI
Quarterly ager DSS Internal scanning requirement (11.2.1).
External
Scan (Unof-
Nessus Pro-
ficial)
fessional
SCAP and OVAL

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Security Content Automation Protocol
(SCAP) is a set of policies for managing vulnerabilities and policy compliance in government agencies.
It relies on multiple open standards and policies, including OVAL, CVE, CVSS, CPE, and FDCC policies.
respective owners.
l SCAP compliance auditing requires sending an executable to the remote host.
l Systems running security software (e.g., McAfee Host Intrusion Prevention), may block or quar-
antine the executable required for auditing. For those systems, an exception must be made for
the either the host or the executable sent.
l When using the SCAP and OVAL Auditing template, you can perform Linux and Windows SCAP
CHECKS to test compliance standards as specified in NIST’s Special Publication 800-126.
respective owners.
Unofficial PCI ASV Validation Scan
Approved Scanning Vendors (ASVs) are organizations that validate adherence to certain Data Security
Standards (DSS) requirements by performing vulnerability scans of internet facing environments of
merchants and service providers.
Tenable, Inc. is a Payment Card Industry (PCI) ASV, and is certified to validate vulnerability scans of
internet-facing systems for adherence to certain aspects of the PCI DSS and Tenable.io is a validated
ASV solution.
Nessus Professional and Nessus Manager features two PCI related scan templates: Internal
PCI Network Scan and Unofficial PCI Quarterly External Scan.
Internal PCI Network Scan

This template creates scans that may be used to satisfy internal (PCI DSS 11.2.1) scanning requirements
for ongoing vulnerability management programs that satisfy PCI compliance requirements. These
scans may be used for ongoing vulnerability management and to perform rescans until passing or
clean results are achieved. Credentials can optionally be provided to enumerate missing patches and
cilent-side vulnerabilities.
Note: while the PCI DSS requires you to provide evidence of passing or "clean" scans on at least a
quarterly basis, you are also required to perform scans after any significant changes to your network
(PCI DSS 11.2.3).
Unofficial PCI Quarterly External Scan

The Unofficial PCI Quarterly External Scan template creates a scan that simulates an external scan
(PCI DSS 11.2.2) performed by Tenable.io to meet PCI DSS quarterly scanning requirements. Although
the results may not be submitted for validation, they may be used to see what "official" Tenable.io
results might look like. Users that have external PCI scanning requirements should use this template in
Tenable.io, which allows scanning unlimited times before submitting results to Tenable, Inc. for val-
idation (Tenable.io is a validated ASV solution).
For more information on performing and submitting an official PCI Quarterly External Scan, see the
Tenable.io User Guide.
Submit Scan Results
respective owners.
Only Tenable.io customers have the option to submit their PCI scan results to Tenable, Inc. for PCI ASV
validation.
When submitted, scan results are uploaded and the scan results can be reviewed from a PCI DSS per-
spective.
respective owners.
Create and Manage Scans
This section contains the following tasks available on the Scans page.
l Create a Scan
l Import a Scan
l Create an Agent Scan
l Modify Scan Settings
l Configure an Audit Trail
l Delete a Scan
respective owners.
Example: Host Discovery
Knowing what hosts are on your network is the first step to any vulnerability assessment. Launch a
host discovery scan to see what hosts are on your network, and associated information such as IP
address, FQDN, operating systems, and open ports, if available. After you have a list of hosts, you can
choose what hosts you want to target in a specific vulnerability scan.
Hosts discovered by a host discovery scan do not count towards your license limit, if applicable. For
more information, see License Utilization.
The following overview describes a typical workflow of creating and launching a host discovery scan,
then creating a follow-up scan that target discovered hosts that you choose. In Nessus Essentials and
Nessus Professional trials, a wizard walks you through a simplified version of this process. You can
always manually launch a host discovery scan or follow-up scan using the workflow outlined in this
overview.
Create and launch a host discovery scan:

2. In the upper right corner, click the New Scan button.
The Scan Templates page appears.
3. Under Discovery, click the Host Discovery template.
4. Configure the host discovery scan:

l For Name, enter a name for the scan.
l For Targets, enter targets as hostnames, IPv4 addresses, or IPv6 addresses.
Tip: For IP addresses, you can use CIDR notation (e.g., 192.168.0.0/24), a range (e.g.,
192.168.0.1-192.168.0.255), or a comma-separated list (e.g., 192.168.0.0,192.168.0.1). For more
information, see Scan Targets.
l (Optional) Configure the remaining settings.
5. To launch the scan immediately, click the button, and then click Launch.
Nessus runs the host discovery scan, and the My Scans page appears.
respective owners.
6. In the scans table, click the row of a completed host discovery scan.
The scan's results page appears.
7. In the Hosts tab, view the hosts that Nessus discovered, and any available associated inform-
ation, such as IP address, FQDN, operating system, and open ports.
Create and launch a scan on one or more discovered hosts:

2. In the scans table, click the row of your completed host discovery scan.
3. Click the Hosts tab.
Nessus displays a table of scanned hosts.
4. Select the check box next to each host you want to scan in your new scan.
At the top of the page, the More button appears.
5. Click the More button.
A drop-down box appears.
6. Click Create Scan.
7. Select a scan template for your new scan.
Nessus automatically populates the Targets list with the hosts you previously selected.
8. Configure the rest of the scan settings, as described in Scan and Policy Settings.
9. To launch the scan immediately, click the button, and then click Launch.
Nessus saves and launches the scan.
respective owners.
Create a Scan
3. Click the scan template that you want to use.
4. Configure the scan's settings.

l To launch the scan immediately, click the button, and then click Launch.
l To launch the scan later, click the Save button.
Nessus saves the scan.
respective owners.
Import a Scan
You can import a scan that was exported in Nessus (.nessus) or Nessus DB (.db) format. With an
imported scan, you can view scan results, export new reports for the scan, rename the scan, and
update the description. You cannot launch imported scans or update policy settings.
You can also import .nessus files as policies. For more information, see Import a Policy.
To import a scan:
2. In the upper-right corner, click Import.
Your browser's file manager window appears.
3. Browse to and select the scan file that you want to import.
Note: Supported file types are exported Nessus ( .nessus) and Nessus DB ( .db) files.
The Scan Import window appears.
4. If the file is encrypted, type the Password.
5. Click Upload.
Nessus imports the scan and its associated data.
respective owners.
Create an Agent Scan
To create an agent scan:
3. Click the Agent tab.
The Agent scan templates page appears.
4. Click the scan template that you want to use.
Tip: Use the search box in the top navigation bar to filter templates on the tab currently in view.
5. Configure the scan's settings.
6. (Optional) Configure compliance checks for the scan.
7. (Optional) Configure security checks by plugin family or individual plugin.
8. If you want to launch the scan later, click the Save button.
-or-
If you want to launch the scan immediately, click the button, then click Launch.
respective owners.
Modify Scan Settings
This procedure can be performed by a standard user or administrator.
2. Optionally, in the left navigation bar, click a different folder.
3. In the scans table, select the check box on the row corresponding to the scan that you want to
configure.
In the upper-right corner, the More button appears.
5. Click Configure.
The Configuration page for the scan appears.
6. Modify the settings.
7. Click the Save button.
The settings are saved.
respective owners.
Configure an Audit Trail
2. (Optional) In the left navigation bar, click a different folder.
3. On the scans table, click the scan for which you want to configure an audit trail.
The scan results appear.
4. In the upper right corner, click the Audit Trail button.
The Audit Trail window appears.
5. In the Plugin ID box, type the plugin ID used by one or more scans.
and/or
In the Host box, type the hostname for a detected host.
6. Click the Search button.
A list appears, which displays the results that match the criteria that you entered in one or both
boxes.
respective owners.
Delete a Scan
2. Optionally, in the left navigation bar, click a different folder.
3. On the scans table, on the row corresponding to the scan that you want to delete, click the
button.
The scan moves to the Trash folder.
4. To permanently delete the scan, in the left navigation bar, click the Trash folder.
The Trash page appears.
5. On the scans table, on the row corresponding to the scan that you want to permanently delete,
click the button.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to delete the scan.
6. Click the Delete button.
The scan is deleted.
Tip: On the Trash page, in the upper right corner, click the Empty Trash button to permanently delete
all scans in the Trash folder.
respective owners.
Scan Results
You can view scan results to help you understand your organization’s security posture and vul-
nerabilities. Color-coded indicators and customizable viewing options allow you to customize how you
view your scan’s data.
You can view scan results in one of several views:
Page Description
Dashboard In Nessus Manager, the default scan results page displays the Dashboard view.
Hosts The Hosts page displays all scanned targets.
Vulnerabilities List of identified vulnerabilities, sorted by severity.
Compliance If the scan includes compliance checks, this list displays counts and details sor-
ted by vulnerability severity.
If the scan is configured for compliance scanning, the button allows you to
navigate between the Compliance and Vulnerability results.
Remediations If the scan's results include Remediation information, this list displays sug-
gested remediations that address the highest number of vulnerabilities.
Notes The Notes page displays additional information about the scan and the scan’s
results.
History The History displays a listing of scans: Start Time, End Time, and the Scan
Statuses.
respective owners.
Create a New Scan from Scan Results
When you view scan results, you can select scanned hosts that you want to target in a new scan. When
you create a new scan, Nessus automatically populates the targets with the hosts that you selected.
To create a new scan from scan results:
2. In the scans table, click the row of a completed scan.

3. Click the Hosts tab.
Nessus displays a table of scanned hosts.
4. Select the check box next to each host you want to scan in your new scan.
At the top of the page, the More button appears.
6. Click Create Scan.
7. Select a scan template for your new scan.
Nessus automatically populates the Targets list with the hosts you previously selected.
8. Configure the rest of the scan settings, as described in Scan and Policy Settings.

l To launch the scan immediately, click the button, and then click Launch.
l To launch the scan later, click the Save button.
respective owners.
Search and Filter Results
You can search or use filters to view specific scan results. You can filter hosts and vulnerabilities, and
you can create detailed and customized scan result views by using multiple filters.
To search for hosts:

1. In scan results, click the Hosts tab.
2. In the Search Hosts box above the hosts table, type text to filter for matches in host names.
As you type, Nessus automatically filters the results based on your text.
To search for vulnerabilities:

l In scan results, in the Hosts tab, click a specific host to view its vulnerabilities.
l In scan results, click the Vulnerabilities tab to view all vulnerabilities.
2. In the Search Vulnerabilities box above the vulnerabilities table, type text to filter for matches
in vulnerability titles.
As you type, Nessus automatically filters the results based on your text.
To create a filter:
l In scan results, click the Hosts tab.
l In scan results, in the Hosts tab, click a specific host to view its vulnerabilities.
l In scan results, click the Vulnerabilities tab to view all vulnerabilities.
2. Click Filter next to the search box.
The Filter window appears.
3. Specify your filter options:

l Match Any or Match All: If you select All, only results that match all filters appear. If you
select Any, results that match any one of the filters appear.
l Plugin attribute: See the Plugin Attributes table for plugin attribute descriptions.
respective owners.
l Filter argument: Select is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain to
specify how the filter should match for the selected plugin attribute.
l Value: Depending on the plugin attribute you selected, enter a value or select a value from
the drop-down menu.
4. (Optional) Click to add another filter.
5. Click Apply.
Your filter is applied and the table displays vulnerabilities that match your filters.
To remove filters:
1. Click Filter next to the search box.
2. To remove a single filter, click next to the filter entry.
3. To remove all filters, click Clear Filters.
The filters are removed from the vulnerabilities displayed in the table.
Plugin Attributes
The following table lists plugins attributes you can use to filter results.
Option Description
Bugtraq ID Filter results based on if a Bugtraq ID is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does
not contain a given string (e.g., 51300).
CANVAS Filter results based on if the presence of an exploit in the CANVAS exploit frame-
Exploit work is equal to or is not equal to true or false.
Framework
CANVAS Filter results based on which CANVAS exploit framework package an exploit exists
Package for. Options include CANVAS, D2ExploitPack, or White_Phosphorus.
CERT Advis- Filter results based on if a CERT Advisory ID (now called Technical Cyber Security
ory ID Alert) is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g.,
TA12-010A).
CORE Exploit Filter results based on if the presence of an exploit in the CORE exploit framework
respective owners.
Framework is equal to or is not equal to true or false.
CPE Filter results based on if the Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) is equal to, is
not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., Solaris).
CVE Filter results based on if a Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) v2.0 ref-
erence is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string
(e.g., 2011-0123).
CVSS Base Filter results based on if a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) v2.0 base
Score score is less than, is more than, is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not
contain a string (e.g., 5).
This filter can be used to select by risk level. The severity ratings are derived from
the associated CVSS score, where 0 is Info, less than 4 is Low, less than 7 is
Medium, less than 10 is High, and a CVSS score of 10 will be flagged Critical.
CVSS Tem- Filter results based on if a CVSS v2.0 temporal score is less than, is more than, is
poral Score equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g., 3.3).
CVSS Tem- Filter results based on if a CVSS v2.0 temporal vector is equal to, is not equal to,
poral Vector contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., E:F).
CVSS Vector Filter results based on if a CVSS v2.0 vector is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
does not contain a given string (e.g., AV:N).
CVSS 3.0 Filter results based on if a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) v3.0 base
Base Score score is less than, is more than, is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not
contain a string (e.g., 5).
This filter can be used to select by risk level. The severity ratings are derived from
the associated CVSS score, where 0 is Info, less than 4 is Low, less than 7 is
Medium, less than 10 is High, and a CVSS score of 10 will be flagged Critical.
CVSS 3.0 Filter results based on if a CVSS v3.0 temporal score is less than, is more than, is
Temporal equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g., 3.3).
Score
CVSS 3.0 Filter results based on if a CVSS v3.0 temporal vector is equal to, is not equal to,
Temporal contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., E:F).
Vector
CVSS 3.0 Filter results based on if a CVSS v3.0 vector is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
respective owners.
Vector does not contain a given string (e.g., AV:N).
CWE Filter results based on Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) if a CVSS vector is
equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a CWE reference number
(e.g., 200).
Exploit Avail- Filter results based on the vulnerability having a known public exploit.
able
Exploit Data- Filter results based on if an Exploit Database ID (EBD-ID) reference is equal to, is
base ID not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., 18380).
Exploitability Filter results based on if the exploitability ease is equal to or is not equal to the fol-
Ease lowing values: Exploits are available, No exploit is required, or No known exploits
are available.
Exploited by Filter results based on if the presence of a vulnerability is exploitable by malware

Malware is equal to or is not equal to true or false.
Exploited by Filter results based on whether a plugin performs an actual exploit, usually an
Nessus ACT_ATTACK plugin.
Hostname Filter results if the host is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a
given string (e.g., 192.168 or lab). For agents, you can search by the agent target
name. For other targets, you can search by the target's IP address or DNS name,
depending on how the scan was configured.
IAVA Filter results based on if an IAVA reference is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
does not contain a given string (e.g., 2012-A-0008).
IAVB Filter results based on if an IAVB reference is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
does not contain a given string (e.g., 2012-A-0008).
IAVM Sever- Filter results based on the IAVM severity level (e.g., IV).
ity
In The News Filter results based on whether the vulnerability covered by a plugin has had cov-
erage in the news.
Malware Filter results based on whether the plugin detects malware; usually ACT_GATHER_
INFO plugins.
Metasploit Filter results based on if the presence of a vulnerability in the Metasploit Exploit
respective owners.
Exploit Framework is equal to or is not equal to true or false.
Framework
Metasploit Filter results based on if a Metasploit name is equal to, is not equal to, contains,
Name or does not contain a given string (e.g., xslt_password_reset).
Microsoft Filter results based on Microsoft security bulletins like MS17-09, which have the
Bulletin format MSXX-XXX , where X is a number.
Microsoft KB Filter results based on Microsoft knowledge base articles and security advisories.
OSVDB ID Filter results based on if an Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB) ID is

equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., 78300).
Patch Public- Filter results based on if a vulnerability patch publication date is less than, is more
ation Date than, is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g.,
12/01/2011).
Plugin Filter results if Plugin Description contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g.,
Description remote).
Plugin Fam- Filter results if Plugin Name is equal to or is not equal to one of the designated
ily Nessus plugin families. The possible matches are provided via a drop-down menu.
Plugin ID Filter results if plugin ID is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain
a given string (e.g., 42111).
Plugin Modi- Filter results based on if a Nessus plugin modification date is less than, is more
fication Date than, is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g.,
02/14/2010).
Plugin Name Filter results if Plugin Name is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not con-
tain a given string (e.g., windows).
Plugin Out- Filter results if Plugin Description is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not
put contain a given string (e.g., PHP)
Plugin Filter results based on if a Nessus plugin publication date is less than, is more
Publication than, is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g.,
Date 06/03/2011).
Plugin Type Filter results if Plugin Type is equal to or is not equal to one of the two types of
plugins: local or remote.
respective owners.
Port Filter results based on if a port is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not
contain a given string (e.g., 80).
Protocol Filter results if a protocol is equal to or is not equal to a given string (e.g., http).
Risk Factor Filter results based on the risk factor of the vulnerability (e.g., Low, Medium, High,
Critical).
Secunia ID Filter results based on if a Secunia ID is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does
not contain a given string (e.g., 47650).
See Also Filter results based on if a Nessus plugin see also reference is equal to, is not
equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., seclists.org).
Solution Filter results if the plugin slution contains or does not contain a given string (e.g.,
upgrade).
Synopsis Filter results if the plugin solution contains or does not contain a given string (e.g.,
PHP).
Vulnerability Filter results based on if a vulnerability publication date earlier than, later than,
Publication on, not on, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g., 01/01/2012).
Date
Note: Pressing the button next to the date will bring up a calendar interface for
easier date selection.
respective owners.
Compare Scan Results
You can compare two scan results to see differences between them. The comparison shows what is
new since the baseline (i.e., the primary result selected), not a differential of the two results. You can-
not compare imported scans or more than two scans.
Comparing scan results helps you see how a given system or network has changed over time. This
information is useful for compliance analysis by showing how vulnerabilities are being remediated, if
systems are patched as new vulnerabilities are found, or how two scans may not be targeting the same
hosts.
2. Click a scan.
3. Click the History tab.
4. In the row of both scan results you want to compare, select the check box.
5. In the upper-right corner, click Diff.
The Choose Primary Result window appears.
6. In the drop-down box, select a scan baseline for the comparison, then click Continue.
The scan result differences are displayed.
respective owners.
Dashboard
In Nessus Manager, you can configure a scan to display the scan’s results in an interactive dashboard
view.
Based on the type of scan performed and the type of data collected, the dashboard displays key values
and trending indicators.
Dashboard View
Based on the type of scan performed and the type of data collected, the dashboard displays key values
and a trending indicator.
Dashboard Details
Name Description
respective owners.
Current Vul- The number of vulnerabilities identified by the scan, by severity.
nerabilities
Operating Sys- The percentage of operating systems identified by the scan.

tem Com-
parison
Vulnerability The percentage of all vulnerabilities identified by the scan, by severity.

Comparison
Host Count The percentage of hosts scanned by credentialed and non-credentialed author-
Comparison ization types: without authorization, new without authorization, with author-
ization, and new with authorization.
Vulnerabilities Vulnerabilities found over a period of time. At least 2 scans must be completed
Over Time for this chart to appear.
Top Hosts Top 8 hosts that had the highest number of vulnerabilities found in the scan.
Top Vul- Top 8 vulnerabilities based on severity.

nerabilities
respective owners.
Vulnerabilities
Vulnerabilities are instances of a potential security issue found by a plugin. In your scan results, you
can choose to view all vulnerabilities found by the scan, or vulnerabilities found on a specific host.
Vulnerability view Path
All vulnerabilities detected by a scan Scans > [scan name] > Vulnerabilities
Vulnerabilities detected by a scan on a specific host Scans > Hosts > [scan name]
Example Vulnerability Information

List of a single host's scan results by plugin Details of a single host's plugin scan
severity and plugin name result
For information on managing vulnerabilities, see:
l View Vulnerabilities
l Search and Filter Results
l Modify a Vulnerability
l Group Vulnerabilities
l Snooze a Vulnerability
l Live Results
respective owners.
View Vulnerabilities
You can view all vulnerabilities found by a scan, or vulnerabilities found on a specific host by a scan.
When you drill down on a vulnerability, you can view information such as plugin details, description,
solution, output, risk information, vulnerability information, and reference information.
To view vulnerabilities:
2. Click the scan for which you want to view vulnerabilities.


l Click a specific host to view vulnerabilities found on that host.
l Click the Vulnerabilities tab to view all vulnerabilities.
The Vulnerabilities tab appears.
4. (Optional) To sort the vulnerabilities, click an attribute in the table header row to sort by that
attribute.
5. To view details for the vulnerability, click the vulnerability row.

The vulnerability details page appears, displaying plugin information and output for each
instance on a host.
respective owners.
Modify a Vulnerability
You can modify a vulnerability to change its severity level or hide it. This allows you to re-prioritize the
severity of results to better account for your organization’s security posture and response plan. When
you modify a vulnerability from the scan results page, the change only applies to that vulnerability
instance for that scan unless you indicate that the change should apply to all future scans. To modify
severity levels for all vulnerabilities, use Plugin Rules.
To modify a vulnerability:
2. Click the scan for which you want to view vulnerabilities.


4. In the row of the vulnerability you want to modify, click .
The Modify Vulnerability window appears.
5. In the Severity drop-down box, select a severity level or Hide this result.
Note: If you hide a vulnerability, it cannot be recovered and you accept its associated risks. To
temporarily hide a vulnerability, use Vulnerability Snoozing.
6. (Optional) Select Apply this rule to all future scans.
If you select this option, Nessus modifies this vulnerability for all future scans. Nessus does not
modify vulnerabilities found in past scans.
7. Click Save.
The vulnerability updates with your setting.
respective owners.
Group Vulnerabilities
When you group vulnerabilities, plugins with common attributes such as Common Platform
Enumeration (CPE), service, application, and protocol nest under a single row in scan results. Group-
ing vulnerabilities gives you a shorter list of results, and shows you related vulnerabilities together.
When groups are enabled, the number of vulnerabilities in the group appears next to the severity indic-
ator, and the group name says (Multiple Issues).
The severity indicator for a group is based on the vulnerabilities in the group. If all the vulnerabilities
in a group have the same severity, Nessus displays that severity level. If the vulnerabilities in a group
have differing severities, Nessus displays the Mixed severity level.
To group vulnerabilities:
2. Click on the scan for which you want to view vulnerabilities.

respective owners.
-or-
4. In the header row of the vulnerabilities table, click .
5. Click Enable Groups.
Nessus groups similar vulnerabilities in one row.
To ungroup vulnerabilities:
2. Click Disable Groups.
Vulnerabilities appear on their own row.
To view vulnerabilities within a group:

l In the vulnerabilities table, click the vulnerability group row.
A new vulnerabilities table appears and displays the vulnerabilities in the group.
To set group severity types to the highest severity within the group:
By default, groups that contain vulnerabilities with different vulnerabilities display the severity type
Mixed. You can change this setting to display the highest severity of any vulnerability in the group.
l Set the advanced setting scans_vulnerability_groups_mixed to no.
respective owners.
Snooze a Vulnerability
When you snooze a vulnerability, it does not appear in the default view of your scan results. You
choose a period of time for which the vulnerability is snoozed – once the snooze period expires, the
vulnerability awakes and appears in your list of scan results. You can also manually wake a vul-
nerability or choose to display snoozed vulnerabilities. Snoozing affects all instances of the vul-
nerability in a given scan, so you cannot snooze vulnerabilities only on a specific host.
To snooze a vulnerability:
2. Click on the scan for which you want to view vulnerabilities.


-or-
4. In the row of the vulnerability you want to snooze, click .
The Snooze for drop-down box appears.
5. Choose the period of time you want the vulnerability to snooze:

l Click 1 Day, 1 Week, or 1 Month.
-or-
l Click Custom .
The Snooze Vulnerability window appears.
6. In the Snooze Vulnerability window:
respective owners.
l If you selected a preset snooze period, click Snooze to confirm your selection.
l If you selected a custom snooze period, select the date you want the vulnerability to
snooze until, then click Snooze.
The vulnerability is snoozed for the selected period of time and does not appear in the default
view of scan results.
To show snoozed vulnerabilities:
2. Click Show Snoozed.
Snoozed vulnerabilities appear in the list of scan results.
To wake a snoozed vulnerability:
1. In the row of the snoozed vulnerability click .
The Wake Vulnerability window appears.
2. Click Wake.
The vulnerability is no longer snoozed, and appears in the default list of scan results.
respective owners.
Live Results
Nessus is automatically updated with new plugins, which allows you to assess your assets for new vul-
nerabilities. However, if your scan is on an infrequent schedule, the scan may not run new plugins
until several days after the plugin update. This gap could leave your assets exposed to vulnerabilities
that you are not aware of.
In Nessus Professional, you can use live results to view scan results for new plugins based on a scan's
most recently collected data, without running a new scan. Live results allow you to see potential new
threats and determine if you need to manually launch a scan to confirm the findings. Live results are
not results from an active scan; they are an assessment based on already-collected data. Live results
don't produce results for new plugins that require active detection, like an exploit, or that require data
that was not previously collected.
Live results appear with striped coloring in scan results. In the Vulnerabilities tab, the severity indic-
ator is striped, and the Live icon appears next to the plugin name.
The results page displays a note indicating that the results include live results. Tenable recommends
that you manually launch a scan to confirm the findings. The longer you wait between active scans, the
more outdated the data may be, which lessens the effectiveness of live results.
To manage live results, see the following:
respective owners.
l Enable or Disable Live Results
l Remove Live Results
respective owners.
Enable or Disable Live Results
The first time you enable live results on a scan, the scan results update to include findings for plugins
that were enabled since the last scan. The scan then updates with live results whenever there is a new
plugin update. live results are not results from an active scan; they are an assessment based on a
scan's most recently collected data. Live results don't produce results for new plugins that require act-
ive detection, like an exploit, or that require data that was not previously collected. To learn more, see
Live Results.
To enable or disable live results:
1. In Nessus Professional, create a new scan or edit an existing scan.
2. Go to the Settings tab.
3. Under Post-Processing, enable or disable Live Results:
l To enable, select the Live Results check box.
l To disable, clear the Live Results check box.
4. Click Save.
Nessus enables or disables live results for this scan.
respective owners.
Remove Live Results
In Nessus Professional, if a scan includes live results, Nessus displays the following notice on the scan
results page.
If you remove live results, they no longer appear on the scan results page. However, live results will re-
appear the next time the plugins are updated unless you disable the feature for the scan.
Tip: To launch the scan and confirm the live results findings, click Launch in the notice before you
remove the findings.
To remove Live Results findings from the scan results page:
l In the notice, click remove.
respective owners.
Scan Exports and Reports
Scans can be exported as a Nessus file or a Nessus DB file, as described in Export a Scan. These files
can then be imported as a scan or policy, as described in Import a Scan and Import a Policy.
You can also create a scan report in several different formats, as described in Create a Scan Report.
Some formats allow you to customize the information that is included; formats that do not allow cus-
tomization include all selected scan information in the report.
Allows Cus-
Format Description
tomization?
Exports
Nessus A .nessus file in XML format that contains the list of targets, No

policies defined by the user, and scan results. Password cre-
dentials are stripped so they are not exported as plain text in the
XML. If you import a .nessus file as a policy, you must re-apply your
passwords to any credentials.
Nessus A proprietary encrypted database format that contains all the No

DB information in a scan, including the audit trails and results. When
you export in this format, you must enter a password to encrypt
the results of the scan.
Reports
PDF A report generated in PDF format. Depending on the size of the Yes
report, PDF generation may take several minutes. Either Oracle
Java or OpenJDK is required for PDF reports.
HTML A report generated using standard HTML that allows cus- Yes
tomization. This report opens in a new tab in your browser.
CSV A comma-separated values (CSV) export that can be used to import Yes
into many external programs such as databases, spreadsheets, and
more.
respective owners.
Create a Scan Report
You can create a scan report to help you analyze the vulnerabilities and suggested remediations on
affected hosts. You can create a scan report in PDF, HTML, or CSV format, and customize it to contain
only certain information.
When you create a scan report, it includes the results that are currently visible on your scan results
page. You can also select certain hosts or vulnerabilities to further narrow your report.
To create a scan report:
2. Click a scan.
3. (Optional) To create a scan report that includes specific scan results, do the following:
l Use search to narrow your scan results.
l Use filters to narrow your scan results.
l In the Hosts tab, select the check box in each row of a host you want to include in the scan
report.
l In the Vulnerabilities tab, select the check box in each row of each vulnerability or vul-
nerability group that you want to include in the scan report.
Note: You can make selections in either Hosts or Vulnerabilities, but not across both tabs.
4. In the upper-right corner, click Report.
5. From the drop-down box, select the format in which you want to export the scan results.
6. Configure the report for your selected format:
CSV
a. Select the check boxes for the columns you want to appear in the CSV report.
respective owners.
Tip: To select all columns, click Select All. To clear all columns, click Clear. To reset
columns to the system default, click System.
b. (Optional) To save your current configuration as the default for CSV reports, select the
Save as default check box.
c. Click Generate Report.
Nessus creates the scan report.
PDF
Do one of the following:
l Create a high-level summary scan report:
a. Select Executive Summary.
b. Click Generate Report.
l Create a custom scan report:
a. Select Custom.
b. Configure the following settings:

l Data — Select the scan result sections you want to be included in the
report: Vulnerabilities, Remediations, and Compliance (only for scans with
compliance scans).
l Group Vulnerabilities By — From the drop-down box, select whether vul-

nerabilities should be grouped by Host or Plugin.
l If you group by Host, select whether to include Scan Information and

Host Information.
l If your report includes Vulnerabilities, select the Vulnerabilities Details that

you want to include. If a vulnerability does not have available data for the
details you selected, Nessus omits it for that result.
respective owners.
l Formatting Options — Select whether to Include page breaks between vul-
nerability results.
HTML
Do one of the following:
l Create a high-level summary scan report:
a. Select Executive Summary.
b. Click Generate Report.
l Create a custom scan report:
a. Select Custom.
b. Configure the following settings:

l Data — Select the scan result sections you want to be included in the
report: Vulnerabilities, Remediations, and Compliance (only for scans with
compliance scans).
l Group Vulnerabilities By — From the drop-down box, select whether vul-

nerabilities should be grouped by Host or Plugin.
l If you group by Host, select whether to include Scan Information and

Host Information.
l If your report includes Vulnerabilities, select the Vulnerabilities Details that

you want to include. If a vulnerability does not have available data for the
details you selected, Nessus omits it for that result.
respective owners.
Export a Scan
You can export a scan from one Nessus scanner and import it to a different Nessus scanner. This helps
you manage your scan results, compare reports, back up reports, and facilitates communication
between groups within an organization. For more information, see Import a Scan and Import a
Policy.
You can export scan results as a Nessus file or as a Nessus DB file. For more information, see Scan
Exports and Reports.
To export a scan:
2. Click a scan.
3. In the upper-right corner, click Export.
4. From the drop-down box, select the format in which you want to export the scan results.
l If you select Nessus format, Nessus automatically exports the file.
l If you select Nessus DB format, the Export as Nessus DB dialog box appears.
a. Type a password to protect the file.

When you import the Nessus DB file to another scanner, you are prompted for this
password.
b. Click Export.
Nessus exports the file.
respective owners.
Customized Reports
On the Customized Reports page in Nessus Professional, you can customize the title and logo that
appear on each report.
respective owners.
Customize Report Settings
This procedure can be performed by a standard user or administrator in Nessus Professional.
2. In the left navigation bar, click Customized Reports.
3. In the Custom Name box, type the name that you want to appear on the report.
4. To upload a custom logo, click the Upload button.
A window appears in which you can select a file to upload.
Your custom title and logo appear on all future reports.
respective owners.
Scan Folders
On the Scans page, the left navigation bar is divided into the Folders and Resources sections. The
Folders section always includes the following default folders that cannot be removed:
l My Scans
l All Scans
l Trash
When you access the Scans page, the My Scans folder appears. When you create a scan, it appears by
default in the My Scans folder.
The All Scans folder displays all scans you have created as well as any scans with which you have per-
mission to interact. You can click on a scan in a folder to view scan results.
The Trash folder displays scans that you have deleted. In the Trash folder, you can permanently
remove scans from your Nessus instance, or restore the scans to a selected folder. If you delete a
folder that contains scans, all scans in that folder are moved to the Trash folder. Scans stored in the
Trash folder are automatically deleted after 30 days.
respective owners.
respective owners.
Manage Scan Folders
These procedures can be performed by a standard user or administrator.
Create a Folder
2. In the upper-right corner, click the New Folder button.
The New Folder window appears.
3. In the Name box, type a name for the folder.
4. Click the Create button.
The folder is created and appears in the left navigation bar.
Move a Scan to a Folder

2. If the scan you want to move is not in the My Scans folder, on the left navigation bar, click the
folder that contains the scan you want to move.
3. On the scans table, select the check box on the row corresponding to the scan that you want to
configure.
4. Click More. Point to Move To, and click the folder that you want to move the scan to.
The scan moves to that folder.
Rename a Folder
2. In the left navigation bar, next to the folder that you want to rename, click the button, and
respective owners.
then click Rename.
The Rename Folder window appears.
3. In the Name box, type a new name.
The folder name changes.
Delete a Folder
2. In the left navigation bar, next to the folder that you want to rename, click the button, and
then click Delete.
The Delete Folder dialog box appears.
The folder is deleted. If the folder contained scans, those scans are moved to the Trash folder.
respective owners.
Policies
A policy is a set of predefined configuration options related to performing a scan. After you create a
policy, you can select it as a template when you create a scan.
Note: For information about default policy templates and settings, see the Scan and Policy Templates
topic.
Policy Characteristics
l Parameters that control technical aspects of the scan such as timeouts, number of hosts, type of
port scanner, and more.
l Credentials for local scans (e.g., Windows, SSH), authenticated Oracle database scans, HTTP, FTP,
POP, IMAP, or Kerberos based authentication.
l Granular family or plugin-based scan specifications.
respective owners.
l Database compliance policy checks, report verbosity, service detection scan settings, Unix com-
pliance checks, and more.
l Offline configuration audits for network devices, allowing safe checking of network devices
without needing to scan the device directly.
l Windows malware scans which compare the MD5 checksums of files, both known good and mali-
cious files.
respective owners.
Create a Policy
2. In the left navigation bar, click Policies.
The Policies page appears.
3. In the upper right corner, click the New Policy button.
The Policy Templates page appears.
4. Click the policy template that you want to use.
5. Configure the policy's settings.
The policy is saved.
respective owners.
Import a Policy
You can import a scan or policy that was exported as a Nessus file (.nessus) and import it as a
policy. You can then view and modify the configuration settings for the imported policy. You cannot
import a Nessus DB file as a policy.
To import a policy:
The Policies page appears.
3. In the upper-right corner, click Import.
Your browser's file manager window appears.
4. Browse to and select the scan file that you want to import.
Note: Supported file type is an exported Nessus ( .nessus) file.
Nessus imports the file as a policy.
5. (Optional) Modify Policy Settings.
respective owners.
Modify Policy Settings
3. In the policies table, select the check box on the row corresponding to the policy that you want
to configure.
5. Click Configure.
The Configuration page for the policy appears.
6. Modify the settings.
respective owners.
Delete a Policy
3. On the policies table, on the row corresponding to the policy that you want to delete, click the
button.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to delete the policy.
The policy is deleted.
respective owners.
About Nessus Plugins
As information about new vulnerabilities are discovered and released into the general public domain,
Tenable, Inc. research staff designs programs to enable Nessus to detect them.
These programs are named plugins, and are written in the Nessus proprietary scripting language,
called Nessus Attack Scripting Language (NASL).
Plugins contain vulnerability information, a generic set of remediation actions, and the algorithm to
test for the presence of the security issue.
Nessus supports the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) and supports both v2 and v3 values
simultaneously. If both CVSS2 and CVSS3 attributes are present, both scores are calculated. However in
determining the Risk Factor attribute, currently the CVSS2 scores take precedence.
Plugins also are utilized to obtain configuration information from authenticated hosts to leverage for
configuration audit purposes against security best practices.
To view plugin information, see a list of newest plugins, view all Nessus plugins, and search for specific
plugins, see the Nessus Plugins home page.
Example Plugin Information

List of a single host's scan results by plugin Details of a single host's plugin scan
severity and plugin name result
How do I get Nessus Plugins?

By default, plugins are set for automatic updates and Nessus checks for updated components and plu-
gins every 24 hours.
respective owners.
During the Product Registration portion of the Browser Portion of the Nessus install, Nessus down-
loads all plugins and compiles them into an internal database.
You can also use the nessuscli fetch —register command to manually download plugins. For
more details, see the Command Line section of this guide.
Optionally, during the Registration portion of the Browser Portion of the Nessus install, you can
choose the Custom Settings link and provide a hostname or IP address to a server which hosts your
custom plugin feed.
Tip: Plugins are obtained from port 443 of plugins.nessus.org, plugins-customers.nessus.org, or plugins-
us.nessus.org.
How do I update Nessus Plugins?

By default, Nessus checks for updated components and plugins every 24 hours. Additionally, you can
manually update plugins from the Scanner Settings Page in the user interface.
You can also use the nessuscli update --plugins-only command to manually update plugins.
For more details, see the Command Line section of this guide.
respective owners.
Create a Limited Plugin Policy
3. In the upper right corner, click the New Policy button.
The Policy Templates page appears.
4. Click the Advanced Scan template.
The Advanced Scan page appears.
5. Click the Plugins tab.
The list of plugin families appears, and by default, all of the plugin families are enabled.
6. In the upper right corner, click the Disable All button.
All the plugin families are disabled.
respective owners.
7. Click the plugin family that you want to include.
The list of plugins appears in the left navigation bar.
respective owners.
8. For each plugin that you want to enable, click the Disabled button.
Each plugin is enabled.
respective owners.
Tip: You can search for plugins and plugin families using the Search Plugin Families box in the
upper right corner.
The policy is saved.
respective owners.
Plugin Rules
Plugin Rules allow you to hide or change the severity of any given plugin. In addition, rules can be lim-
ited to a specific host or specific time frame. From this page you can view, create, edit, and delete your
rules.
The Plugin Rules option provides a facility to create a set of rules that dictate the behavior of certain
plugins related to any scan performed. A rule can be based on the Host (or all hosts), Plugin ID, an
optional Expiration Date, and manipulation of Severity.
This allows you to re-prioritize the severity of plugin results to better account for your organization’s
security posture and response plan.
Example Plugin Rule

Host: 192.168.0.6
Plugin ID: 79877
Expiration Date: 12/31/2016
Severity: Low
This rule is created for scans performed on IP address 192.168.0.6. Once saved, this Plugin Rule
changes the default severity of plugin ID 79877 (CentOS 7 : rpm (CESA-2014:1976) to a severity of low
until 12/31/2016. After 12/31/2016, the results of plugin ID 79877 will return to its critical severity.
respective owners.
Create a Plugin Rule
2. In the left navigation bar, click Plugin Rules.
3. In the upper right corner, click the New Rule button.
The New Rule window appears.
4. Configure the settings.
The plugin rule is saved.
respective owners.
Modify a Plugin Rule
3. On the plugin rules table, select the plugin rule that you want to modify.
The Edit Rule window appears.
4. Modify the settings as necessary.
respective owners.
Delete a Plugin Rule
3. On the plugin rules table, in the row for the plugin that you want to modify, click the button.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to delete the plugin rule.
The plugin rule is deleted.
respective owners.
Scanners
By default, Tenable.io is configured with a regional, specific cloud scanner. In addition to using the
default cloud scanner, users can also link Nessus scanners, NNM scanners, and Nessus Agents to Ten-
able.io.
Once linked to Tenable.io, use the Tenable.io key to add remote scanners to Scanner Groups. You can
also manage and select remote scanners when configuring scans.
The Linked Scanners page displays scanner names, types, and permissions.
The Scanners page displays the Linking Key and a list of remote scanners. You can click on a linked
scanner to view details about that scanner.
Scanners are identified by scanner type and indicate if the scanner has Shared permissions.
Remote scanners can be linked to Nessus Manager with the Linking Key or valid account credentials.
Once linked, scanners can be managed locally and selected when configuring scans.
respective owners.
Link Nessus Scanner
To link your Nessus scanner during initial installation, see Configure Nessus.
If you choose not to link the scanner during initial installation, you can link Nessus scanner later. You
can link a Nessus scanner to a manager such as Nessus Manager, Tenable.io, or Industrial Security 1.2
or later.
If your scanner is already linked to Tenable.sc, you can unlink by toggling the On switch to Off. You can
then link the scanner to Tenable.io or Nessus Manager, but you cannot relink to Tenable.sc from the
interface.
To link a Nessus scanner to a manager:
1. In the user interface of the manager you want to link to, copy the Linking Key, found on the fol-
lowing page:
l Tenable.io: Scans > Scanners
l Nessus Manager: Scans > Scanners
l Industrial Security: Sensor > Sensor Configuration
3. In the left navigation bar, click Remote Link.
4. Fill out the linking settings for your manager as described in Remote Link.
5. Click Save.
respective owners.
Enable or Disable a Scanner
Enable a Scanner
2. In the left navigation bar, click Scanners.
3. In the scanners table, in the row for the scanner that you want to enable, hover over the but-
ton.
becomes .
4. Click the button.
The scanner is enabled.
Disable a Scanner
3. In the scanners table, in the row for the scanner that you want to disable, hover over the but-
ton.
becomes .
The scanner is disabled.
respective owners.
Remove a Scanner
This procedure can be performed by an administrator.
3. In the scanners table, in the row for the scanner that you want to remove, click the button.
The scanner is removed.
respective owners.
Download Managed Scanner Logs
As an administrator in Nessus Manager, you can request and download a log file containing logs and
system configuration data from any of your managed scanners and Nessus Agents. This information
can help you troubleshoot system problems, and also provides an easy way to gather data to submit
to Tenable Support.
You can store a maximum of five log files from each managed scanner in Nessus Manager. Once the
limit is reached, you must remove an old log file to download a new one.
Note: You can only request logs from Nessus scanners running 8.1 and later.
To download logs from a managed scanner:
The Scanners page appears.
3. In the scanners table, click the scanner for which you want to download logs.
The Scanners page for that scanner appears.
4. Click the Logs tab.
5. In the upper-right corner, click Request Logs.
Note: If you have reached the maximum of five log files, the Request Logs button is disabled.
Remove an existing log before downloading a new one.
Nessus Manager requests the logs from the managed scanner the next time it checks in, which
may take several minutes. You can view the status of the request in the user interface until the
download is complete.
6. To download the log file, click the file name.

Your system downloads the log file.
To remove an existing log:
l In the row of the log you want to remove, click the button.
respective owners.
To cancel a pending or failed log download:
l In the row of the pending or failed log download that you want to cancel, click the button.
respective owners.
Agents
Agents increase scan flexibility by making it easy to scan assets without needing ongoing host cre-
dentials or assets that are offline. Additionally, agents enable large-scale concurrent scanning with
little network impact.
The Agents page displays the Linking Key and a list of linked agents. You can click on a linked agent to
view details about that agent. There are four tabs available on the Agents page: Linked Agents,
Agent Groups, Blackout Windows, and Agent Settings.
Once linked, an agent must be added to a group for use when configuring scans. Linked agents will
automatically download plugins from the manager upon connection. Agents are automatically
unlinked after a period of inactivity.
Note: Agents can take several minutes to download plugins, but it is required before an agent returns
scan results.
Agent Groups
respective owners.
Agent groups are used to organize and manage the agents linked to your scanner. Each agent can be
added to any number of groups and scans can be configured to use these groups as targets.
Note: Agent group names are case sensitive. When you link agents using System Center Configuration
Manager (SCCM) or the command line, you must use the correct case.
respective owners.
Modify Agent Settings
Use this procedure to modify agent settings in Nessus Manager.
To modify agent settings:
3. Click the Agent Settings tab.
4. Modify the settings as necessary.
5. Click Save to save your changes.
respective owners.
Agent Settings
You can configure system-wide agent settings to specify inactive agent options and blackout win-
dow settings for all your linked agents. For more information on creating, modifying, and deleting
blackout windows, see Blackout Windows.
Option Description
Manage Agents
Track unlinked When this setting is enabled, agents that are unlinked are preserved in the
agents manager along with the corresponding agent data. This option can also be
set using the nessuscli utility.
Note: Inactive agents that are automatically unlinked by Nessus Manager

are automatically relinked if they come back online.
Remove agents Specifies the number of days an agent can be inactive before the manager
that have been removes the agent.
inactive for X days
Requires that Track unlinked agents is enabled.
Blackout Windows
Enforce a per- When enabled, Nessus enforces a permanent blackout window schedule
manent blackout and any rules below are applied.
window schedule
Note: Any scheduled blackout windows are overridden by the permanent
blackout window.
Prevent software When enabled, agents do not receive software updates during scheduled
updates blackout windows.
Prevent plugin When enabled, agents do not receive plugin updates during scheduled
updates blackout windows.
Prevent agent When enabled, the system does not run agent scans during scheduled black-
scans out windows.
respective owners.
Filter Agents
Use this procedure to filter agents in Nessus Manager.
To filter agents in the agents table:
3. Above the agents table, click the Filter button.
4. Configure the options as necessary. Depending on the parameter you select, different options
appear:
Parameter Operator Expression
IP Address is equal to In the text box, type the IPv4 or IPv6 addresses on which
you want to filter.
is not equal
to
contains
does not
contain
Last Con- earlier than In the text box, type the date on which you want to filter.
nection
later than
Last Plugin
on
Update
not on
Last Scanned
Member of is equal to From the drop-down list, select from your existing agent
Group groups.
is not equal
to
respective owners.
Parameter Operator Expression
Name is equal to In the text box, type the agent name on which you want to
filter.
is not equal
to
contains
does not
contain
Platform contains In the text box, type the platform name on which you want
to filter.
does not
contain
Status is equal to In the drop-down list, select an agent status.

is not equal
to
Version is equal to In the text box, type the version you want to filter.
is not equal
to
contains
does not
contain
5. Click Apply.
The manager filters the list of agents to include only those that match your configured options.
respective owners.
Export Agents
To export agents data in Nessus Manager:
3. (Optional) Click the Filter button to apply a filter to the agents list.
4. In the upper right corner, click Export. If a drop-down appears, click CSV.
Your browser's download manager appears.
5. Click OK to save the agents.csv file.
The agents.csv file exported from Nessus Manager contains the following data:
Field Description
Agent Name The name of the agent
Status The status of the agent at the time of export. Possible values are unlinked,
online, or offline.
IP Address The IPv4 or IPv6 address of the agent.
Platform The platform the agent is installed on.
Groups The names of any groups the agent belongs to.
Version The version of the agent.
Last Plugin The date (in ISO-8601 format) the agent's plugin set was last updated.
Update
Last Scanned The date (in ISO-8601 format) the agent last performed a scan of the host.
respective owners.
Download Linked Agent Logs
As an administrator in Nessus Manager, you can request and download a log file containing logs and
system configuration data from any of your managed scanners and agents. This information can help
you troubleshoot system problems, and also provides an easy way to gather data to submit to Tenable
Support.
You can store a maximum of five log files from each agent in Nessus Manager. Once the limit is
reached, you must remove an old log file to download a new one.
Note: You can only request logs from Nessus Agents running 7.2 and later.
To download logs from a linked agent:
3. In the agents table, click the agent for which you want to download logs.
The Agents page for that agent appears.
4. Click the Logs tab.
5. In the upper-right corner, click Request Logs.
Note: If you have reached the maximum of five log files, the Request Logs button is disabled.
Remove an existing log before downloading a new one.
Nessus Manager requests the logs from the agent the next time it checks in, which may take sev-
eral minutes. You can view the status of the request in the user interface until the download is
complete.
6. To download the log file, click the file name.

Your system downloads the log file.
To remove an existing log:
l In the row of the log you want to remove, click the button.
respective owners.
To cancel a pending or failed log download:
l In the row of the pending or failed log download that you want to cancel, click the button.
respective owners.
Unlink an Agent
When you unlink an agent, the agent disappears from the Agents page, but the system retains related
data for the period of time specified in agent settings.
Use this procedure to unlink an agent in Nessus Manager.
To unlink a single agent:
3. For Nessus 7.1.1 and later: In the agents table, in the row for the agent that you want to unlink,
click the button.
-or-
For Nessus 7.1.0 and earlier: In the agents table, in the row for the agent that you want to unlink,
click the button.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to unlink the agent.
4. Click the Unlink button.
The manager unlinks the agent.
To unlink multiple agents:
3. (Optional) Search for a specific agent or filter the agents in the table.
respective owners.
4. In the agents table, select the check box in each row for each agent you want to unlink.
Note: To select all agents that match your current filter, select the check box in the table header.
If you have multiple pages of agents and select all agents, Nessus Manager selects all agents
that match your filter across all pages, not only the current page.
5. In the upper-right corner, click Unlink.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to unlink the agent.
6. Click the Unlink button.
The manager unlinks the agents.
respective owners.
Agent Groups
You can use agent groups to organize and manage the agents linked to your Nessus Manager. You can
add an agent to more than one group, and configure scans to use these groups as targets.
Tenable recommends that you size agent groups appropriately, particularly if you are managing scans
in Nessus Manager and then importing the scan data into Tenable.sc. You can size agent groups when
you manage agents in Nessus Manager.
The more agents that you scan and include in a single agent group, the more data that the manager
must process in a single batch. The size of the agent group determines the size of the .nessus file
that must be imported into Tenable.sc. The .nessus file size affects hard drive space and bandwidth.
To manage agent groups, use the following procedures:
l Create a New Agent Group
l Modify an Agent Group
l Delete an Agent Group
respective owners.
Create a New Agent Group
You can use agent groups to organize and manage the agents linked to your account. You can add an
agent to more than one group, and configure scans to use these groups as targets.
Use this procedure to create an agent group in Nessus Manager.
To create a new agent group:
3. Click the Groups tab.
4. In the upper right corner, click the New Group button.
The New Agent Group window appears.
5. In the Name box, type a name for the new agent group.
6. Click Add.
The new agent group appears in the table.
respective owners.
Modify an Agent Group
Use this procedure to modify an agent group in Nessus Manager.
To modify an agent group:
3. Click the Agent Groups tab.
4. In the row for the agent group that you want to modify, click the button.
The Edit Agent Group window appears.
5. Modify the name of the agent group as needed.
respective owners.
Delete an Agent Group
Use this procedure to delete an agent group in Nessus Manager.
To delete an agent group:
3. Click the Groups tab.
4. In the row for the agent group that you want to delete, click the button.
A dialog box appears, prompting you to confirm your deletion.
5. Click Delete.
respective owners.
Blackout Windows
Blackout Windows allow you to prevent any combination of agent software updates, plugin updates,
and agent scans from being installed or executed, based on a given schedule. Blackout windows apply
to all linked agents.
You can configure a permanent agent blackout window and optional rules on the Agent Settings tab.
See Agent Settings for details on the permanent agent blackout window and each optional rule.
To manage blackout windows, use the following procedures:
l Create a Blackout Window
l Modify a Blackout Window
l Delete a Blackout Window
respective owners.
Create a Blackout Window
Blackout windows will apply to all linked agents and will prevent the agents from receiving and apply-
ing software updates during scheduled windows. Agents will still receive plugin updates and continue
performing scheduled scans during these windows.
To create a blackout window for linked agents:
3. Click the Blackout Windows tab.
4. In the upper-right corner, click the New Window button.
The New Blackout Window page appears.
5. Configure the options as necessary.
6. Click Save.
The blackout window goes into effect and appears on the Blackout Windows tab.
respective owners.
Modify a Blackout Window
Use this procedure to manage a blackout window for agent scanning in Nessus Manager.
To modify a blackout window:
4. In the blackout window table, click the blackout window you want to modify.
The Blackout Windows / <Name> window appears, where <Name> is the name of the selected
blackout window.
5. Modify the options as necessary.
respective owners.
Delete a Blackout Window
Use this procedure to delete a blackout window for agent scanning in Nessus Manager.
To delete a blackout window for agent scanning:
4. In the blackout window table, in the row for the blackout window that you want to delete, click
the delete button ( ).
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to delete the blackout window.
5. Click Delete to confirm the deletion.
respective owners.
Clustering
With Nessus Manager clustering, you can deploy and manage large numbers of agents from a single
Nessus Manager instance. For Tenable.sc users with over 10,000 agents and up to 200,000 agents, you
can manage your agent scans from a single Nessus Manager, rather than needing to link multiple
instances of Nessus Manager to Tenable.sc.
A Nessus Manager instance with clustering enabled acts as a parent node to child nodes, each of
which manage a smaller number of agents. Once a Nessus Manager instance becomes a parent node,
it no longer manages agents directly. Instead, it acts as a single point of access where you can manage
scan policies and schedules for all the agents across the child nodes. With clustering, you can scale
your deployment size more easily than if you had to manage several different Nessus Manager
instances separately.
Example scenario: Deploying 100,000 agents

You are a Tenable.sc user who wants to deploy 100,000 agents, managed by Nessus Manager.
Without clustering, you deploy 10 Nessus Manager instances, each supporting 10,000 agents. You
must manually manage each Nessus Manager instance separately, such as setting agent scan policies
and schedules, and updating your software versions. You must separately link each Nessus Manager
instance to Tenable.sc.
With clustering, you use one Nessus Manager instance to manage 100,000 agents. You enable clus-
tering on Nessus Manager, which turns it into a parent node, a management point for child nodes. You
link 10 child nodes, each of which manages around 10,000 agents. You can either link new agents or
migrate existing agents to the cluster. The child nodes receive agent scan policy, schedule, and plugin
and software updates from the parent node. You link only the Nessus Manager parent node to Ten-
able.sc.
Definitions
Parent node — The Nessus Manager instance with clustering enabled, which child nodes link to.
Child node — A Nessus instance that acts as a node that Nessus Agents connect to.
Nessus Manager cluster — A parent node, its child nodes, and associated agents.
For more information, see the following topics:
respective owners.
l Clustering System Requirements
l Enable Clustering
l Get Linking Key from Parent Node
l Link a Node
l Migrate Agents to a Cluster
l Enable or Disable Nodes
l Rebalance Nodes
l View or Edit a Node
l Delete a Node
respective owners.
Clustering System Requirements
The following are system requirements for the parent node and child nodes. These estimations
assume that the KB and audit trail settings are disabled. If those settings are enabled, the size required
can significantly increase.
Parent Node (Nessus Manager with clustering enabled)
Note: The amount of disk space needed depends on how many agent scan results are kept and for how
long. For example, if you run a single 5000 agent scan result once per day and keep scan results for 7
days, the estimated disk space used is 35 GB. The disk space required per scan result varies based on
the consistency, number, and types of vulnerabilities detected.
l Disk: Estimated minimum of 5 GB per 5000 agents per scan per day
l CPU: 2 cores
l RAM: 8 GB
Child Node (Nessus managed by Nessus Manager parent node)
Note: Disk space is used to temporarily store agent scan results, both individual and combined, before
uploading the results to the parent node.
Child node with 0-10,000 agents:
l Disk: Estimated minimum of 5 GB per 5000 agents per concurrent scan.
l CPU: 2 cores
l RAM: 8 GB
Child node with 10,000-20,000 agents:

A child node can support a maximum of 20,000 agents.
l Disk: Estimated minimum of 5 GB per 5000 agents per concurrent scan.
l CPU: 4 cores
l RAM: 16 GB
respective owners.
Agents
l Linked agents must be on software version 7.4.0 or later.
respective owners.
Enable Clustering
When you enable clustering on Nessus Manager it becomes a parent node. You can then link child
nodes, each of which manages Nessus Agents. You cannot reverse clustering and turn Nessus Manager
into a regular scanner or Nessus Agent manager.
Note: To enable Nessus Manager clustering in Nessus 8.5.x or 8.6.x, you must contact your Tenable rep-
resentative. In Nessus Manager 8.7.x and later, you can enable clustering using the following procedure.
To enable clustering in Nessus Manager:
3. Click the Settings tab.
4. Under Cluster, select Enable Cluster.
Caution: You cannot reverse clustering and turn Nessus Manager into a regular, non-clustered
Nessus Manager instance.
5. Click Save.
Your Nessus Manager becomes a parent node.
What to do next:
l Link child nodes to the parent node.
respective owners.
Get Linking Key from Parent Node
You need the linking key from the cluster parent node to link child nodes or migrate agents to the
cluster.
To get the linking key from the parent node:
1. In the Nessus Manager parent node, click Scans.
3. Click the Cluster tab.
The Cluster page appears.
4. Copy or make note of the Linking Key.
What to do next:
l Link a child node to the cluster.
l Link new agents to the cluster.
l Migrate existing agents to the cluster.
respective owners.
Link a Node
To link a node to a cluster, you install an instance of Nessus as a cluster child node, then configure the
node to link to the parent node of the cluster.
Before you begin:
l Get the linking key from the cluster parent node.
To install and configure Nessus as a child node:
1. Install Nessus as described in the appropriate Install Nessus procedure for your operating sys-
tem.
3. Click Continue.
4. From the Managed by drop-down box, select Nessus Manager (Cluster Node).
5. Click Continue.
7. Click Submit.
To link the child node to the parent node:
1. In the Nessus child node, use the administrator user account you created during initial con-
figuration to sign in to Nessus.
The Agents page appears. By default, the Node Settings tab is open.
2. Enable the toggle to On.
respective owners.
3. Fill out the General Settings:
l Node Name — Type a unique name that is used to identify this Nessus child node on the
parent node.
l (Optional) Node Host — Type the hostname or IP address that Nessus Agents should use
to access the child node.
l (Optional) Node Port — Type the port for the specified host.
4. Fill out the Cluster Settings:
l Cluster Linking Key — Paste or type the linking key that you copied from the Nessus Man-
ager parent node.
l Parent Node Host — Type the hostname or IP address of the Nessus Manager parent
node to which you are linking.
l Parent Node Port — Type the port for the specified host. The default is 8834.
l Use Proxy — Select the check box if you want to connect to the parent node via the proxy
settings set in Proxy Server.
5. Click Save.
The Nessus child node is linked to the parent node.
What to do next:
l Link or migrate agents to the cluster.
l Log in to the Nessus Manager parent node to manage linked Nessus Agents, rather than man-
aging agents from the child node.
respective owners.
Migrate Agents to a Cluster
If you have an instance of Nessus Manager with linked agents, you can choose to migrate the asso-
ciated agents to an existing cluster. After the agents successfully migrate to the cluster, the agents are
then unlinked from their original Nessus Manager. Any agents that did not successfully migrate remain
linked to the original Nessus Manager. The original Nessus Manager remains as a Nessus Manager
instance and does not become part of the cluster.
Before you begin
l Ensure there is an existing cluster available for the agents to migrate to. If you do not have an
existing cluster, enable clustering on the Nessus Manager instance you want to act as the par-
ent node for the cluster.
l Get the linking key from the Nessus Manager parent node for the cluster.
To migrate agents to a cluster:
3. Click the Cluster Migration tab.
4. Complete the Cluster Information:
l Parent Node Hostname — Type the hostname or IP address of the Nessus Manager par-
ent node of the cluster to which you are migrating.
l Parent Node Port — Type the port for the specified parent node host. The default is 8834.
l Parent Node Linking Key — Paste or type the linking key that you copied from the Nes-
sus Manager parent node, as described in Link a Node.
l Enable Agent Migration — Select this check box to migrate agents to the cluster. Disable
the check box to stop migrating agents, if agents are currently in the process of migrating.
5. Click Save.
respective owners.
Nessus Manager begins or stops migrating agents to the cluster, depending on whether you have
selected Enable Agent Migration.
What to do next:
l Log in to the Nessus Manager parent node to manage linked Nessus Agents.
respective owners.
View or Edit a Node
On Nessus Manager with clustering enabled, you can view the list of child nodes currently linked to the
parent node. You can view details for a specific node, such as its status, IP address, number of linked
agents, software information, and plugin set. If agents on the node are currently running a scan, a
scan progress bar appears.
You can edit a node's name or the maximum number of agents that can be linked to the child node.
To view or edit a child node:
Nessus Manager displays the nodes table.
4. Click the row of the child node you want to view.
Nessus Manager displays the Node Details tab.
5. In the Node Details tab, view detailed information for the selected node.
6. To edit node settings, click the Settings tab.
7. Edit any of the following:

l Node Name: Type a unique name to identify the node.
l Max Agents: Type the maximum number of agents that can be linked to the child node.
The default value is 10000 and the maximum value is 20000.
8. Click Save.
Nessus Manager updates the node settings.
respective owners.
Rebalance Nodes
Nessus Agents may become unevenly distributed across child nodes for a number of reasons. For
example, when a child node is temporarily unavailable, was disabled, was deleted, or was recently
added. When the imbalance passes a certain threshold, Nessus Manager gives you the option to rebal-
ance child nodes.
When you rebalance child nodes, Nessus Agents get redistributed evenly across child nodes. Nessus
Agents unlink from an overloaded child node and relink to a child node with more availability.
To rebalance child nodes:
Nessus Manager displays the child nodes table.
4. In the upper-right corner of the page, click Rebalance Nodes.
Nessus Manager rebalances the Nessus Agent distribution across child nodes.
respective owners.
Enable or Disable Nodes
If you disable a child node, its linked Nessus Agents relink to another available child node. If you re-
enable a child node, Nessus Agents may become unevenly distributed, at which point you can choose
to Rebalance Nodes.
To enable or disable child nodes:
4. In the row of a child node, do one of the following:

l To disable a node:
a. Hover over the button, which becomes .
b. Click the button.
Nessus Manager disables the child node.
l To enable a node:
a. Hover over the . button, which becomes .
b. Click the button.
Nessus Manager enables the child node.
respective owners.
Delete a Node
When you delete a child node, linked Nessus Agents eventually relink to another available child node,
though it may take longer than if you disable the child node.
If you delete a node, you cannot undo this action. If you only want to temporarily disable a child node,
see Enable or Disable Nodes.
To delete a child node:
4. In the row of the child node you want to delete, click the button.
The Delete Agent Node dialog box appears.
5. To confirm you want to delete the child node, click Delete.
Nessus Manager deletes the child node.
respective owners.
Settings Page
The Settings page contains the following sections:
l About
l Advanced
l Proxy Server
l Remote Link
l SMTP Server
l Custom CA
l My Account
l Users
respective owners.
About
The About page displays an overview of Nessus licensing and plugin information. When you access the
product settings, the About page appears by default. Basic users cannot view the Software Update or
Master Password tabs. Standard users can only view the product version and basic information
about the current plugin set.
To download logs, click the Download Logs button in the upper-right corner of the page. For more
information, see Download Logs.
Value Description
Nessus Professional
Version The version of your Nessus instance.
Last The date on which the plugin set was last refreshed.
Updated
Expiration The date on which your license expires.
Note: For Nessus Professional 8.5 and later, you cannot run scans or download new
plugins after your license expires. You can still access your system and scan reports
for 30 days after expiration.
Plugin Set The ID of the current plugin set.
Policy The ID of the current version of the policy template set.
Template
Version
Activation The activation code for your instance of Nessus.

Code
Nessus Manager
Version The version of your Nessus instance.
Licensed The number of hosts you can scan, depending on your license.
Hosts
Licensed The number of scanners that you have licensed that are currently in use.
Scanners
respective owners.
Value Description
Licensed The number of agents that you have licensed that are currently in use.
Agents
Last The date on which the plugin set was last refreshed.
Updated
Expiration The date on which your license expires.
Plugin Set The ID of the current plugin set.
Policy The ID of the current version of the policy template set.
Template
Version
Activation The activation code for your instance of Nessus.

Code
respective owners.
License Utilization
In Nessus Essentials or a Nessus Professional trial, you have a license limit that determines the num-
ber of hosts that you can scan.
Hosts discovered by a host discovery scan do not count towards your license limit. If a host has not
been scanned in 90 days, it no longer counts towards the license limit. You can view your license use
to see what hosts are counting towards the license limit and when Nessus last scanned hosts.
The host limit applies to both of the following:
l Number of hosts per scan.
l Number of unique hosts scanned cumulatively across all scans.
License Limits
Product Host limit
Nessus Essentials 16
Nessus Professional trial 32
respective owners.
View License Use
In Nessus Essentials or a Nessus Professional trial, you can check how many hosts you have scanned
out of your license limit.
To view your license use:
2. Click the License Utilization tab.
Nessus displays hosts that currently count against your license limit and the following inform-
ation:
Column Description
IP The IP address of the host.
Name The hostname of the host, if available.
First The date Nessus first scanned the host for vulnerabilities, which is the date the
Scanned host started counting towards your license.
Last The number of days ago Nessus last scanned the host for vulnerabilities. If Nes-
Scanned sus does not scan the host for 90 days, the host stops counting towards the
license limit.
respective owners.
Update Nessus Software
Configure Automatic Updates

3. In the Automatic Updates section, select one of the following options:
l Update all components: Updates the Nessus engine and downloads the latest plugin set.
l Update plugins: Downloads the latest plugin set.
4. Depending on how specifically you want to define the update interval,
In the Update Frequency box, select the interval at which you want Nessus to update (Daily,
Weekly, or Monthly).
-or-
In the Update Frequency section, click the button.
A box appears where you can type the number of hours you want to define as the interval.
5. In the Update Server box, type the server from which you want Nessus to download plugins.
Nessus downloads any available updates automatically per your settings.
Download Updates Manually

3. In the Automatic Updates section, click Disabled.
4. In the Update Server box, type the server from which you want Nessus to download plugins.
respective owners.
Nessus downloads any available updates.
respective owners.
Set a Master Password
If you set a master password, Nessus encrypts all policies and credentials contained in the policy, and
prompts you for the password as needed.
Caution: If you lose your master password, it cannot be recovered by an administrator or Tenable Sup-
port.
2. Click the Master Password tab.
3. In the New Password box, type your desired password.
The master password is saved.
respective owners.
Advanced Settings
The Advanced Settings page allows you to manually configure Nessus. You can configure advanced
settings from the Nessus user interface, or from the command line interface. Nessus validates your
input values to ensure only valid configurations are allowed.
Advanced Settings are grouped into the following categories:
l User Interface
l Scanning
l Logging
l Performance
l Security
l Agents and Scanners
l Cluster
l Miscellaneous
l Custom
Details
l Advanced settings apply globally across your Nessus instance.
l To configure advanced settings, you must use a Nessus administrator user account.
l Not all advanced settings are automatically populated in the Nessus interface.
l Changes may take several minutes to take effect.
l Settings that require restarting Nessus for the change to apply are indicated by the icon in the
user interface.
l Custom policy settings supersede the global advanced settings.
User Interface
respective owners.
Valid Val-
Setting Identifier Description Default
ues
Allow Post- allow_post_ Allows a user to make edits to yes yes or no

Scan Editing scan_editing scan results after the scan is
complete.
Disable Nes- disable_ Disables the new XMLRPC no yes or no

sus Web xmlrpc (Web Server) interface.
Server
Disable Ten- disable_rss In Nessus Essentials or Nes- no yes or no

able News sus Professional trial, the left
navigation bar displays a Ten-
able news widget. Use this set-
ting to disable the widget.
Disable UI disable_ui Disables the user interface on no yes or no

managed scanners.
Login Ban- login_banner A text banner displays that None String

ner appears after you attempt to
log in to Nessus.
Note: The banner only

appears the first time you
log in on a new browser or
computer.
Maximum global.max_ Maximum web users who can 1024 Integers.

Concurrent web_users connect simultaneously.
If set to 0,
Web Users
no limit is
enforced.
Nessus Web listen_ IPv4 address to listen for 0.0.0 String in

Server IP address incoming connections. If set the format
to 127.0.0.1, this restricts of an
access to local connections IP address
only.
Nessus Web xmlrpc_ The port that the Nessus web 8834 Integers
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
Server Port listen_port server listens on.
Use Mixed scan_vul- When enabled, Nessus dis- yes yes or no

Vulnerability nerability_ plays the severity level as
Groups groups_ Mixed for vulnerability
mixed groups, unless all the vul-
nerabilities in a group have
the same severity. When dis-
abled, Nessus displays the
highest severity indicator of a
vulnerability in a group
Use Vul- scan_vul- When enabled, Nessus yes yes or no

nerability nerability_ groups vulnerabilities in scan
Groups groups results by common attributes,
giving you a shorter list of res-
ults.
Scanning
Valid
Iden- Defaul-
Setting Description Val-
tifier t
ues
Audit audit_ Controls verbosity of the plugin audit trail. Full full full,
Trail trail audit trails include the reason why plugins were not par-
Verbosity included in the scan.
tial,
none
Auto auto_ Automatically activates the plugins that are yes yes
Enable enable_ depended on. If disabled, not all plugins may run or no
Plugin depend- despite being selected in a scan policy.
Depend- encies
encies
CGI Path- cgi_path A colon-delimited list of CGI paths to use for web /cgi- String
respective owners.
Valid
Iden- Defaul-
tifier t
ues
s for server scans. bin:/sc-

Web ripts
Scans
Engine engine.i- Number of seconds a scan engine remains idle 60 Intege-

Thread dle_wait before shutting itself down. rs 0-
Idle Time 600
Max Plu- plugin_ The maximum size, in kilobytes (KB), of plugin out- 1000 Intege-
gin Out- output_ put to be included in exported scan results with the rs.
put Size max_ .nessus format. If the output exceeds the max- If set
size_kb imum size, it is truncated in the report. to 0,
no
limit
is
enfor-
ced.
Max- report.m- The maximum number of allowable ports. If there 1024 Intege-
imum ax_ports are more ports in the scan results than this value, rs
Ports in the excess will be discarded. This limit helps guard
Scan against fake targets that may have thousands of
Reports reported ports, but can also result in valid results
being deleted from the scan results database, so
you may want to increase the default if this is a
problem.
Max- attache- Specifies the maximum size, in megabytes (MB), of 25 Intege-

imum d_ any report attachment. If the report exceeds the rs 0-
Size for report_ maximum size, then it is not attached to the email. 50
E-mailed max- Nessus does not support report attachments larger
Reports imum_ than 50 MB.
size
Nessus rules Location of the Nessus rules file (nessusd.rules). Nessus String
Rules
respective owners.
Valid
Iden- Defaul-
tifier t
ues
File Loca- The following are the defaults for each operating config
tion system: dir-
Linux: /op- ectory
t/nessus/etc/nessus/nessusd.rules for
your
Mac OS X: /Library/Nes-
oper-
sus/run/var/nessus/conf/nessusd.rules
ating
Windows: C:\Pro- system
gramData\Ten-
able\Nessus\nessus\conf\nessusd.rules
Non-Sim- non_sim- Specifies ports against which two plugins cannot 139, String
ultan- ult_ports not be run simultaneously. 445,
eous 3389
Ports
Paused paused_ The duration, in minutes, that a scan can remain in 0 Intege-
Scan scan_ the paused state before it is terminated. rs 0-
Timeout timeout 10080
PCAP pcap.sna- The snapshot size used for packet capture; the max- 0 Intege-
Snap- plen imum size of a captured network packet. Typically, rs 0-
shot this value is automatically set based on the scan- 26214-
Length ner's NIC. However, depending on your network con- 4
figuration, packets may be truncated, resulting in
the following message in your scan report: "The cur-
rent snapshot length of ### for interface X is too
small." You can increase the length to avoid packets
being truncated.
Port port_ The default range of ports that the scanner plugins defau- defa-
Range range probe. lt ult,
all, a
respective owners.
Valid
Iden- Defaul-
tifier t
ues
range
of
ports,
a
comm-
a-sep-
arate-
d list
of
ports
and/-
or
port
range-
s.
Spe-
cify
UDP
and
TCP
ports
by
pre-
fixing
each
range
by T:
or U:.
Reverse reverse_ When enabled, targets are identified by their fully no yes
DNS Loo- lookup qualified domain name (FQDN) in the scan report. or no
kups When disabled, the report identifies the target by
hostname or IP address.
respective owners.
Valid
Iden- Defaul-
tifier t
ues
Safe safe_ When enabled, Nessus uses safe checks, which use yes yes
Checks checks banner grabbing rather than active testing for a vul- or no
nerability.
Silent silent_ When enabled, the list of plugin dependencies and yes yes
Plugin depend- their output are not included in the report. A plugin or no
Depend- encies may be selected as part of a policy that depends on
encies other plugins to run. By default, Nessus runs those
plugin dependencies, but does not include their out-
put in the report. When disabled, Nessus includes
both the selected plugin and any plugin depend-
encies in the report.
Slice Net- slice_net- If this option is set, Nessus does not scan a network no yes
work work_ incrementally (10.0.0.1, then 10.0.0.2, then 10.0.0.3, or no
Addresse- addresse- and so on) but attempts to slice the workload
s s throughout the whole network (e.g., it scans
10.0.0.1, then 10.0.0.127, then 10.0.0.2, then
10.0.0.128, and so on).
Logging
Valid
Iden- Defa-
tifier ult
ues
Log log_ When enabled, scan logs include the user name, scan no yes
Addi- details name, and current plugin name in addition to the or no
tional base information. You may not see these additional
Scan details unless log_whole_attack is also enabled.
Details
Log log_ Logs verbose details of the scan. Helpful for debug- no yes
Verb- whole_ ging issues with the scan, but this may be disk intens- or no
ose attack ive. To add additional details, enable log_details.
respective owners.
Valid
Iden- Defa-
tifier ult
ues
Scan
Details
Nessus dumpfile Location of a dump file for debugging output if gen- Nes- String
Dump erated. sus
File
The following are the defaults for each operating sys- log
Loca-
tem: dir-
tion
Linux: ect-
ory
/opt/nessus/var/nessus/logs/nessud.dump
for
Mac OS X: your
/Library/Nes- oper-
sus/run/var/nessus/logs/nessusd.dump ating
sys-
Windows:
tem
C:\Pro-
gramData\Ten-
able\Nessus\nessus\logs\nessusd.dump
Nessus nasl_log_ The type of NASL engine output in nessusd.dump. nor- nor-
Dump type mal mal,
File Log
none,
Level
trac-
e, or
full.
Nessus backend_ The Nessus backend logging level. nor- verb-

Log log_level mal ose,
Level
debu-
g,
nor-
mal
respective owners.
Valid
Iden- Defa-
tifier ult
ues
Nessus logfile Location where the Nessus log file is stored. Nes- String
Scan- sus
The following are the defaults for each operating sys-
ner Log
tem: log
Loca-
dir-
tion Linux:
ect-
/op- ory
t/nes- for
sus/var/nessus/logs/nessusd.messages your
Mac OS X: oper-
ating
/Library/Nes-
sys-
sus/run/var/nessus/logs/nessusd.messages
tem
Windows:
C:\Pro-
gramData\Ten-
able\Nessus\nessus\logs\nessusd.messages
Scan- scan- Enables scanner performance metrics data gathering. 0 0 (off)

ner Met- ner- or
ric .metrics 0x3f
Log- (full
ging data
gath-
ering)
Use Mil- logfile_ When enabled, log timestamps are in milliseconds. no yes
lisecon- msec When disabled, log timestamps are in seconds. or no
ds in
Logs
Performance
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
Engine Thread Pool thread_pool_ The size of the pool 200 Integers 0-
Size size of threads available 500
for use by the scan
engine. Asyn-
chronous tasks can
be deferred to these
threads, and this
value controls the
maximum number of
threads to be cre-
ated.
Global Max Hosts Con- global.max_ Maximum number of Varies Integers

currently Scanned hosts hosts that can be depending
scanned sim- on hard-
ultaneously across all ware
scans.
Global Max global.max_sim- Maximum number of 50 Integers 0 -

TCP Sessions ult_tcp_ses- simultaneous TCP 2000.
sions sessions across all
If set to 0,
scans.
no limit is
enforced.
Max Concurrent Checks max_checks Maximum number of 5 Integers.

Per Host simultaneous plugins
that can run con-
currently on each
host.
Max Concurrent Hosts max_hosts Maximum number of Varies, up Integers.

Per Scan hosts checked at one to 100.
If set to 0,
time during a scan.
defaults to
100.
Max Concurrent Scans global.max_ Maximum number of 0 0-1000

scans simultaneous scans
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
that can be run by If set to 0,

the scanner. no limit is
enforced.
Max Engine Threads engine.max Maximum number of 8 times the Integers

scan engines that run number of
in parallel. Each scan CPU cores
engine scans mul- on the
tiple targets con- machine
currently from one or
more scans (see
engine.max_
hosts).
Max Engine Checks engine.max_ Maximum number of 64 Integers 1-

checks simultaneous plugins 64.
that can run con-
currently on a single
scan engine.
Max Hosts Per Engine engine.max_ Maximum number of 100 Integers

Thread hosts targets that run con-
currently on a single
scan engine.
Max HTTP Connections max_http_con- The number of sim- 600 Integers

nections ultaneous con-
nection attempts
before the web
server responds with
HTTP code 503 (Ser-
vice Unavailable, Too
Many Connections).
Max max_http_con- The number of sim- 3000 Integers

HTTP Connections Hard nections_hard ultaneous con-
nection attempts
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
before the web

server does not allow
further connections.
Max TCP Sessions Per host.max_sim- Maximum number of 0 Integers.

Host ult_tcp_ses- simultaneous TCP
If set to 0,
sions sessions for a single
no limit is
host.
enforced.
This TCP throttling
option also controls
the number of pack-
ets per second the
SYN scanner sends,
which is 10 times the
number of TCP ses-
sions. E.g., if this
option is set to 15,
the SYN scanner
sends 150 packets
per second at most.
Max TCP Sessions Per max_simult_ Maximum number of 0 Integers 0-

Scan tcp_sessions simultaneous TCP 2000.
sessions for the
If set to 0,
entire scan, regard-
no limit is
less of the number of
enforced.
hosts being scanned.
Minimum Engine engine.min The number of scan 2 times the Integers

Threads engines that start ini- number of
tially as targets are CPU cores
being scanned. After on the
the engine reaches machine
engine.optimal_
hosts number of tar-
gets, additional scan
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
engines are added

up to engine.max.
Optimize Tests optimize_test Optimizes the test yes yes or no

procedure. If you dis-
able this setting,
scans may take
longer and typically
generate more false
positives.
Optional Hosts Per engine.optimal_ The minimum num- 2 Integers

Engine Thread hosts ber of targets that
are running on each
scan engine before
additional engines
are added (up to
engine.max).
Plugin Check Optim- optimization_ Determines the type None open_

ization Level level of check that is per- ports or
formed before a plu-
required_
gin runs.
keys
If this setting is set to
open_ports, then
Nessus checks that
required ports are
open; if they are not,
the plugin does not
run.
If this setting is set to

required_keys,
then Nessus per-
forms the open port
check, and also
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
checks that required

keys (KB entries)
exist, ignoring the
excluded key check.
Plugin Timeout plugins_ Maximum lifetime of 320 Integers 0-

timeout a plugin’s activity in 1000
seconds.
QDB Memory Usage qdb_mem_ Directs Nessus to use low low or

usage more or less memory high
when idle. If Nessus
is running on a ded-
icated server, setting
this to high uses
more memory to
increase per-
formance. If Nessus
is running on a
shared machine, set-
tings this to low uses
considerably less
memory, but has a
moderate per-
formance impact.
Reduce TCP Sessions reduce_con- Reduces the number no yes or no

on Network Congestion nections_on_ of TCP sessions in
congestion parallel when the net-
work appears to be
congested.
Scan Check Read checks_read_ Read timeout for the 5 Integers 0-

Timeout timeout sockets of the tests. 1000
Stop Scan on Host Dis- stop_scan_on_ When enabled, Nes- no yes or no

connect disconnect sus stops scanning a
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
host that seems to

have been dis-
connected during the
scan.
Throttle Scan on throttle_scan When enabled, Nes- yes yes or no

CPU Overload sus throttles scan
when the CPU is over-
loaded.
Webserver Thread Pool www_thread_ Thread pool size for 100 Integers 0-
Size pool_size the web- 500
server/backend.
XML Enable Plugin xml_enable_plu- When enabled, plu- no yes or no

Attributes gin_attributes gin attributes are
included in exported
scans to Tenable.sc.
Security
Valid Val-
Setting Identifer Description Default
ues
Cipher Files cipher_ Encipher files that Nessus yes yes or no

on Disk files_on_ writes.
disk
Force Public force_pub- Force logins for Nessus to use no yes or no

Key Authentic- key_auth public key authentication.
ation
Max Con- max_ses- Maximum concurrent sessions 0 Integers 0-

current Ses- sions_per_ per user 2000.
sions Per User user
If set to 0,
no limit is
enforced.
respective owners.
Valid Val-
Setting Identifer Description Default
ues
SSL Cipher ssl_cipher_ Cipher list to use for Nessus strong noexp,

List list backend connections. Nessus strong,
only supports strong SSL and edh.
ciphers when connecting to
port 8834.
SSL Mode ssl_mode Minimum supported version tls_1_2 compat,

of TLS. ssl_3_0,
tls_1_1,
and tls_
1_2.
Agents & Scanners
Note: The following settings are only available in Nessus Manager.
Valid Val-
ues
Agents Pro- agents_progress_view- When a scan gath- 100 Integers.

gress able ers information
If set to 0,
from agents, Nes-
this
sus Manager does
defaults to
not show detailed
100.
agents inform-
ation if the num-
ber of agents
exceeds this set-
ting. Instead, a
message indicates
that results are
being gathered
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
and will be view-

able when the
scan is complete.
Automatic update_hostname When enabled, no yes or no

Hostname when the host-
Update name on the end-
point is modified
the new host-
name will be
updated in the
agent's manager.
This feature is dis-
abled by default
to prevent custom
agent names from
being overridden.
Automatically agent_updates_from_ When enabled, yes yes or no

Download feed new Nessus Agent
Agent software updates
Updates are automatically
downloaded.
Note: If Nes-
sus Manager
updates are
disabled
entirely,
updates are
not down-
loaded.
Concurrent cloud.manage.download_ The maximum 10 Integers

Agent Soft- max concurrent agent
ware update down-
Updates loads.
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
Include Audit agent_merge_audit_trail Controls whether false true or

Trail Data or not agent scan false
result audit trail
data is included
in the main agent
database. Exclud-
ing audit trail
data can sig-
nificantly improve
agent result pro-
cessing per-
formance.
Include KB agent_merge_kb Includes the false true or

Data agent scan result false
KB data in the
main agent data-
base. Excluding
KB data can sig-
nificantly improve
agent result pro-
cessing per-
formance.
Result Pro- agent_merge_journal_ Sets the journ- DELETE MEMORY

cessing mode aling mode to use
Journal Mode when processing TRUNCATE
agent results. DELETE
Depending on the
environment, this
can somewhat
improve pro-
cessing per-
formance, but
also introduces a
small risk of a cor-
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
rupted scan result

in the event of a
crash. For more
details, refer to
the sqlite3 doc-
umentation.
Result Pro- agent_merge_syn- Sets the filesys- FULL OFF

cessing Sync chronous_setting tem sync mode to
Mode use when pro- NORMAL
cessing agent res- FULL
ults. Turning this
off will sig-
nificantly improve
processing per-
formance, but
also introduces a
small risk of a cor-
rupted scan result
in the event of a
crash. For more
details, refer to
the sqlite3 doc-
umentation.
Track Unique track_unique_agents When enabled, no yes or no

Agents Nessus Manager
checks if MAC
addresses of
agents trying to
link match MAC
addresses of cur-
rently linked
agents with the
same hostname,
platform, and dis-
respective owners.
Valid Val-
ues
tro. Nessus Man-

ager deletes
duplicates that it
finds.
Cluster
Note: The following settings are only available in Nessus Manager with clustering enabled.
Valid Val-
ues
Agent Black- agent_ The number of days that an 7 Integers > 0

list Dur- blacklist_ agent will remain blacklisted
ation Days duration_ from relinking to a cluster node.
days
For example, if an agent tries to
link with a UUID that matches
an existing agent in a cluster, it
is blacklisted.
Agent Clus- agent_ Scans will be aborted after run- 3600 Integers >
tering Scan cluster_ ning this many seconds without 299
Cutoff scan_cutoff a child node update.
Agent Node agent_ The global default maximum 10000 Integers 0-

Global Max- node_ number of agents allowed per 20000
imum global_ cluster node.
Default max_
If you set an individual max-
default
imum for a child node, that set-
ting overrides this setting.
Miscellaneous
respective owners.
Iden- Defaul- Valid Val-
Setting Description
tifier t ues
Automatic auto_ Number of hours that Nessus waits between 24 Integers

Update update_ automatic updates. > 0
Delay delay
Automatic auto_ Automatically updates plugins. If enabled and yes yes or no

Updates update Nessus is registered, Nessus automatically gets
the newest plugins from Tenable when they are
available. If your scanner is on an isolated net-
work that is not able to reach the internet, dis-
able this setting.
Auto- auto_ Automatically download and apply Nessus yes yes or no

matically update_ updates.
Update ui
Nessus
Initial ms_ (Nessus Manager only) Sleep time between man- 30 Integers
Sleep agent_ aged scanner and agent requests. This can be 5-3300
Time sleep overridden by Nessus Manager or Tenable.io.
Max max_ Maximum number of concurrent outbound 4 Integers >

HTTP Clie- http_cli- HTTP connections on managed scanners and 0
nt ent_ agents.
Requests request-
s
Nessus dbg_ The port on which nessusd listens for ndbg cli- None String in
Debug port ent connections. If left empty, no debug port is one of
Port established. the fol-
lowing
formats:
port or
localhost
:port or
ip:port
Nessus config_ Location of the configuration file that contains Nessus String
respective owners.
Setting Description
tifier t ues
Prefer- file the engine preference settings. data-

ences base
The following are the defaults for each oper-
Database
ating system: dir-
ectory
Linux: /op-
for
t/nessus/etc/nessus/nessusd.db
your
Mac OS X: /Library/Nes- oper-
sus/run/etc/nessus/conf/nessusd.db ating
Windows: C:\Pro- system
gramData\Ten-
able\Nessus\conf\nessusd.db
Non-User report_ The age threshold (in days) for removing old sys- 30 Integers >
Scan Res- cleanu- tem-user scan reports. 0
ult p_
Cleanup threshol-
Threshold d_days
Path to path_ Custom path to Java for PDF exports. If not set, None String
Java to_java Nessus uses the system path.
Must be
an abso-
lute file
path.
Remote remote_ This setting allows Nessus to operate on dif- None Integer
Scanner listen_ ferent ports: one dedicated to communicating
Port port with remote agents and scanners (comms port)
and the other for user logins (management
port). By adding this setting, you can link your
managed scanners and agents a different port
(e.g., 9000) instead of the port defined in
xmlrpc_listen_port (default 8834).
Report report_ When enabled, Nessus crash information is yes yes or no

Crashes crashes automatically sent to Tenable, Inc.. to identify
respective owners.
Setting Description
tifier t ues
to Ten- problems. No personal or system-identifying

able information is sent to Tenable, Inc.
Scan source_ Source IPs to use when running on a multi- None IP addres-
Source IP ip homed host. If multiple IPs are provided, Nes- s or
(s) sus will cycle through them whenever it per- comma-
forms a new connection. separated
list of
IP addres-
ses.
Send Tele- send_ When enabled, Tenable collects usage statistics yes yes or no
metry tele- that cannot be attributed to a specific user or
metry customer. Tenable does not collect personal
data or personally identifying information (PII).
Usage statistics include, but are not limited to,

data about your visited pages within the Nessus
interface, your used reports and dashboards,
your Nessus license, and your configured fea-
tures. Tenable uses the data to improve your
user experience in future Nessus releases. You
can disable this option at any time to stop shar-
ing usage statistics with Tenable.
User Scan scan_ The number of days after which scan history 0 0 or
Result history_ and data for completed scans is permanently integers
Deletion expir- deleted. larger
Threshold ation_ than or
days equal to
3.
If set to 0,
all history
is
retained.
Custom
respective owners.
Not all advanced settings are populated in the Nessus user interface, but some settings can be set in
the command line interface. If you create a custom setting, it appears in the Custom tab.
The following table lists available advanced settings that are not listed by default in the Nessus user
interface but can still be configured.
Identifier Description Default Valid Values
acas_classification Adds a classification banner to the top and None UNCLASSIFIED

bottom of the Nessus user interface, and (green banner),
turns on last successful and failed login CONFIDENTIAL
notification. (blue banner),
SECRET (red
banner), or a
custom value
(orange ban-
ner).
nessus_syn_scan- Sets the max number of SYN packets that 65536 Integers
ner.global_through- Nessus sends per second during its port
put.max scan (no matter how many hosts are
scanned in parallel). Adjust this setting
based on the sensitivity of the remote
device to large numbers of SYN packets.
login_banner A text banner displays that appears after None String

you attempt to log in to Nessus. The ban-
ner only appears the first time you log in
on a new browser or computer.
timeout.<PLUGIN_ Enter the plugin ID in place of <PLUGIN_ None Integers 0-1000

ID> ID>. The maximum time, in seconds, that
plugin <PLUGIN_ID> is permitted to run
before Nessus stops it. If set for a plugin,
this value supersedes plugins_timeout.
respective owners.
Create a New Setting
2. In the left navigation bar, click Advanced.
The Advanced Settings page appears.
3. In the upper right corner, click the New Setting button.
The Add Setting window appears.
4. In the Name box, type the key for the new setting.
5. In the Value box, type the corresponding value.
6. Click the Add button.
The new setting appears in the list.
respective owners.
Modify a Setting
3. In the settings table, click the row for the setting you want to modify.
The Edit Setting box appears.
4. Modify the settings as needed.
The setting is saved.
respective owners.
Delete a Setting
3. In the settings table, in the row for the setting you want to delete, click the button.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to delete the setting.
4. Click Delete.
The setting is deleted.
respective owners.
LDAP Server
In Nessus Manager, the LDAP Server page displays options that allow you to configure a Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server to import users from your directory.
respective owners.
Configure an LDAP Server
1. In Nessus Manager, in the top navigation bar, click Settings.
2. In the left navigation bar, click LDAP Server.
The LDAP Server page appears.
3. Configure the settings as necessary.
The LDAP server is saved.
respective owners.
Proxy Server
The Proxy Server page displays options that allow you to configure a proxy server. If the proxy you
use filters specific HTTP user agents, you can type a custom user-agent string in the User-Agent box.
respective owners.
Configure a Proxy Server
2. In the left navigation bar, click Proxy Server.
The Proxy Server page appears.
The proxy server is saved.
respective owners.
Remote Link
The Remote Link page displays options that allow you to link your Nessus scanner to a licensed Nes-
sus Manager or Tenable.io.
If your scanner is already linked to Tenable.sc, you can unlink by toggling the On switch to Off. You
can then link the scanner to Tenable.io or Nessus Manager, but you cannot relink to Tenable.sc from
the interface.
Option Set To
Link Nessus to Nessus Manager
Scanner The name you want to use for this Nessus scanner.
Name
Manager The static IP address or hostname of the Nessus Manager instance you want to
respective owners.
Option Set To
Host link to.
Manager Your Nessus Manager port, or the default 8834.

Port
Linking The key specific to your instance of Nessus Manager.

Key
Use Select or deselect the check box depending on your proxy settings. If you select
Proxy Use Proxy, you must also configure:
l Host — the host name or IP address of the proxy server.
l Port — the port number of the proxy server.
l Username — the username for an account that has permissions to access

and use the proxy server.
l Password — the password associated with the username you provided.
Link Nessus to Tenable.io
Link to Tenable.io
Scanner cloud.tenable.com
Name
Linking The key specific to your instance of Tenable.io. The key looks something like the
Key following string:
2d38435603c5b59a4526d39640655c3288b00324097a08f7a93e5480940d1cae

respective owners.
Option Set To
Link Nessus to Industrial Security
Scanner The name you want to use for this Nessus scanner in Industrial Security.
Name
Manager The IP address of your Industrial Security instance.

Host
Manager Your Industrial Security port, or the default 443.

Port
Linking The key specific to your instance of Industrial Security. It will look something like
Key the following string:
2d38435603c5b59a4526d39640655c3288b00324097a08f7a93e5480940d1cae

respective owners.
SMTP Server
The SMTP Server page displays options that allow you to configure a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP) server. When you configure an SMTP server, Nessus emails scan results to the list of recipients
that you specify.
Note: To configure an SMTP server for Nessus, you must have an HTML compatible email client.
respective owners.
Configure an SMTP Server
2. In the left navigation bar, click SMTP Server.
The SMTP Server page appears.
The SMTP server is saved.
respective owners.
Custom CA
The Custom CA page displays a text box that you can use to upload a custom certificate authority (CA)
in Nessus. For instructions on how to create a custom CA, see the Create a New Custom CA and
Server Certificate topic.
respective owners.
Add a Custom CA
2. In the left navigation bar, click Custom CA.
The Custom CA page appears.
3. In the Certificate box, type your custom CA.
Note: See the instructions on how to create a custom CA.
The custom CA is saved.
respective owners.
Upgrade Assistant
You can upgrade data from Nessus to to Tenable.io via the Upgrade Assistant tool.
For more information, please refer to the Upgrade Assistant documentation: https://-
docs.tenable.com/upgradeassistant/nessus
respective owners.
Password Management
The Password Management page, available in Nessus 7.1, displays settings that allow you to set para-
meters for passwords, login notifications, and the session timeout.
Setting Default Description
Password Off Requires password to have a minimum of 8 characters, and at least

Complexity 3 of the following: an upper case letter, a lower case letter, a spe-
cial character, and a number.
Session 30 The web session timeout in minutes. Users are logged out auto-
Timeout matically if their session is idle for longer than this timeout value.
(mins)
respective owners.
Setting Default Description
Max Login 5 The maximum number of user login attempts allowed by Nessus
Attempts before the account is locked out. Setting this value to 0 disables
this feature.
Min Pass- 8 This setting defines the minimum number of characters for pass-
word Length words of accounts.
Login Noti- Off Login notifications allow the user to see the last successful login
fications and failed login attempts (date, time, and IP), and if any failed login
attempts have occurred since the last successful login.
respective owners.
Configure Password Management
2. In the left navigation bar, click Password Mgmt.
The Password Management page appears.
The password settings are saved.
Note: Changes to the Session Timeout and Max Login Attempts settings require a restart to
take effect.
respective owners.
Scanner Health
The Scanner Health page provides you with information about the performance of your Nessus scan-
ner. You can monitor real-time health and performance data to help troubleshoot scanner issues.
Scanner alerts provide information about system errors that may cause your scanner to malfunction.
Information is updated every 30 seconds.
For information, see Monitor Scanner Health.
Scanner Health information is organized into three categories:
l Overview
l Network
l Alerts
Overview
Widget Description Actions
Current Widgets displaying Nessus memory used in MB, None

Health CPU load, and the number of hosts currently being
scanned.
Scanner Alerts about areas where your Nessus scanner per- Click an alert to see more
Alerts formance may be suffering. Alerts can have a sever- details.
ity level of Info, Low, Medium, or High.
If there are more than five
alerts, click More Alerts to
see the full list of alerts.
System Chart displaying how much of your system memory None

Memory Nessus is using.
Nessus Chart displaying the percentage of free and used None

Data Disk disk space on the disk where Nessus's data dir-
ectory is installed.
Space
Memory Graph displaying how many MB of memory Nessus Hover over a point on the
Usage His- used over time. graph to see detailed data.
respective owners.
tory
CPU Usage Graph displaying the percentage of CPU load Nes- Hover over a point on the
History sus used over time. graph to see detailed data.
Scanning Graph displaying the number of scans Nessus ran Hover over a point on the
History and active targets Nessus scanned over time. graph to see detailed data.
Network
Scanning His- Graph displaying the number of scans Nessus ran Hover over a point on the
tory and active targets Nessus scanned over time. graph to see detailed data.
Network Con- Graph displaying the number of TCP sessions Nes- Hover over a point on the
nections sus creates during scans over time. graph to see detailed data.
Network Graph displaying how much traffic Nessus is send- Hover over a point on the
Traffic ing and receiving over the network over time. graph to see detailed data.
Number of Graph displaying how many reverse DNS Hover over a point on the
DNS Lookups (rDNS) and DNS lookups Nessus performs over graph to see detailed data.
time.
DNS Lookup Graph displaying the average time that Nessus Hover over a point on the
Time takes to perform rDNS and DNS lookups over time. graph to see detailed data.
Alerts
Scanner List of alerts about areas where your Nessus scanner performance Click an alert
Alerts may be suffering. Alerts can have a severity level of Info, Low, to see more
Medium, or High. details.
respective owners.
Monitor Scanner Health
The Scanner Health page provides you with information about the performance of your Nessus scan-
ner. For more information about performance data, see Scanner Health.
To monitor scanner health:
2. In the left navigation bar, click Scanner Health.
3. (Optional) To adjust the time scale on a graph, on the Overview tab, from the drop-down box,
select a time period.
The graphs on both the Overview and Network tabs reflect the selected time period.
4. (Optional) To hide an item from a time graph, click the item in the legend.
Tip: Hiding items automatically adjusts the scale to the visible items and allows you to to clearly
view one data set at a time.
5. Click the Overview, Network or Alerts tab.
respective owners.
Notifications
Nessus may periodically display notifications such as login attempts, errors, system information, and
license expiration information. These notifications appear after you log in, and you can choose to
acknowledge or dismiss each notification. For more information, see Acknowledge Notifications.
The following table describes the two ways you can view notifications:
Notification View Location Description
Current notifications The bell icon in the top Displays notifications that appeared during
this session.
navigation bar ( )
When you acknowledge a notification, it no
longer appears in your current notification
session, but continues to be listed in the noti-
fication history.
Notification history Settings > Noti- Displays all notifications from the past 90
fications days.
The notifications table displays each noti-

fication and the time and date it appeared,
whether it was acknowledged, the severity,
and the message. Unacknowledged noti-
fications appear in bold. You cannot acknow-
ledge a notification from the notification
history view.
For more information, see View Notifications.
respective owners.
Acknowledge Notifications
When you acknowledge a notification, it no longer appears in your current notification session, but
continues to be listed in the notification history. You cannot acknowledge notifications from the noti-
fication history view. For more information on viewing notification history, see View Notifications.
If you choose not to acknowledge a notification, it appears the next time you log in. You cannot
acknowledge some notifications – instead, you must take the recommended action.
To acknowledge a notification:
l For a notification window, click Acknowledge.
l For a notification banner, click Dismiss.
l For a notification in the upper-right corner, click .
To clear current notifications:
1. In the top navigation bar, click .
2. Click Clear Notifications.
Note: Clearing notifications does not acknowledge notifications; it removes them from your cur-
rent notifications. You can still view cleared notifications in notification history.
respective owners.
View Notifications
You can view outstanding notifications from your current session, and you can also view a history of
notifications from the past 90 days. For information on managing notifications, see Acknowledge Noti-
fications.
To view your current notifications:
l In the top navigation bar, click .
To view your notification history:
2. In the left navigation bar, click Notifications.
The Notifications page appears and displays the notifications table.
3. (Optional) Filter or search the notifications to narrow results in the notifications table.
respective owners.
Accounts
This section contains the following tasks available in the Accounts section of the Settings page.
l Modify Your User Account
l Generate an API Key
l Create a User Account
l Modify a User Account
l Delete a User Account
respective owners.
My Account
The Account Settings page displays settings for the current authenticated user.
Note: Once created, a username cannot be changed.
API Keys
An API Key consists of an Access Key and a Secret Key. API Keys authenticate with the Nessus REST
API (version 6.4 or greater) and pass with requests using the X-ApiKeys HTTP header.
Note:
l API Keys are only presented upon initial generation. Store API keys in a safe location.
l API Keys cannot be retrieved by Nessus. If you lose your API Key, you must generate a new
API Key.
l Regenerating an API Key will immediately deauthorize any applications currently using the key.
respective owners.
Modify Your User Account
2. In the left navigation bar, click My Account.
The My Account page appears.
3. Modify your name, email, or password as needed.
Note: You cannot modify a username after the account is created.
4. Click Save.
Your account settings are saved.
respective owners.
Generate an API Key
Caution: Generating a new API key will replace any existing keys and deauthorize any linked applic-
ations.
Note: Customers may not directly access Nessus scanning APIs to configure or launch scans, except as
permitted as part of the Tenable.sc and Tenable.io enterprise solutions.
2. In the left navigation bar, click My Account.
The My Account page appears.
3. Click the API Keys tab.
4. Click Generate.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to generate a new API key.
5. Click Generate.
Your new API key appears.
respective owners.
Users
The User Profile page displays a table of all Nessus user accounts. This documentation refers to that
table as the users table. Each row of the users table includes the user name, the date of the last login,
and the role assigned to the account.
User accounts are assigned roles that dictate the level of access a user has in Nessus. You can change
the role of a user account at any time, as well as disable the account. The following table describes the
roles that can be assigned to users:
Name Description
Basic Basic user roles can read scan results.
Note: This role is not available in Nessus Professional.
Standard Standard users can create scans, policies, and user asset lists.
Administrator Administrators have the same privileges as Standard users, but can also manage
users, user groups, and scanners. In Nessus Manager, administrators can view
scans that are shared by users.
Note: This role is not available in Nessus Professional.
System System Administrators have the same privileges as Administrators, but can also
Administrator manage and modify system configuration settings.
Disabled Disabled user accounts cannot be used to log in to Nessus.
respective owners.
Create a User Account
This procedure can be performed by an administrator in Nessus Manager or Nessus Professional with
legacy features. Multiple users are not available in Nessus Professional 7.0 and later.
2. In the left navigation bar, click Users.
The Users page appears.
3. In the upper right corner, click the New User button.
The Account Settings tab appears.
4. Type in the settings as necessary, and select a role for the user.
5. Click Save.
The user account is saved.
respective owners.
Modify a User Account
This procedure can be performed by an administrator in Nessus Manager or Nessus Professional with
legacy features. Multiple users are not available in Nessus Professional 7.0 and later.
3. In the users table, click the user whose account you want to modify.
The <Username> page appears, where <Username> is the name of the selected user.
4. Modify the user's name, email, role, or password as needed.
5. Click Save.
Your account settings are saved.
respective owners.
Delete a User Account
This procedure can be performed by an administrator in Nessus Manager.
3. In the users table, in the row for the user that you want to delete, click the button.
A dialog box appears, confirming your selection to delete the user.
4. Click Delete.
The user is deleted.
respective owners.
Transfer User Data
In instances of Nessus with multiple users, such as Nessus Manager, you can transfer a user's data to a
system administrator. When you transfer user data, you transfer ownership of all policies, scans, scan
results, and plugin rules to a system administrator account. Transferring user data is useful if you
need to remove a user account but do not want to lose their associated data in Nessus.
To transfer user data:
1. Log in to Nessus with the system administrator account to which you want to transfer user data.
3. In the left navigation bar, under Accounts, click Users.
The Users page appears and displays the users table.
4. In the users table, select the check box for each user whose data you want to transfer to your
account.
5. In the upper-right corner, click Transfer Data.
A warning window appears.
Note: Once you transfer user data, you cannot undo the action.
6. To transfer the data, click Transfer.
Nessus transfers ownership of the selected user's policies, scans, scan results, and plugin rules
to the administrator account.
respective owners.
Download Logs
As an administrator, you can download a log file containing local Nessus logs and system con-
figuration data. This information can help you troubleshoot system problems, and also provides an
easy way to gather data to submit to Tenable Support.
You can choose to download two types of log files: Basic or Extended. The Basic option contains
recent Nessus log data as well as system information, including operating system version, CPU stat-
istics, available memory and disk space, and other data that can help you troubleshoot. The Extended
option also includes recent Nessus webserver log records, system log data, and network configuration
information.
To download logs:
2. In the upper-right corner, click Download Logs.
The Download Logs window appears.
3. Select the Debug Log Type:
l Basic: Standard Nessus log data and system configuration information.
l Extended: All information in the Basic option, Nessus webserver log data, and additional
system logs.
4. (Optional) Select Sanitize IPs to hide the first two octets of IPv4 addresses in the logs.
5. Click Download.
Tip: To cancel the download, click Cancel.
Nessus generates the file nessus-bug-report-XXXXX.tar.gz, which downloads and appears

in your browser window.
respective owners.
Additional Resources
This section contains the following resources:
l About Nessus Plugins
l About Scan Targets
l Amazon Web Services
l Command Line Operations
l Create a Limited Plugin Policy
l Manage SSL Certificates
l Default Data Directories
l Manage Logs Using log.json
l Nessus Credentialed Checks
l Offline Update Page Details
l PCI ASV Validation Scan
l Run Nessus as Non-Privileged User
l Scan Targets
l System Tray Application
respective owners.
Agent Software Footprint
Note: Performance varies by environment and you may or may not see similar results.
Agent Total Soft- RAM Usage Average RAM

Network Bandwidth
Footprint ware Foot- While Not Usage While Scan-
Usage
on Disk print on Disk Scanning ning/Peak
6.6 MB 800 MB includ- <10% 45 MB RAM ~1.5 MB/day**

ing plugin
Expected to be much
updates*
higher in normal con-
ditions.
* Under certain conditions, disk usage can spike up to 2GB, e.g. when a plugins-code.db defrag-
mentation operation is in progress.
**Assuming only one scan a day with no plugin updates. Used nethogs program to collect network
usage (sent/received) of nessusd. After a single scan that detected 66 vulnerabilities on the agent
host, 0.855 MB was sent and received (breakdown: .771 MB sent, .084 MB received). After two total
scans, 1.551 MB was sent and 0.204 MB was received. Set to > 1 MB day as the polling for jobs adds up
(~0.008 MB per poll).
respective owners.
Agent Host System Utilization
Note: Performance varies by environment and you may or may not see similar results.
Generally, a Nessus Agent uses 40 MB of RAM (all pageable). A Nessus Agent uses almost no CPU while
idle, but is designed to use up to 100% of CPU when available during jobs.
To measure network utilization when uploading results, Tenable monitored Agent uploads intoTen-
able.io over a 7 day period. Of over 36,000 uploads observed:
l The average size was 1.6 MB.
l The largest size was 37 MB.
l 90% of uploads were 2.2 MB or less.
l 99% of uploads were 5 MB or less.
l Nessus Agent consumes 40 MB of RAM when dormant.
l The Watchdog service consumes 3 MB.
l Plugins consume approximately 300 MB of disk space (varies based on operating system).
However, under certain conditions, disk usage can spike up to 2GB, e.g. when a plugins-
code.db defragmentation operation is in progress.
l Scan results from Nessus Agents to Nessus Manager and Tenable.io range between 2-3 MB.
l Check-in frequency starts at 30 seconds and is adjusted by Nessus Manager orTenable.io based
on the management system load (number of agents).
respective owners.
Amazon Web Services
For information on integrating Nessus with Amazon Web Services, see the Nessus (BYOL) on Amazon
Web Services Quick Start Guide.
respective owners.
Command Line Operations
This section includes command line operations for Nessus and Nessus Agents.
Tip: During command line operations, prompts for sensitive information, such as a password, do not
show characters as you type. However, the data is recorded and is accepted when you press
the Enter key.
The following topics are included in this section:
l Start or Stop Nessus
l Start or Stop Nessus Agent
l Nessus-Service
l Nessuscli
l Nessuscli Agent
l Update Nessus Software
respective owners.
Start or Stop Nessus
The following represent best practices for starting and stopping Nessus.
Mac OS X
1. Navigate to System Preferences.
4. Type your username and password.
5. To stop the Nessus service, click the Stop Nessus button.
-or-
To start the Nessus service, click the Start Nessus button.
Start or
Mac OS X Command Line Operation
Stop
Start # launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist
Stop # launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist
Windows
1. Navigate to Services.
2. In the Name column, click Tenable Nessus.
3. To stop the Nessus service, right-click Tenable Nessus, and then click Stop.
-or-
To restart the Nessus service, right-click Tenable Nessus, and then click Start.
respective owners.
Start or Stop Windows Command Line Operation
Start C:\Windows\system32>net start "Tenable Nessus"
Stop C:\Windows\system32>net stop "Tenable Nessus"
Linux
Use the following commands:
Start or Stop Linux Command Line Operation
RedHat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux
Start # /sbin/service nessusd start
Stop # /sbin/service nessusd stop
SUSE
Start # /etc/rc.d/nessusd start
Stop # /etc/rc.d/nessusd stop
FreeBSD
Start # service nessusd start
Stop # service nessusd stop
Debian, Kali, and Ubuntu
Start # /etc/init.d/nessusd start
Stop # /etc/init.d/nessusd stop
respective owners.
Start or Stop a Nessus Agent
The following represent best practices for starting and stopping a Nessus Agent on a host.
Mac OS X
1. Navigate to System Preferences.
4. Type your username and password.
5. To stop the Nessus Agent service, click the Stop Nessus Agent button.
-or-
To start the Nessus Agent service, click the Start Nessus Agent button.
Start or
Mac OS X Command Line Operation
Stop
Start # launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent.plist
Stop # launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent.plist
Windows
1. Navigate to Services.
2. In the Name column, click Tenable Nessus Agent.
3. To stop the service, right-click Tenable Nessus Agent, and then click Stop.
-or-
To restart the Nessus Agent service, right-click Tenable Nessus Agent, and then click Start.
respective owners.
Start or Stop Windows Command Line Operation
Start C:\Windows\system32>net start "Tenable Nessus Agent"
Stop C:\Windows\system32>net stop "Tenable Nessus Agent"
Linux
Use the following commands:
Start or Stop Linux Command Line Operation
RedHat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux
Start # /sbin/service nessusagent start
Stop # /sbin/service nessusagent stop
SUSE
Start # /etc/rc.d/nessusagent start
Stop # /etc/rc.d/nessusagent stop
FreeBSD
Start # service nessusagent start
Stop # service nessusagent stop
Debian, Kali, and Ubuntu
Start # /etc/init.d/nessusagent start
Stop # /etc/init.d/nessusagent stop
respective owners.
Nessus-Service
If necessary, whenever possible, Nessus services should be started and stopped using Nessus Service
controls in the operating system’s interface.
However, there are many nessus-service functions that can be performed through a command line
interface.
Unless otherwise specified, the nessusd command can be used interchangeably with nessus-ser-

vice server commands.
The # killall nessusd command is used to stop all Nessus services and in-process scans.
Note: All commands must be run by a user with administrative privileges.
Nessus-Service Syntax
Operating
Command
System
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service [-vhD] [-c <config-file>] [-p <port-number>] [-

a <address>] [-S <ip[,ip,…]>]
FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service [-vhD] [-c <config-file>] [-p <port-num-

ber>] [-a <address>] [-S <ip[,ip,…]>]
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessus-service [-vhD] [-c <config-file>] [-p <port-

number>] [-a <address>] [-S <ip[,ip,…]>]
Suppress Command Output Examples

You can suppress command output by using the -q option.
Linux
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D
FreeBSD
# /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D
respective owners.
Nessusd Commands
Option Description
-c <con- When starting the nessusd server, this option is used to specify the server-side nes-
fig-file> susd configuration file to use. It allows for the use of an alternate configuration file
instead of the standard db.
-a When starting the nessusd server, this option is used to tell the server to only listen
<address> to connections on the address <address> that is an IP, not a machine name. This
option is useful if you are running nessusd on a gateway and if you do not want
people on the outside to connect to your nessusd.
-S <ip When starting the nessusd server, force the source IP of the connections established
[,ip2,…]> by Nessus during scanning to <ip>. This option is only useful if you have a mul-
tihomed machine with multiple public IP addresses that you would like to use
instead of the default one. For this setup to work, the host running nessusd must
have multiple NICs with these IP addresses set.
-D When starting the nessusd server, this option forces the server to run in the back-
ground (daemon mode).
-v Display the version number and exit.
-l Display a list of those third-party software licenses.
-h Show a summary of the commands and exit.
--ipv4- Only listen on IPv4 socket.

only
--ipv6- Only listen on IPv6 socket.

only
-q Operate in "quiet" mode, suppressing all messages to stdout.
-R Force a re-processing of the plugins.
-t Check the time stamp of each plugin when starting up to only compile newly
updated plugins.
-K Set a master password for the scanner.
If a master password is set, Nessus encrypts all policies and credentials contained in
the policy. When a password is set, the Nessus UI prompts you for the password.
respective owners.
Option Description
If your master password is set and then lost, it cannot be recovered by your admin-
istrator nor Tenable, Inc. Support.
respective owners.
Nessuscli
Some Nessus functions can be administered through a command line interface using the nessuscli

utility.
This allows the user to manage user accounts, modify advanced settings, manage digital certificates,
report bugs, update Nessus, and fetch necessary license information.
Note: All commands must be run by a user with administrative privileges.
Nessuscli Syntax
Operating System Command
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>
or
C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus
Nessuscli Commands
Command Description
Help Commands
nessuscli help Displays a list of Nessus commands.
The help output may vary, depending on your Nessus license.
nessuscli [cmd] help Displays additional help for specific commands identified in
the nessuscli help output.
Bug Reporting Commands
The bug reporting commands create an archive that can be sent to Tenable, Inc. to help diagnose
issues. By default, the script runs in interactive mode.
respective owners.
Command Description
nessuscli bug-report-gen- Generates an archive of system diagnostics.

erator Running this command without arguments prompts for values.
--quiet: run the bug report generator without prompting

user for feedback.
--scrub: when in quiet mode, bug report generator sanitizes

the last two octets of the IPv4 address.
--full: when in quiet mode, bug report generator collects

extra data.
User Commands
nessuscli rmuser <user- Allows you to remove a Nessus user.

name>
nessuscli chpasswd <user- Allows you to change a user’s password. You are prompted to
name> enter the Nessus user’s name. Passwords are not echoed on
the screen.
nessuscli adduser <user- Allows you to add a Nessus user account.

name> You are prompted for a username, password, and opted to
allow the user to have an administrator type account. Addi-
tionally, you are prompted to add Users Rules for this new
user account.
nessuscli lsuser Displays a list of Nessus users.
Fetch Commands
Manage Nessus registration and fetch updates
nessuscli fetch -- Uses your Activation Code to register Nessus online.

register <Activation Example:
Code>
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register
xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
nessuscli fetch -- Uses your Activation Code to register Nessus online, but does
respective owners.
Command Description
register-only <Activ- not automatically download plugin or core updates.

ation Code> Example:
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register-

only xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
nessuscli fetch -- Registers Nessus 6.3 and newer with the nessus.license file
register-offline nes- obtained from https://plugins.nessus.org/v2/offline.php .
sus.license
Note: If you are using a version of Nessus 6.2 or earlier, you
must use the information and instructions displayed on
https://plugins.nessus.org/offline.php. In Nessus 6.2 and
earlier, the license is contained in the fc.file.
nessuscli fetch --check Displays whether Nessus is properly registered and is able to
receive updates.
nessuscli fetch --code- Displays the Nessus Activation Code being used by Nessus.
in-use
nessuscli fetch --chal- Displays the challenge code needed to use when performing

lenge an offline registration.
Example challenge code: aaaaaa11b2222c-
c33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999
nessuscli fetch --secur- Prepares Nessus to be connected to Security Center.

ity-center
Fix Commands
respective owners.
Command Description
nessuscli fix Reset registration, display network interfaces, and manage

advanced settings.
nessuscli fix [--secure]
Using the --secure option acts on the encrypted preferences,
--list
which contain information about registration.
--list, --set, --get, and --delete can be used to
--set <name=value>
modify or view preferences.
--get <name>

--delete <name>
nessuscli fix --list- List the network adapters on this machine.

interfaces
nessuscli fix --reset This command deletes all your registration information and
preferences, causing Nessus to run in a non-registered state.
Nessus Manager retains the same linking key after resetting.
Before running nessuscli fix --reset, verify running

scans have completed, then stop the nessusd daemon or ser-
vice.
Windows: net stop "Tenable Nessus"

Linux: service nessusd stop
nessuscli fix --reset- This command resets Nessus to a fresh state, deleting all regis-
all tration information, settings, data, and users.
Caution: This action cannot be undone. Contact Tenable sup-

port before performing a full reset.
Certificate Commands
nessuscli mkcert-client Creates a certificate for the Nessus server.
nessuscli mkcert [-q] Quietly creates a certificate with default values.
respective owners.
Command Description
Software Update Commands
nessuscli update By default, this tool respects the software update options selec-
ted through the Nessus UI.
nessuscli update --all Forces updates for all Nessus components.
nessuscli update --plu- Forces updates for Nessus plugins only.

gins-only
nessuscli update <tar.gz Updates Nessus plugins by using a TAR file instead of getting
filename> the updates from the plugin feed. The TAR file is obtained
when you Manage Nessus Offline - Download and Copy Plu-
gins steps.
Manager Commands
Used for generating plugin updates for your managed scanners and agents connected to a man-
ager.
nessuscli manager down- Downloads core component updates for remotely managed
load-core agents and scanners.
nessuscli manager gen- Generates plugins archives for remotely managed agents and
erate-plugins scanners.
Managed Scanner Commands
Used for linking, unlinking and viewing the status of remote managed scanners.
nessuscli managed help Displays nessuscli managed commands and syntax.
nessuscli managed link - Link an unregistered scanner to a manager.

-key=<key> --host=<host> Additional Parameters
--port=<port> [optional
--name=<name>
parameters]
--ca-path=<ca_file_name>
--proxy-host=<host>
--proxy-port=<port>
--proxy-username=<username>
respective owners.
Command Description
--proxy-password=<password>
--proxy-agent=<agent>
Note: You cannot link a scanner via the CLI if the scanner has
already been registered. You can either link via the user inter-
face, or reset the scanner to unregister it (however, you lose
all scanner data).
nessuscli managed unlink Unlink a managed scanner from its manager.
nessuscli managed status Identifies the status of the managed scanner.
respective owners.
Nessuscli Agent
Use the nessuscli agent utility to perform some Nessus Agent functions through a command line
interface.
Note: You must run all nessuscli agent commands as a user with administrative privileges.
Nessuscli Agent Syntax

Linux # /opt/nessus_agent/sbin/nessuscli agent <arg1> <arg2>
Mac OS X # /Library/NessusAgent/run/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>
Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus Agent
or
C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus Agent
Run cmd.exe as administrator
Nessuscli Agent Commands

Command Description
Help Commands
# nessuscli agent help Displays a list of Nessus Agent commands.
Bug Reporting Commands
# nessuscli bug- Generates an archive of system diagnostics.

report-generator If you run this command without arguments, the utility prompts
you for values.
Optional arguments:
--quiet: Run the bug report generator without prompting user

for feedback.
respective owners.
Command Description
--scrub: When in quiet mode, the bug report generator sanitizes

the last two octets of the IPv4 address.
--full: When in quiet mode, the bug report generator collects

extra data.
Local Agent Commands
Used to link, unlink, and display agent status
# nessuscli agent link Using the Nessus Agent Linking Key, this command links the
--key=<key> --host- agent to the Nessus Manager or Tenable.io.
t=<host> --port=<port> Required arguments:
--key=<key>
--host=<host>
--port=<port>
Optional arguments:
--name=<name>
--groups=<group1,group2,...>

exactly.
--ca-path=<ca_file_name>
--offline-install
--proxy-host=<host>
--proxy-port=<port>
--proxy-username=<username>
--proxy-password=<password>
--proxy-agent=<agent>
respective owners.
Command Description
Tenable.io arguments:
--cloud
# nessuscli agent Unlinks agent from the Nessus Manager or Tenable.io.

unlink
# nessuscli agent Used to manually install a plugins set.

update Required arguments:
--file=<plugins_set.tgz>
# nessuscli agent Displays the status of the agent, jobs pending, and if the agent is
status linked or not linked to server.
Optional arguments:
--local: Provides the status, current jobs count, and jobs

pending. This option prevents the agent from contacting the man-
agement software that it is linked with to fetch the status. Instead,
it displays the last known information from its most recent sync.
--remote: Fetches the job count from the manager and displays

the status.
--offline: Provides the most recently cached agent status when

it cannot connect to Nessus Manager or Tenable.io.
Fix Commands
# nessuscli fix --set Updates agent hostnames automatically in Tenable.io or Nessus

update_host- Manager 7.1.1 or later.
name="<value>" The update_hostname parameter can be set to yes or no. By
default, this preference is disabled.
Note: Restart the agent service for the change to take effect in
Nessus Manager.
# nessuscli fix --set Tracks unique agent assets by MAC address to prevent duplicates
track_unique_agent- and outdated agents from appearing in Nessus Manager if a sys-
respective owners.
Command Description
s="<value>" tem is reinstalled.
The track_unique_agent parameter is available in Nessus 7.1.1

and can be set to yes or no. By default, this preference is
enabled.
# nessuscli fix --set Sets the maximum number of times an agent should retry in the
max_retries="<value>" event of a failure when executing the agent link, agent
status, or agent unlink commands. The commands retry, the
specified number of times, consecutively, sleeping increasing
increments of time set by retry_sleep_milliseconds
between attempts. The default value for max_retries is 0.
For example, if max_retries is set to 4, and retry_sleep_mil-

liseconds is set to the default of 1500, then the agent will sleep
for 1.5 seconds after the first try, 3 seconds after the second try,
and 4.5 seconds after the third try.
Note: This setting does not affect offline updates or the agent's
normal 24 hour check-in after it is linked.
# nessuscli fix --set Sets the number of milliseconds that an agent sleeps for between
retry_sleep_mil- retries in event of a failure when executing the agent link,
liseconds="<value>" agent status, or agent unlink commands. The default is
1500 milliseconds (1.5 seconds).
nessuscli fix --secure Displays a list of agent settings and their values.
--list
Resource Control Com-

mands
# nessuscli fix --set Optional arguments:

process_pri-
--set
ority="<value>"
--get
# nessuscli fix --get
process_priority --delete
respective owners.
Command Description
Note: See Agent CPU Resource Control in the Nessus Agent

Deployment and User Guide for <value> preference options
respective owners.
Update Nessus Software
When updating Nessus components, you can use the nessuscli update commands, also found in the
command line section.
Note: If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.
Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>
Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli <arg1>

<arg2>

or
Commands must Run as C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus
administrator
Software Update Commands
nessuscli update By default, this tool respects the software update options selec-
ted through the Nessus UI.
nessuscli update --all Forces updates for all Nessus components.
nessuscli update --plu- Forces updates for Nessus plugins only.

gins-only
respective owners.
Default Data Directories
The default Nessus data directory contains logs, certificates, temporary files, database backups, plu-
gins databases, and other automatically generated files.
Refer to the following table to determine the default data directory for your operating system.
Operating System Directory
Linux /opt/nessus/var/nessus
Windows C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus
Mac OS X /Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus
respective owners.
File and Process Whitelist
Nessus should be whitelisted in third-party endpoint security products such as anti-virus applications
and host-based intrusion and prevention systems.
Note: If your Windows installation uses a non-standard drive or folder structure, use the
%PROGRAMFILES% and %PROGRAMDATA% environment variables.
The table below contains a list of Nessus folders, files, and processes that should be whitelisted. For
information about whitelisting Nessus Agent processes, see File and Process Whitelist in the Nessus
Agent User Guide.
Windows
Files
C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\*
C:\Program Files (x86)\Tenable\Nessus\*
C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\*
Processes
C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\nessuscli.exe
C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\nessusd.exe
C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\nasl.exe
C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\nessus-service.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Tenable\Nessus\nasl.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Tenable\Nessus\nessuscli.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Tenable\Nessus\nessusd.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Tenable\Nessus\nessus-service.exe
Linux
Files
/opt/nessus/sbin/*
respective owners.
/opt/nessus/bin/*
Processes
/opt/nessus/bin/nasl
/opt/nessus/sbin/nessusd
/opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli
/opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service
macOS
Files
/Library/Nessus/run/sbin/*
/Library/Nessus/run/bin/*
Processes
/Library/Nessus/run/bin/nasl
/Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessus-service
/Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli
/Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessusd
/Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessusmgt
respective owners.
Manage Logs Using log.json
You can configure the size and location of log data by editing the log.json file.
1. Using a text editor, open the log.json file, located in the following directory:
l Linux: /opt/nessus/var/nessus/log.json
l Mac OS X: /Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus/log.json
l Windows: C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\log.json
2. For each reporters[x].reporter, add or modify the following parameters.
Parameter Default value Description
rota- size Determines whether the log archives files based on

tion_ rotation time or maximum rotation size.
strategy If you set the rotation strategy to daily, the log
rotates based on rotation_time. If you set the rota-
tion strategy to size, the log rotates based on max_
size.
rota- 86400 (1 day) Rotation time in seconds.

tion_ Used if rotation_strategy is daily.
time
max_size Scanner: 53687091- Rotation size in bytes.

2 (512 MB)
Used if rotation_strategy is size.
Agent: 10485760
(10 MB)
max_ Scanner: 100 Maximum number of files allowed in the file rotation.

files Agent: 2 The maximum number includes the main file, so 100
max_files is 1 main file and 99 backups. If you
decrease this number, old logs will be deleted.
file Depends on oper- The location of the log file.

ating system and
respective owners.
log file The following are the default paths for each operating
system:
Linux: /opt/nessus/var/nessus/logs/<file-
name>
Mac:
/Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus/logs/<file-
name>
Windows: C:\Pro-
gramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\logs\<file-
name>
3. Save the log.json file.
4. Restart the Nessus service.
The log settings are updated.
Linux example
{
"reporters": [
{
"tags": [
"response"
],
"reporter": {
"type": "file",
"rotation_strategy": "daily",
"rotation_time": "86400",
"max_size": "536870912",
"max_files": "1024",
"file": "/opt/nessus/var/nessus/logs/www_server.log"
},
"format": "combined"
},
{
"tags": [
"log",
"info",
respective owners.
"warn",
"error",
"trace"
],
"reporter": {
"type": "file",
"file": "/opt/nessus/var/nessus/logs/backend.log"
},
"context": true,
"format": "system"
}
]
}
Mac OS X example
{
"reporters": [
{
"tags": [
"response"
],
"reporter": {
"type": "file",
"max_size": "536870912",
"file": "/Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus/logs/www_server.log"
},
},
{
"tags": [
"log",
"info",
"warn",
"error",
"trace"
],
"reporter": {
respective owners.
"type": "file",
"file": /Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus/logs/backend.log"
},
"context": true,
"format": "system"
}
]
}
Windows example
Note: The backslash ( \) is special character in JSON. To enter a backslash in a path string, you must
escape the first backslash with a second backslash so the path parses correctly.
{
"reporters": [
{
"tags": [
"response"
],
"reporter": {
"type": "file",
"max_size": "536870912",
"file": "C:\\ProgramData\\Tenable\\Nessus\\nessus\\logs\\www_server.log"
},
},
{
"tags": [
"log",
"info",
"warn",
"error",
"trace"
],
"reporter": {
"type": "file",
respective owners.
"file": "C:\\ProgramData\\Tenable\\Nessus\\nessus\\logs\\backend.log"
},
"context": true,
"format": "system"
}
]
}
respective owners.
Nessus Credentialed Checks
In addition to remote scanning, Nessus can be used to scan for local exposures. For information about
configuring credentialed checks, see Credentialed Checks on Windows and Credentialed Checks
on Linux.
Purpose
External network vulnerability scanning is useful to obtain a snapshot in time of the network services
offered and the vulnerabilities they may contain. However, it is only an external perspective. It is
important to determine what local services are running and to identify security exposures from local
attacks or configuration settings that could expose the system to external attacks that may not be
detected from an external scan.
In a typical network vulnerability assessment, a remote scan is performed against the external points
of presence and an on-site scan is performed from within the network. Neither of these scans can
determine local exposures on the target system. Some of the information gained relies on the banner
information displayed, which may be inconclusive or incorrect. By using secured credentials, the Nes-
sus scanner can be granted local access to scan the target system without requiring an agent. This can
facilitate scanning of a very large network to determine local exposures or compliance violations.
The most common security problem in an organization is that security patches are not applied in a
timely manner. A Nessus credentialed scan can quickly determine which systems are out of date on
patch installation. This is especially important when a new vulnerability is made public and executive
management wants a quick answer regarding the impact to the organization.
Another major concern for organizations is to determine compliance with site policy, industry stand-
ards (such as the Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks) or legislation (such as Sarbanes-Oxley,
Gramm-Leach-Bliley or HIPAA). Organizations that accept credit card information must demonstrate
compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards. There have been quite a few well-pub-
licized cases where the credit card information for millions of customers was breached. This rep-
resents a significant financial loss to the banks responsible for covering the payments and heavy fines
or loss of credit card acceptance capabilities by the breached merchant or processor.
Access Level
Credentialed scans can perform any operation that a local user can perform. The level of scanning is
dependent on the privileges granted to the user account that Nessus is configured to use.
respective owners.
Non-privileged users with local access on Linux systems can determine basic security issues, such as
patch levels or entries in the /etc/passwd file. For more comprehensive information, such as system
configuration data or file permissions across the entire system, an account with “root” privileges is
required.
Credentialed scans on Windows systems require that an administrator level account be used. Several
bulletins and software updates by Microsoft have made reading the registry to determine software
patch level unreliable without administrator privileges. Administrative access is required to perform
direct reading of the file system. This allows Nessus to attach to a computer and perform direct file
analysis to determine the true patch level of the systems being evaluated. On Windows XP Pro, this file
access will only work with a local administrator account if the “Network access: Sharing and security
model for local accounts” policy is changed to “Classic – local users authenticate as themselves”.
Detecting When Credentials Fail

If you are using Nessus to perform credentialed audits of Linux or Windows systems, analyzing the res-
ults to determine if you had the correct passwords and SSH keys can be difficult. You can detect if your
credentials are not working using plugin 21745.
This plugin detects if either SSH or Windows credentials did not allow the scan to log into the remote
host. When a login is successful, this plugin does not produce a result.
respective owners.
Credentialed Checks on Windows
The process described in this section enables you to perform local security checks on Windows sys-
tems. Only Domain Administrator accounts can be used to scan Domain Controllers.
Configure a Domain Account for Authenticated Scanning

To create a domain account for remote host-based auditing of a Windows server, the server must first
be Windows Server 2008, Server 2008 R2*, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, Server 2016, Windows 7, Win-
dows 8, or Windows 10 and must be part of a domain.
Create a Security Group called Nessus Local Access

1. Log in to a Domain Controller and open Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. To create a security group, select Action > New > Group.
3. Name the group Nessus Local Access. Set Scope to Global and Type to Security.
4. Add the account you will use to perform Nessus Windows Authenticated Scans to the Nessus
Local Access group.
Create Group Policy called Local Admin GPO

1. Open the Group Policy Management Console.
2. Right-click Group Policy Objects and select New.
3. Type the name of the policy Nessus Scan GPO.
Add the Nessus Local Access group to the Nessus Scan GPO
1. Right-click Nessus Scan GPO Policy, then select Edit.
2. Expand Computer configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings >
Restricted Groups.
3. In the left navigation bar on Restricted Groups, right-click and select Add Group.
4. In the Add Group dialog box, select browse and enter Nessus Local Access.
5. Select Check Names.
respective owners.
6. Select OK twice to close the dialog box.
7. Select Add under This group is a member of:
8. Add the Administrators Group.
9. Select OK twice.
Nessus uses Server Message Block (SMB) and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). You must
ensure Windows Firewall allows access to the system.
Allow WMI on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10, 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2,
and 2016 Windows Firewall
1. Right-click Nessus Scan GPO Policy, then select Edit.
2. Expand Computer configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Win-
dows Firewall with Advanced Security > Windows Firewall with Advanced Security >
Inbound Rules.
3. Right-click in the working area and choose New Rule...
4. Choose the Predefined option, and select Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
from the drop-down box.
5. Select Next.
6. Select the check boxes for:

l Windows Management Instrumentation (ASync-In)
l Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI-In)
l Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In)
7. Select Next.
8. Select Finish.
Tip: Later, you can edit the predefined rule created and limit the connection to the ports by IP Address
and Domain User to reduce any risk for abuse of WMI.
Link the GPO
respective owners.
1. In Group policy management console, right-click the domain or the OU and select Link an Exist-
ing GPO.
2. Select the Nessus Scan GPO.
Configure Windows 2008, Vista, 7, 8, and 10

1. Under Windows Firewall > Windows Firewall Settings, enable File and Printer Sharing.
2. Using the gpedit.msc tool (via the Run prompt), invoke the Group Policy Object Editor. Nav-
igate to Local Computer Policy > Administrative Templates > Network > Network Con-
nections > Windows Firewall > Standard Profile > Windows Firewall : Allow inbound file
and printer exception, and enable it.
3. While in the Group Policy Object Editor, navigate to Local Computer Policy > Administrative
Templates > Network > Network Connections > Prohibit use of Internet connection fire-
wall on your DNS domain and ensure it is set to either Disabled or Not Configured.
4. The Remote Registry service must be enabled (it is disabled by default). It can be enabled
manually for continuing audits, either by an administrator or by Nessus. Using plugin IDs 42897
and 42898, Nessus can enable the service just for the duration of the scan.
Note: Enabling this option configures Nessus to attempt to start the remote registry service prior to
starting the scan.
The Windows credentials provided in the Nessus scan policy must have administrative permissions to
start the Remote Registry service on the host being scanned.
Caution: While not recommended, Windows User Account Control (UAC) can be disabled.
Tip: To turn off UAC completely, open the Control Panel, select User Accounts and then set Turn User
Account Control to off. Alternatively, you can add a new registry key named LocalAc-
countTokenFilterPolicy and set its value to 1.
This key must be created in the registry at the following location: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Win-
dows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system\LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy.
For more information on this registry setting, consult the MSDN 766945 KB. In Windows 7 and 8, if UAC is
disabled, then EnableLUA must be set to 0 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Soft-
ware\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System as well.
respective owners.
Prerequisites
A very common mistake is to create a local account that does not have enough privileges to log on
remotely and do anything useful. By default, Windows will assign new local accounts Guest privileges if
they are logged into remotely. This prevents remote vulnerability audits from succeeding. Another com-
mon mistake is to increase the amount of access that the Guest users obtain. This reduces the security
of your Windows server.
respective owners.
Enable Windows Logins for Local and Remote Audits
The most important aspect about Windows credentials is that the account used to perform the checks
should have privileges to access all required files and registry entries, which in many cases means
administrative privileges. If Nessus is not provided the credentials for an administrative account, at
best it can be used to perform registry checks for the patches. While this is still a valid method to
determine if a patch is installed, it is incompatible with some third party patch management tools that
may neglect to set the key in the policy. If Nessus has administrative privileges, then it will actually
check the version of the dynamic-link library (.dll) on the remote host, which is considerably more
accurate.
Configure a Local Account

To configure a stand-alone Windows server with credentials to be used that is not part of a domain,
simply create a unique account as the administrator.
Make sure that the configuration of this account is not set with a typical default of Guest only: local
users authenticate as guest. Instead, switch this to Classic: local users authenticate as them-
selves.
Configuring a Domain Account for Local Audits

To create a domain account for remote host-based auditing of a Windows server, the server must first
be Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP Pro, or Windows 2008 Server and be part of a domain.
To configure the server to allow logins from a domain account, use the Classic security model. To do
this, follow these steps:
1. Open the Start menu and select Run.
2. Enter gpedit.msc and select OK.
3. Select Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies >
Security Options.
4. In the list, select Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts.
The Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts window appears.
5. In the Local Security Setting section, in the drop-down box, select Classic - local users authen-
respective owners.
ticate as themselves.
6. Click OK.
This will cause users local to the domain to authenticate as themselves, even though they are not phys-
ically local on the particular server. Without doing this, all remote users, even real users in the domain,
will authenticate as a guest and will likely not have enough credentials to perform a remote audit.
Configuring Windows XP
When performing authenticated scans against Windows XP systems, there are several configuration
options that must be enabled:
l The WMI service must be enabled on the target.
l The Remote Registry service must be enabled on the target.
l File & Printer Sharing must be enabled in the target’s network configuration.
l Ports 139 and 445 must be open between the Nessus scanner and the target.
l An SMB account must be used that has local administrator rights on the target.
You may be required to change the Windows local security policies or they could block access or inher-
ent permissions. A common policy that will affect credentialed scans is found under:
Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security
Options > Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts.
If this local security policy is set to something other than Classic - local users authenticate as
themselves, a compliance scan will not run successfully.
Configuring Windows Server, Vista, 7, 8, and 10.

When performing authenticated scans against Windows systems, there are several configuration
options that must be enabled:
l Under Windows Firewall > Windows Firewall Settings, enable File and Printer Sharing.
l Using the Run prompt, run gpedit.msc and enable Group Policy Object Editor. Navigate
to Local Computer Policy > Administrative Templates > Network > Network Connections
> Windows Firewall > Standard Profile > Windows Firewall : Allow inbound file and
printer exception and enable it.
respective owners.
l While in the Group Policy Object Editor, navigate to Local Computer Policy > Administrative
Templates > Network > Network Connections > Prohibit use of Internet connection fire-
wall on your DNS domain. This option must be set to either Disabled or Not Configured.
l Windows User Account Control (UAC) must be disabled, or a specific registry setting must be
changed to allow Nessus audits. To turn off UAC completely, open the Control Panel, select User
Accounts and then set Turn User Account Control to Off. Alternatively, you can add a new
registry DWORD named LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy and set its value to “1”. This key must
be created in the registry at the following location: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mi-
crosoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system\LocalAcc oun-
tTokenFilterPolicy. For more information on this registry setting, consult the MSDN 766945
KB.
l The Remote Registry service must be enabled (it is disabled by default). It can be enabled for a
one-time audit, or left enabled permanently if frequent audits are performed.
respective owners.
Configure Nessus for Windows Logins
Nessus User Interface

In the Scan Credential Settings section, select Windows. Specify the SMB account name, password and
optional domain, then select Submit. The new scan policy will be added to the list of managed scan
policies.
respective owners.
Credentialed Checks on Linux
The process described in this section enables you to perform local security checks on Linux based sys-
tems. The SSH daemon used in this example is OpenSSH. If you have a commercial variant of SSH, your
procedure may be slightly different.
You can enable local security checks using an SSH private/public key pair or user credentials and sudo
or su access.
respective owners.
Prerequisites
Configuration Requirements for SSH

Nessus supports the blowfish-cbc, aesXXX-cbc (aes128, aes192 and aes256), 3des-cbc and aes-ctr
algorithms.
Some commercial variants of SSH do not have support for the blowfish cipher, possibly for export reas-
ons. It is also possible to configure an SSH server to only accept certain types of encryption. Check that
your SSH server supports the correct algorithm.
User Privileges
For maximum effectiveness, the SSH user must have the ability to run any command on the system. On
Linux systems, this is known as root privileges. While it is possible to run some checks (such as patch
levels) with non-privileged access, full compliance checks that audit system configuration and file per-
missions require root access. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that SSH keys be used
instead of credentials when possible.
Configuration Requirements for Kerberos

If Kerberos is used, sshd must be configured with Kerberos support to verify the ticket with the KDC.
Reverse DNS lookups must be properly configured for this to work. The Kerberos interaction method
must be gssapi-with-mic.
respective owners.
Enable SSH Local Security Checks
This section is intended to provide a high-level procedure for enabling SSH between the systems
involved in the Nessus credential checks. It is not intended to be an in-depth tutorial on SSH. It is
assumed the reader has the prerequisite knowledge of Linux system commands.
Generating SSH Public and Private Keys

The first step is to generate a private/public key pair for the Nessus scanner to use. This key pair can
be generated from any of your Linux systems, using any user account. However, it is important that the
keys be owned by the defined Nessus user.
To generate the key pair, use ssh-keygen and save the key in a safe place. In the following example
the keys are generated on a Red Hat ES 3 installation.
# ssh-keygen -t dsa
Generating public/private dsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/test/.ssh/id_dsa):
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key.
Your public key has been saved in
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
06:4a:fd:76:ee:0f:d4:e6:4b:74:84:9a:99:e6:12:ea
#
Do not transfer the private key to any system other than the one running the Nessus server. When
ssh-keygen asks you for a passphrase, enter a strong passphrase or press the Return key twice (i.e.,
do not set any passphrase). If a passphrase is specified, it must be specified in Policies > Credentials
> SSH settings in order for Nessus to use key-based authentication.
Nessus Windows users may wish to copy both keys to the main Nessus application directory on the sys-
tem running Nessus (C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus by default), and then copy the public
key to the target systems as needed. This makes it easier to manage the public and private key files.
Creating a User Account and Setting up the SSH Key
respective owners.
On every target system to be scanned using local security checks, create a new user account dedicated
to Nessus. This user account must have exactly the same name on all systems. For this document, we
will call the user nessus, but you can use any name.
Once the account is created for the user, make sure that the account has no valid password set. On
Linux systems, new user accounts are locked by default, unless an initial password was explicitly set. If
you are using an account where a password had been set, use the passwd –l command to lock the
account.
You must also create the directory under this new account’s home directory to hold the public key. For
this exercise, the directory will be /home/nessus/.ssh. An example for Linux systems is provided
below:
# passwd –l nessus
# cd /home/nessus
# mkdir .ssh
#
For Solaris 10 systems, Sun has enhanced the passwd(1) command to distinguish between locked
and non-login accounts. This is to ensure that a user account that has been locked may not be used to
execute commands (e.g., cron jobs). Non-login accounts are used only to execute commands and do
not support an interactive login session. These accounts have the “NP” token in the password field of
/etc/shadow. To set a non-login account and create the SSH public key directory in Solaris 10, run
the following commands:
# passwd –N nessus
# grep nessus /etc/shadow
nessus:NP:13579::::::
# cd /export/home/nessus
# mkdir .ssh
#
Now that the user account is created, you must transfer the key to the system, place it in the appro-
priate directory and set the correct permissions.
Example
From the system containing the keys, secure copy the public key to system that will be scanned for
host checks as shown below. 192.1.1.44 is an example remote system that will be tested with the host-
based checks.
respective owners.
# scp ssh_key.pub root@192.1.1.44:/home/nessus/.ssh/authorized_keys
#
You can also copy the file from the system on which Nessus is installed using the secure ftp command,
sftp. Note that the file on the target system must be named authorized_keys.
Return to the System Housing the Public Key

Set the permissions on both the /home/nessus/.ssh directory, as well as the authorized_keys
file.
# chown -R nessus:nessus ~nessus/.ssh/

# chmod 0600 ~nessus/.ssh/authorized_keys
# chmod 0700 ~nessus/.ssh/
#
Repeat this process on all systems that will be tested for SSH checks (starting at “Creating a User
Account and Setting up the SSH Key” above).
Test to make sure that the accounts and networks are configured correctly. Using the simple Linux
command id, from the Nessus scanner, run the following command:
# ssh -i /home/test/nessus/ssh_key nessus@192.1.1.44 id

uid=252(nessus) gid=250(tns) groups=250(tns)
#
If it successfully returns information about the Nessus user, the key exchange was successful.
respective owners.
Configure Nessus for SSH Host-Based Checks
If you have not already done so, secure copy the private and public key files to the system that you will
use to access the Nessus scanner, as described in Enable SSH Local Security Checks.
Nessus User Interface Steps

1. Click New Scan to create a new scan and select a template.
-or-
Click My Scans in the left navigation bar, choose an existing scan, then click the Configure but-
ton.
2. Click the Credentials tab.
3. Select SSH.
4. In the Authentication method drop-down box, select an authentication method.
5. Configure the remaining settings.
respective owners.
Run Nessus as Non-Privileged User
Nessus 6.7 and later has the ability to run as a non-privileged user.
Limitations
l When scanning localhost, Nessus plugins assume that they are running as root. Therefore, cer-
tain types of scans may fail. For example, because Nessus is now running as a non-privileged
user, file content Compliance Audits may fail or return erroneous results since the plugins are
not able to access all directories.
l nessuscli does not have a --no-root mode. Running commands with nessuscli as root
could potentially create files in the Nessus install directory owned by root, which can prohibit
Nessus from accessing them successfully. Use care when running nessuscli, and potentially fix
permissions with chown after using it.
respective owners.
Run Nessus on Linux with Systemd as a Non-Privileged User
Limitations
l For use with Nessus 6.7 or later.
could potentially create files in the Nessus install directory owned by root, which can prohibit
Nessus from accessing them successfully. Use care when running nessuscli, and potentially fix
permissions with chown after using it.
Steps
1. If you have not already, install Nessus.
2. Create a non-root account to run the Nessus service.
sudo useradd -r nonprivuser
3. Remove 'world' permissions on Nessus binaries in the /sbin directory.
sudo chmod 750 /opt/nessus/sbin/*
4. Change ownership of /opt/nessus to the non-root user.
sudo chown nonprivuser:nonprivuser -R /opt/nessus
5. Set capabilities on nessusd and nessus-service.
Tip: cap_net_admin is used to put interface in promiscuous mode.

cap_net_raw is used to create raw sockets for packet forgery.
cap_sys_resource is used to set resource limits.
respective owners.
If this is only a manager, and you do not want this instance of Nessus to perform scans, you
need to provide it only with the capability to change its resource limits.
sudo setcap "cap_sys_resource+eip" /opt/nessus/sbin/nessusd

sudo setcap "cap_sys_resource+eip" /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service
If you want this instance of Nessus to perform scans, you need to add additional permissions to
allow packet forgery and enabling promiscuous mode on the interface.
sudo setcap "cap_net_admin,cap_net_raw,cap_sys_resource+eip"

6. Remove and add the following lines to the /usr/lib/systemd/system/nessusd.service

script:
l Remove: ExecStart=/opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q
l Add: ExecStart=/opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q --no-root
l Add: User=nonprivuser
The resulting script should appear as follows:
[Service]
Type=simple
PIDFile=/opt/nessus/var/nessus/nessus-service.pid
ExecStart=/opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q --no-root
Restart=on-abort
ExecReload=/usr/bin/pkill nessusd
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/nessusd
User=nonprivuser
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
7. Reload and start nessusd.
In this step, Nessus restarts as root, but systemd starts it as nonprivuser.
respective owners.
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo service nessusd start
respective owners.
Run Nessus on Linux with init.d Script as a Non-Privileged
User
Limitations
These steps are for use with Nessus 6.7 or later.
When scanning localhost, Nessus plugins assume that they are running as root. Therefore, certain
types of scans may fail. For example, because Nessus is now running as a non-privileged user, file con-
tent Compliance Audits may fail or return erroneous results since the plugins are not able to access all
directories.
Because nessuscli does not have a --no-root mode, running commands with nessuscli as root
could potentially create files in the Nessus install directory owned by root, which can prohibit Nessus
from accessing them successfully. Use care when running nessuscli, and potentially fix permissions
with chown after using it.
Steps
1. If you have not already, install Nessus.
2. Create a non-root account to run the Nessus service.
sudo useradd -r nonprivuser
sudo chmod 750 /opt/nessus/sbin/*
sudo chown nonprivuser:nonprivuser -R /opt/nessus
5. Set capabilities on nessusd and nessus-service.
Tip:
respective owners.
cap_net_admin is used to put the interface in promiscuous mode.
cap_net_raw is used to create raw sockets for packet forgery.
cap_sys_resource is used to set resource limits.
If this is only a manager, and you do not want this instance of Nessus install to perform scans,
you need to provide it only with the capability to change its resource limits.
sudo setcap "cap_sys_resource+eip" /opt/nessus/sbin/nessusd

sudo setcap "cap_sys_resource+eip" /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service
If you want this instance of Nessus to perform scans, you need to add additional permissions to
allow packet forgery and enabling promiscuous mode on the interface.

6. Add the following line to the /etc/init.d/nessusd script:
CentOS
daemon --user=nonprivuser /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D --no-root
Debian
start-stop-daemon --start --oknodo --user nonprivuser --name nessus --pid-
file --chuid nonprivuser --startas /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -- -q
-D --no-root
Depending on your operating system, the resulting script should appear as follows:
CentOS
start() {
KIND="$NESSUS_NAME"
echo -n $"Starting $NESSUS_NAME : "
daemon --user=nonprivuser /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D --no-root
respective owners.
echo "."
return 0
}
Debian
start() {
KIND="$NESSUS_NAME"
echo -n $"Starting $NESSUS_NAME : "
start-stop-daemon --start --oknodo --user nonprivuser --name nessus --
pidfile --chuid nonprivuser --startas /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -- -q -D
--no-root
echo "."
return 0
}
7. Start nessusd.
In this step, Nessus starts as root, but init.d starts it as nonprivuser.
sudo service nessusd start
Note: If you are running Nessus on Debian, after starting Nessus, run the chown -R non-
privuser:nonprivuser /opt/nessus command to regain ownership of directories created at
runtime.
respective owners.
Run Nessus on Mac OS X as a Non-Privileged User
Limitations
could potentially create files in the Nessus install directory owned by root, which could cause
Nessus to be unable to access them appropriately. Use care when running nessuscli, and
potentially fix permissions with chown after using it.
Steps
1. If you have not already done so, Install Nessus on MacOSX.
2. Since the Nessus service is running as root, it needs to be unloaded.

Use the following command to unload the Nessus service:
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist
3. On the Mac, in System Preferences > Users & Groups, create a new Group.
4. Next, in System Preferences > Users & Groups, create the new Standard User. This user will
be configured to run as the Nessus non-privileged account.
respective owners.
5. Add the new user to the group you created in Step 1.
respective owners.
sudo chmod 750 /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/*
7. Change ownership of /Library/Nessus/run directory to the non-root (Standard) user you cre-
ated in Step 2.
sudo chown -R nonprivuser:nonprivuser /Library/Nessus/run
8. Give that user read/write permissions to the /dev/bpf* devices. A simple way to do this is to
install Wireshark, which creates a group called access_bpf, as well as a corresponding launch
daemon to set appropriate permissions on /dev/bpf* at startup. In this case, you can simply
assign the nonpriv user to be in the access_bpf group. Otherwise, you will need to create a
launch daemon giving the "nonpriv" user, or a group that it is a part of, read/write permissions
to all /dev/bpf*.
9. For Step 8. changes to take effect, reboot your system.
10. Using a text editor, modify the Nessus
respective owners.
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist file and add the following
lines. Do not modify any of the existing lines.
<string>--no-root</string>
<key>UserName</key>
<string>nonprivuser</string>
11. Using sysctl, verify the following parameters have the minimum values:
$ sysctl debug.bpf_maxdevices
debug.bpf_maxdevices: 16384
$ sysctl kern.maxfiles
kern.maxfiles: 12288
$ sysctl kern.maxfilesperproc
kern.maxfilesperproc: 12288
$ sysctl kern.maxproc
kern.maxproc: 1064
$ sysctl kern.maxprocperuid
kern.maxprocperuid: 1064
12. If any of the values in Step 9. do not meet the minimum requirements, take the following steps
to modify values.
Create a file called /etc/sysctl.conf.

Using the a text editor, edit the systctl.conf file with the correct values found in Step 9.
respective owners.
Example:
$ cat /etc/sysctl.conf
kern.maxfilesperproc=12288
kern.maxproc=1064
kern.maxprocperuid=1064
13. Next, using the launchctl limit command, verify your OS default values.
Example: MacOSX 10.10 and 10.11 values.
$ launchctl limit
cpu unlimited unlimited
filesize unlimited unlimited
data unlimited unlimited
stack 8388608 67104768
core 0 unlimited
rss unlimited unlimited
memlock unlimited unlimited
maxproc 709 1064
maxfiles 256 unlimited
14. If any of the values in Step 11. are not set to the default OSX values above, take the following
steps to modify values.
Using the a text editor, edit the launchd.conf file with the correct, default values as shown in
Step 11.
Example:
$ cat /etc/launchd.conf
limit maxproc 709 1064
Note: Some older versions of OSX have smaller limits for maxproc. If your version of OSX sup-
ports increasing the limits through /etc/launchctl.conf, increase the value.
15. For all changes to take effect either reboot your system or reload the launch daemon.
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist
respective owners.
Run Nessus on FreeBSD as a Non-Privileged User
Limitations
could potentially create files in the Nessus install directory owned by root, which could cause
Nessus to be unable to access them appropriately. Use care when running nessuscli, and poten-
tially fix permissions with chown after using it.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, execute the following commands in a root login shell.
1. If you have not already done so, Install Nessus on FreeBSD.
pkg add Nessus-*.txz
2. Create a non-root account which will run the Nessus service.

In this example, nonprivuser is created in the nonprivgroup.
# adduser
Username: nonprivuser
Full name: NonPrivUser
Uid (Leave empty for default):
Login group [nonprivuser]:
Login group is nonprivuser. Invite nonprivuser into other groups?
[]:
Login class [default]:
Shell (sh csh tcsh bash rbash nologin) [sh]:
Home directory [/home/nonprivuser]:
Home directory permissions (Leave empty for default):
respective owners.
Use password-based authentication? [yes]:
Use an empty password? (yes/no) [no]:
Use a random password? (yes/no) [no]:
Enter password:
Enter password again:
Lock out the account after creation? [no]:
Username : nonprivuser
Password : *****
Full Name : NonPrivUser
Uid : 1003
Class :
Groups : nonprivuser
Home : /home/nonprivuser
Home Mode :
Shell : /bin/sh
Locked : no
OK? (yes/no): yes
adduser: INFO: Successfully added (nonprivuser) to the user
database.
Add another user? (yes/no): no
Goodbye!
chmod 750 /usr/local/nessus/sbin/*
chown -R nonprivuser:nonprivuser /usr/local/nessus
5. Create a group to give the non-root user access to the /dev/bpf device and allow them to use
raw sockets.
respective owners.
pw groupadd access_bpf
pw groupmod access_bpf -m nonprivuser
6. Confirm nonprivuser was added to the group.
# pw groupshow access_bpf
access_bpf:*:1003:nonprivuser
7. Next, check your system limit values.

Using the ulimit -a command, verify that each parameter has, at minimum, the following val-
ues.
This example displays FreeBSD 10 values:
# ulimit -a
cpu time (seconds, -t) unlimited
file size (512-blocks, -f) unlimited
data seg size (kbytes, -d) 33554432
stack size (kbytes, -s) 524288
core file size (512-blocks, -c) unlimited
max memory size (kbytes, -m) unlimited
locked memory (kbytes, -l) unlimited
max user processes (-u) 6670
open files (-n) 58329
virtual mem size (kbytes, -v) unlimited
swap limit (kbytes, -w) unlimited
sbsize (bytes, -b) unlimited
pseudo-terminals (-p) unlimited
8. If any of the values in Step 6. do not meet the minimum requirements, take the following steps
to modify values.
Using a text editor, edit the /etc/sysctl.conf file.

Next, using the service command, restart the sysctl service:
respective owners.
service sysctl restart
Alternatively, you can reboot your system.

Verify the new, minimum required values by using the ulimit -a command again.
9. Next, using a text editor, modify the /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nessusd service script to remove
and add the following lines:
Remove: /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -D -q
Add: chown root:access_bpf /dev/bpf
Add: chmod 660 /dev/bpf
Add: daemon -u nonprivuser /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -D -q --
no-root
The resulting script should appear as follows:
nessusd_start() {
echo 'Starting Nessus...'
chown root:access_bpf /dev/bpf
chmod 660 /dev/bpf
daemon -u nonprivuser /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -D -q --no-root
}
nessusd_stop() {
test -f /usr/local/nessus/var/nessus/nessus-service.pid && kill `cat
/usr/local/nessus/var/nessus/nessus-service.pid` && echo 'Stopping Nessus...'
&& sleep 3
}
respective owners.
Upgrade Assistant
You can upgrade data from Nessus to to Tenable.io via the Upgrade Assistant tool.
For more information, please refer to the Upgrade Assistant documentation: https://-
docs.tenable.com/upgradeassistant/nessus
respective owners.

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Nessus 8.7.

Last Updated: September 24, 2019

Welcome to Nessus 8.7.x 12

Get Started with Nessus 15

Manage SSL Certificates 33

Custom SSL Certificates 34

SSL Client Certificate Authentication 35

Create a New Custom CA and Server Certificate 36

Upload a Custom CA Certificate 38

Create Nessus SSL Certificates for Login 40

Enable Connections with Smart Card or CAC Card 43

Connect with Certificate or Card Enabled Browser 44

Install Nessus on Linux 50

Install Nessus on Windows 51

Install Nessus on Mac OS X 53

Install Nessus Agents 55

Retrieve the Linking Key 56

Install a Nessus Agent on Linux 57

Install a Nessus Agent on Windows 61

Install a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X 65

Upgrade Nessus and Nessus Agents 68

Upgrade from Evaluation 70

Upgrade Nessus on Linux 71

Upgrade Nessus on Windows 72

Upgrade Nessus on Mac OS X 73

Upgrade a Nessus Agent 74

Install Nessus Essentials, Professional, or Manager 76

Link to Industrial Security 80

Link to Nessus Manager 82

View Your Activation Code 87

Reset Activation Code 88

Update Activation Code 89

Transfer Activation Code 91

Manage Nessus Offline 93

Install Nessus Offline 95

Generate Challenge Code 98

Generate Your License 99

Download and Copy License File (nessus.license) 100

Register Your License with Nessus 101

Download and Copy Plugins 102

Install Plugins Manually 103

Update Nessus Software Manually 105

Offline Update Page Details 107

Remove Nessus and Nessus Agents 108

Nessus Removal 109

Uninstall Nessus on Linux 110

Uninstall Nessus on Windows 112

Uninstall Nessus on Mac OS X 113

Remove Nessus Agent 114

Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Linux 115

Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Windows 116

Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X 117

Scan and Policy Templates 119

Agent Templates 122

Scan and Policy Settings 123

Basic Scan Settings 124

Scan Targets 128

Discovery Scan Settings 131

Assessment Scan Settings 140