Nessus Professional basics and getting started
Leverage these key resources and events to hit the ground running and stay informed of the latest product updates and releases.
Major onboarding
steps
To get started with Nessus Professional, follow the steps below.
Onboarding steps
Prepare
Prepare
Ensure that your setup meets the minimum system requirements and obtain your activation code for Nessus Professional.
Resources:
Install and configure Nessus Professional
Install and configure Nessus Professional
Tenable Nessus can be installed on Windows, Linux, macOS, or Raspberry Pi. It can also be deployed as a Docker image. Follow the installation steps depending on your Tenable Nessus software and operating system, and perform the initial configuration steps.
Resources:
Docs: Install and configure Tenable Nessus
Create and configure scans
Create and configure scans
Run a host discovery scan to identify assets on your network. Then, create a vulnerability scan by selecting a scan template and configuring the scan to meet your needs. Finally, launch the scan.
Resources:
Docs: Create and configure scans
View and analyze scan results
View and analyze scan results
View and analyze scan results, manage vulnerabilities and scan folders, and create a scan report or export.
Resources:
Docs: View and analyze scan results
Demo: Review Basic Network Scan results
Video: Comparing Scan Results
Create a report and export findings
Create a report and export findings
Create a scan report to help you analyze the vulnerabilities and remediations on affected hosts. You can create a scan report in PDF, HTML, or CSV format, and customize it to contain only certain information.
Resources:
Docs: Scan exports and reports
Refine Tenable Nessus settings
Refine Tenable Nessus settings
Adjust scan settings to address warning messages and monitor scan health.
Resources:
Docs: Refine Tenable Nessus settings
Video: Measuring scan success
Best practices
Use these best practices to get the most from your investment and set the foundation for becoming a power user:
- Utilize the Tenable vulnerability priority rating (VPR) to prioritize the remediation of the highest risk vulnerabilities first.
- The scan or policy's Credentials page allows you to configure the Tenable Nessus scanner to use authentication credentials during scanning. Configuring credentials allows Tenable Nessus to perform a wider variety of checks that result in more accurate scan results.
- You can compare two scan results to see differences between them. This comparison is not a true differential of the two results; it shows the new vulnerabilities that Tenable Nessus detected between the older baseline scan and the newer scan. 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 Tenable Nessus finds new vulnerabilities, or how two scans may not be targeting the same hosts.
- Use the Live Results feature 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 launch a scan manually to confirm the findings.
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