Remove Tenable Agent

This section includes information for uninstalling a Tenable Agent from hosts.

Note: For instructions on how to remove an agent from a manager while leaving the agent installed on the host, see Unlink a Tenable Agent.

Uninstall a Tenable Agent on Windows

You can uninstall an agent from Windows via the Windows user interface or the Windows CLI.

Before you begin:

• Unlink the agent from the manager.

To uninstall Tenable Agent from the Windows user interface:

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 Agent product.

3. Click Uninstall.

   A dialog box appears, prompting you to confirm your selection to remove Tenable Agent.

4. Click Yes.

   Windows deletes all Nessus related files and folders.

To uninstall Tenable Agent from the Windows CLI:

1. Open PowerShell with administrator privileges.

2. Run the following command:

   msiexec.exe /x <path to Tenable Agent package>

   Note: For information about optional msiexec /x parameters, see msiexec in the Microsoft documentation.

What to do next:

• If you plan on reinstalling the Tenable Agent on the system, see the knowledge base article on how to avoid linking errors.

Uninstall a Tenable Agent on Linux

You can uninstall an agent on Linux from the command line.

Before you begin:

• Unlink the agent from the manager.

To uninstall Tenable Agent on Linux:

1. Type the remove command specific to your Linux-style operating system.

   Example Tenable Agent Remove Commands

   Debian/Kali and Ubuntu

   # dpkg -r NessusAgent

   Red Hat 6 and 7, Oracle Linux 6 and 7

   # yum remove NessusAgent

   Red Hat 8 and later, Oracle Linux 8 and later, Fedora

   # dnf remove NessusAgent

   SUSE

   # sudo zypper remove NessusAgent

   Note: To completely remove Tenable Agent from the system, you must manually delete the agent filesystem after running the remove command.

What to do next:

• If you plan on reinstalling the Tenable Agent on the system, see the knowledge base article on how to avoid linking errors.

Uninstall a Tenable Agent on macOS

You can uninstall an agent on macOS by deleting the related agent directories and disabling the agent service.

Before you begin:

• Unlink the agent from the manager.

To uninstall Tenable Agent on macOS:

1. Remove the Tenable Agent directories. From a command prompt, type the following commands:

   • $ sudo rm -rf /Library/NessusAgent
   • $ sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent.plist

   • $ sudo rm -r "/Library/PreferencePanes/Nessus Agent Preferences.prefPane"

   Note: To completely remove Tenable Agent from the system, you must manually delete the agent filesystem after running the remove command.

2. Disable the Tenable Agent service:

   1. From a command prompt, type the following command:

      $ sudo launchctl remove com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent
      

   2. If prompted, provide the administrator password.

What to do next:

• If you plan on reinstalling the Tenable Agent on the system, see the knowledge base article on how to avoid linking errors.