Nessus Tutorial

Learn Nessus Vulnerability Scanner Installation and Configuration

Nessus is a proprietary cross platform vulnerability scanner developed by Tenable Network Security (http://www.nessus.org) It is used to detect potential vulnerabilities on systems like remote cracker control, blank/default/absent passwords, DoS attack against TCP/IP stack, open relay mail, missing updates and patches. Nessus is a proprietary product however, for personal use it is free of cost. Latest version is Nessus 4.0.0 launched in April 2009.

Installation Procedure of Nessus 4.0.0 on Redhat Linux ES 5.x. 1. Check hardware support for Nessus; requirements are below: • Minimum Pentium III 2GHz or higher CPU. For enterprise network Dual Core 2 GHz or higher Pentium IV CPU is recommended. • Minimum 1 GB RAM. Recommended 2GB; for larger networks must use 4 GB RAM. ** Nessus can be installed on VMware machine simulated with above mentioned specs running with NICs configured with NAT. 2. Download latest version of Nessus from http://www.nessus.org/downloads 3. Logins Redhat Linux Enterprise ES 5 system using “root” user. All commands for installation must be given under root user login session. 4. Check dependencies for Nessus which are: • OpenSSL • Zlib • GNU C library Normally typical RHEL 5 installation by default install all of the above if not check before proceeding installation of Nessus. Use of YUM server for installation of Nessus would be helpful in resolving and installation dependencies automatically. 5. Install Nessus rpm package Nessus-4.x.x-es5.i386.rpm # rpm –ivh Nessus-4.x.x-es5.i386.rpm