{"id":7658,"date":"2021-01-15T07:52:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T04:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/?p=7658"},"modified":"2024-03-19T20:56:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T17:56:53","slug":"install-and-setup-nessus-scanner-on-ubuntu-20-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/install-and-setup-nessus-scanner-on-ubuntu-20-04\/","title":{"rendered":"Install and Setup Nessus Scanner on Ubuntu 20.04"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In this tutorial, you will learn how to install and setup Nessus scanner on Ubuntu 20.04. <a aria-label=\"Nessus (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tenable.com\/products\/nessus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"rank-math-link\">Nessus<\/a> is the de-facto industry standard vulnerability assessment solution.&nbsp;It is one of the most widely deployed vulnerability assessment solution world-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"981\" height=\"414\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/install-nessus-ubuntu-20.04.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7659\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/install-nessus-ubuntu-20.04.png?v=1610653299 981w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/install-nessus-ubuntu-20.04-768x324.png?v=1610653299 768w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/install-nessus-ubuntu-20.04-150x63.png?v=1610653299 150w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/install-nessus-ubuntu-20.04-300x127.png?v=1610653299 300w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/install-nessus-ubuntu-20.04-696x294.png?v=1610653299 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 981px) 100vw, 981px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Nessus features high-speed asset discovery, configuration auditing, target profiling, malware detection, sensitive data discovery, and 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\u2019s largest continuously-updated library of vulnerability and configuration checks, and the support of Tenable\u2019s expert vulnerability research team, Nessus sets the standard for vulnerability scanning speed and accuracy<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Installing Nessus Scanner on Ubuntu 20.04<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are different versions of Nessus scanners that you can use for vulnerability assessment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a aria-label=\"Nessus Essentials (opens in a new tab)\" class=\"rank-math-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tenable.com\/products\/nessus\/nessus-essentials\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nessus Essentials<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a aria-label=\"Nessus Professional (opens in a new tab)\" class=\"rank-math-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tenable.com\/products\/nessus\/nessus-professional\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nessus Professional<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a aria-label=\"Tenable.io (opens in a new tab)\" class=\"rank-math-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tenable.com\/products\/tenable-io\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tenable.io<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In this tutorial, we will learn how to install and setup Nessus Professional trial version scanner on Ubuntu 20.04. Some of the features provided by the Nessus professional trial version include;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Real-Time Vulnerability Updates<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vulnerability Scanning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unlimited Scans<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>32 IPs Per Scanner<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Web Application Scanning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exportable Reports<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Free for 7 days<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To install Nessus Professional trial version on Ubuntu 20.04;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Obtain the Trail activation code<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to get the Nessus professional trial version activation code, you need to register an account on <a aria-label=\"Nessus activation code page (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tenable.com\/products\/nessus\/activation-code\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"rank-math-link\">Nessus activation code page<\/a>. Once you have registered an account, login to your trials account and obtain activation code. You will receive instructions in your email inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Download Nessus Professional Installer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Navigate to Nessus <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tenable.com\/downloads\/nessus?loginAttempted=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">downloads page<\/a> and grab Ubuntu installation package. Nessus 10.0.1 is the current stable release as of this writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can simply execute the command below to download Nessus 10.0.1 Ubuntu installer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>wget -O Nessus-10.0.1-Ubuntu1110_amd64.deb https:\/\/www.tenable.com\/downloads\/api\/v1\/public\/pages\/nessus\/downloads\/15341\/download?i_agree_to_tenable_license_agreement=true<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Calculate the checksum hash of the downloaded file and compare it with the checksum hash as provided on the downloads page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>md5sum Nessus-10.0.1-Ubuntu1110_amd64.deb<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>d33decc18d4064d559021cc949e59156  Nessus-10.0.1-Ubuntu1110_amd64.deb<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ensure that the hashes match before you can proceed with installation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Install Nessus Scanner on Ubuntu<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, install Nessus professional trial version on Ubuntu 20.04 by running the command below;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>apt install .\/Nessus-10.0.1-Ubuntu1110_amd64.deb<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>As the installation runs, you will see such information on how to start and access Nessus web user interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"scroll-box\"><code>\nReading package lists... Done\nBuilding dependency tree       \nReading state information... Done\nNote, selecting 'nessus' instead of '.\/Nessus-10.0.1-Ubuntu1110_amd64.deb'\nThe following NEW packages will be installed:\n  nessus\n0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 42 not upgraded.\nNeed to get 0 B\/50.3 MB of archives.\nAfter this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.\nGet:1 \/root\/Nessus-10.0.1-Ubuntu1110_amd64.deb nessus amd64 10.0.1 [50.3 MB]\nSelecting previously unselected package nessus.\n(Reading database ... 84755 files and directories currently installed.)\nPreparing to unpack ...\/Nessus-10.0.1-Ubuntu1110_amd64.deb ...\nUnpacking nessus (10.0.1) ...\nSetting up nessus (10.0.1) ...\nUnpacking Nessus Scanner Core Components...\nCreated symlink \/etc\/systemd\/system\/nessusd.service \u2192 \/lib\/systemd\/system\/nessusd.service.\nCreated symlink \/etc\/systemd\/system\/multi-user.target.wants\/nessusd.service \u2192 \/lib\/systemd\/system\/nessusd.service.\n\n - You can start Nessus Scanner by typing \/bin\/systemctl start nessusd.service\n - Then go to https:\/\/ubuntu20:8834\/ to configure your scanner\n\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Running Nessus Deamon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Start and enable Nessus Professional service to run on system boot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>systemctl enable --now nessusd<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Checking the status;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>systemctl status nessusd<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"scroll-box\"><code>\n\u25cf nessusd.service - The Nessus Vulnerability Scanner\n     Loaded: loaded (\/lib\/systemd\/system\/nessusd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)\n     Active: active (running) since Thu 2021-11-18 09:39:53 CET; 5s ago\n   Main PID: 416742 (nessus-service)\n      Tasks: 12 (limit: 18715)\n     Memory: 32.9M\n     CGroup: \/system.slice\/nessusd.service\n             \u251c\u2500416742 \/opt\/nessus\/sbin\/nessus-service -q\n             \u2514\u2500416743 nessusd -q\n\nNov 18 09:39:53 pentest systemd[1]: Started The Nessus Vulnerability Scanner.\nNov 18 09:39:55 pentest nessus-service[416743]: Cached 0 plugin libs in 0msec\nNov 18 09:39:55 pentest nessus-service[416743]: Cached 0 plugin libs in 0mse\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Set up and Activate Nessus Professional<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After initial installation you are required to set up and activate Nessus. Login to UI, using the URL as shown in the installation output:&nbsp;<strong>https:\/\/&lt;your-hostname-or-IP&gt;:8834\/.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If UFW is running, open port 8834\/tcp to allow external access;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><code>ufw allow 8834\/tcp<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, access Nessus professional from browser to finalize the setup. Accept the SSL warning as an exception and proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choose Nessus Type to Run<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>When you first access Nessus, you are prompted to choose the Nessus you want to deploy.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"831\" height=\"751\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/choose-nessus-type.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7663\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/choose-nessus-type.png?v=1610685964 831w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/choose-nessus-type-768x694.png?v=1610685964 768w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/choose-nessus-type-150x136.png?v=1610685964 150w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/choose-nessus-type-300x271.png?v=1610685964 300w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/choose-nessus-type-696x629.png?v=1610685964 696w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/choose-nessus-type-465x420.png?v=1610685964 465w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 831px) 100vw, 831px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>In our case, we choose Nessus Professional and continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Registering Nessus Professional Trial version<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Copy the key from the trials account page and paste it to activate the trial version.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"842\" height=\"656\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-register.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7664\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-register.png?v=1610686045 842w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-register-768x598.png?v=1610686045 768w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-register-150x117.png?v=1610686045 150w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-register-300x234.png?v=1610686045 300w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-register-696x542.png?v=1610686045 696w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-register-539x420.png?v=1610686045 539w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 842px) 100vw, 842px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Click Continue<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Create Nessus Administrator Account<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, you are required to create an admin account.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"890\" height=\"728\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-admin-acc.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7665\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-admin-acc.png?v=1610686082 890w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-admin-acc-768x628.png?v=1610686082 768w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-admin-acc-150x123.png?v=1610686082 150w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-admin-acc-300x245.png?v=1610686082 300w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-admin-acc-696x569.png?v=1610686082 696w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-admin-acc-513x420.png?v=1610686082 513w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 890px) 100vw, 890px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Click submit once done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the Nessus setup is complete, it will start to initialize by downloading and compiling the plugins needed for scanning. This may take a while though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the initialization is done, such an interface welcomes you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1903\" height=\"751\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7666\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard.png?v=1610686130 1903w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard-768x303.png?v=1610686130 768w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard-1536x606.png?v=1610686130 1536w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard-150x59.png?v=1610686130 150w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard-300x118.png?v=1610686130 300w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard-696x275.png?v=1610686130 696w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard-1068x421.png?v=1610686130 1068w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-dashboard-1064x420.png?v=1610686130 1064w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1903px) 100vw, 1903px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Adding Scan Targets<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You can choose to add hosts that you want to scan. You can use hostnames, IPv4 addresses, or IPv6 addresses. 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sample scans dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1888\" height=\"630\" src=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7667\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans.png?v=1610686169 1888w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans-768x256.png?v=1610686169 768w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans-1536x513.png?v=1610686169 1536w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans-150x50.png?v=1610686169 150w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans-300x100.png?v=1610686169 300w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans-696x232.png?v=1610686169 696w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans-1068x356.png?v=1610686169 1068w, https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nessus-scans-1259x420.png?v=1610686169 1259w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1888px) 100vw, 1888px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can further customize your scanner by creating scan rules and policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That marks the end of our tutorial on how to install and setup Nessus on Ubuntu 20.04.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Further Reading<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can utilize the Nessus User guide on how to use Nessus scanner;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.tenable.com\/nessus\/10_0\/Content\/GettingStarted.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nessus Professional 10.x User Guide<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other Tutorials<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/how-to-run-nessus-scan-against-a-system-or-host\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"rank-math-link\">How to Scan a Remote Host using Nessus Vulnerability Scanner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/how-to-install-and-use-nikto-web-scanner-on-ubuntu-18-04\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How to Install and Use Nikto Web Scanner on Ubuntu 18.04<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/how-to-install-rkhunter-rootkit-hunter-on-ubuntu-18-04\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How to Install RKHunter (RootKit Hunter) On Ubuntu 18.04<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/install-openvas-10-gvm-on-debian-10-buster\/\" target=\"_blank\">Install OpenVAS 10 (GVM) on Debian 10 Buster<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/install-and-setup-gvm-11-on-ubuntu-20-04\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"rank-math-link\">Install and Setup GVM 11 on Ubuntu 20.04<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/install-rengine-on-ubuntu\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"rank-math-link\">Install reNgine on Ubuntu 20.04|Ubuntu 18.04<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this tutorial, you will learn how to install and setup Nessus scanner on Ubuntu 20.04. Nessus is the de-facto industry standard vulnerability assessment solution.&nbsp;It<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150,121,151,34],"tags":[3012,3011,139,3013,3015,1200,3014],"class_list":["post-7658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vulnerability-scanners","category-howtos","category-nessus","category-security","tag-install-nessus-professional-ubuntu","tag-install-nessus-ubuntu-20-04","tag-nessus","tag-nessus-pro-trial-version-ubuntu-20-04","tag-setup-nessus-on-ubuntu","tag-ubuntu-20-04","tag-vulnerability-scanner-ubuntu-20-04","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7658"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7658"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21971,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7658\/revisions\/21971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kifarunix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}