How to install Nessus vulnerability scanner on Linux

This blog describes the installation and configuration of Tenable Network Security’s

Nessus 5.2 vulnerability scanner.

Tenable Network Security, Inc. is the author and maintainer of the Nessus vulnerability scanner. In addition to constantly improving the Nessus engine, Tenable writes most of the plugins available to the scanner, as well as compliance checks

and a wide variety of audit policies.

 

Prerequisites, deployment options, and a walk through of an installation

are described in this document. A basic understanding of Unix and vulnerability scanning is assumed.

Installation

Download Nessus package under link below:

Debian 6.0 (32 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-debian6_i386.deb

Debian 6.0 (64 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-debian6_amd64.deb

Red Hat ES 4 / CentOS 4:
Nessus-5.2.6-es4.i386.rpm

Red Hat ES 5 (32 bits) / CentOS 5 / Oracle Linux 5 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel):
Nessus-5.2.6-es5.i386.rpm

Red Hat ES 5 (64 bits) / CentOS 5 / Oracle Linux 5 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel):
Nessus-5.2.6-es5.x86_64.rpm

Red Hat ES 6 (32 bits) / CentOS 6 / Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel):
Nessus-5.2.6-es6.i386.rpm

Red Hat ES 6 (64 bits) / CentOS 6 / Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel):
Nessus-5.2.6-es6.x86_64.rpm

Fedora 19,20 (32 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-fc16.i386.rpm

Fedora 19,20 (64 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-fc16.x86_64.rpm

SuSE 10 Enterprise (64 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-suse10.x86_64.rpm

SuSE 11 Enterprise (32 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-suse11.i586.rpm

SuSE 11 Enterprise (64 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-suse11.x86_64.rpm

Ubuntu 9.10 / Ubuntu 10.04 (32 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-ubuntu910_i386.deb

Ubuntu 9.10 / Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-ubuntu910_amd64.deb

Ubuntu 11.10 / Ubuntu 12.04 (32 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-ubuntu1110_i386.deb

Ubuntu 11.10 / Ubuntu 12.04 (64 bits):
Nessus-5.2.6-ubuntu1110_amd64.deb

 

Open a Terminal “CTRL+ALT+T” and type this command line:

Red Hat  / CentOS

su
chmod a+x <Nessus package>.rpm
rpm -ivh <Nessus package>.rpm

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo -i
chmod a+x <Nessus package>.deb
dpkg -i <Nessus package>.deb

When the installation is completed, start the nessusd daemon as instructed in the next section depending on the distribution. Once Nessus is installed, you must visit the scanner URL provided to complete the registration process.

Note: Unix-based installations may provide a URL containing a relative host name that is not in DNS (e.g.,https://ip-address:8834/).
If the host name is not in DNS, you must connect to the Nessus server using an IP address or a valid DNS name. 

After that process is complete, it is recommended that you authenticate and customize the configuration options for your
environment as described in the “Feed Registration and GUI Configuration” section

Note: Nessus must be installed to /opt/nessus, although a symbolic link pointing to /opt/nessus is acceptable.

Starting | Stop the Nessus Daemon

Open a Terminal “CTRL+ALT+T” and type this command line:

Red Hat / CentOS

su

/sbin/service nessusd  {start|stop}

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo -i

/etc/init.d/nessusd {start|stop}

or

sudo services nessusd {start|stop}

 

For further information about  Nessus configuration documentation please click link below:
 nessus_5.2_installation_guide

 

Nessus Screen shots