Start or Stop a Tenable Agent
The following sections describe best practices for starting and stopping a Tenable Agent on a host.
Windows
- Navigate to Services.
 - In the Name column, click Tenable Nessus Agent.
 - Do one of the following:
- To stop the agent service, right-click Tenable Nessus Agent, and then click Stop.
 - To restart the agent service, right-click Tenable Nessus Agent, and then click Start.
 
 
Alternatively, you can start or stop an agent from the command line using the following commands:
| 
                                                                         Start or Stop  | 
                                                                    
                                                                         Windows Command Line Operation  | 
                                                                
|---|---|
| 
                                                                         Start  | 
                                                                    
                                                                         C:\Windows\system32>net start "Tenable Nessus Agent"  | 
                                                                
| Stop | 
                                                                         C:\Windows\system32>net stop "Tenable Nessus Agent"  | 
                                                                
Linux
Use the following commands to start or stop an agent on a Linux system:
| 
                                                                         Start or Stop  | 
                                                                    
                                                                         Linux Command Line Operation  | 
                                                                
|---|---|
| 
                                                                         Start  | 
                                                                    
                                                                         # systemctl start nessusagent  | 
                                                                
| Stop | 
                                                                         # systemctl stop nessusagent  | 
                                                                
macOS
- Navigate to System Settings.
 - Click the 
 button. - Click the 
 button. - Type your username and password.
 - Do one of the following:
- To stop the agent service, click the Stop Nessus Agent button.
 - To start the agent service, click the Start Nessus Agent button.
 
 
Alternatively, you can start or stop an agent from the command line using the following commands:
| 
                                                                         Start or Stop  | 
                                                                    
                                                                         macOS Command Line Operation  | 
                                                                
|---|---|
| 
                                                                         Start  | 
                                                                    
                                                                         # sudo launchctl start com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent  | 
                                                                
| Stop | 
                                                                         # sudo launchctl stop com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent  |