Agent Updates

Required user role when using Tenable Nessus Manager: Administrator or System Administrator

You can configure the Tenable Agent version that Tenable Nessus Manager offers to its linked Tenable Agents to update to from the Agent Updates page.

The Agent Updates page also allows you to manually update the offered Tenable Agent version directly from the Tenable Nessus feed and shows what Tenable Agent versions correspond to the GA, Early Access, and Stable update plans, when Tenable Nessus Manager last checked the feed for new available versions, the version that your Tenable Nessus Manager instance currently offers, and the time at which Tenable Nessus Manager last updated its version offering from the feed.

Note: The Agent Updates page is not available when Tenable Nessus is managed by Tenable Security Center or Tenable Nessus Manager.
Note: The Agent Updates page only affects Tenable Agent version updates, and does not affect plugin updates.

To manage the agent update settings, use the following procedures:

You can configure the Tenable Agent version that Tenable Nessus Manager offers to its linked Tenable Agents to update to from the Agent Updates page.

You can choose from one of the three agent update plans:

Agent Update Plan Description
GA releases (Default) Tenable Nessus Manager allows its Tenable Agents to update to the latest generally available (GA) version automatically.
Early Access releases Tenable Nessus Manager allows its Tenable Agents to update to the latest version automatically when it is released for Early Access (typically a few weeks before GA).
Stable releases Tenable Agents do not automatically update to the latest version and remain on an earlier version set by Tenable (usually one release older than the current generally available version).

To configure the agent update plan:

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Sensors.

    The Linked Agents page appears. By default, Linked Agents is selected in the left navigation menu and the Linked Agents tab is active.

  2. In the left navigation bar, click Agent Updates.

    The Agent Updates page appears.

  3. Under Agent Update Plan, select the plan you want to use for updating Tenable Agents.

  4. Click Save.

    After saving, Tenable recommends updating the Tenable Agent version that Tenable Nessus Manager offers from the Tenable Nessus feed.

The Automatic Updates setting allows Tenable Nessus Manager to automatically update the Tenable Agent version it offers to its linked agents to upgrade to based on the manager's update plan. Alternatively, you can turn off Automatic Updates and configure the offered Tenable Agent version manually.

Note: If you want to prevent linked agents from downloading any software updates, you need to create a permanent freeze window in addition to disabling Automatic Updates. Disabling Automatic Updates only blocks Tenable Nessus Manager from updating the version it offers the linked agents. If Tenable Nessus Manager already downloaded a new agent version to offer the linked agents, the linked agents upgrade or downgrade to that new version. To avoid this, create and enable a permanent freeze window with the Prevent software updates setting turned on. For more information, see Create a Freeze Window.

To enable or disable the Automatic Updates setting:

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Sensors.

    The Linked Agents page appears. By default, Linked Agents is selected in the left navigation menu and the Linked Agents tab is active.

  2. In the left navigation bar, click Agent Updates.

    The Agent Updates page appears.

  3. Under Automatic Updates, select or clear the Enable Agent Updates check box.

  4. Click the Save button.

    Tenable Nessus Manager saves the setting.

Sometimes, such as after you configure the agent update plan or after you turn off Automatic Updates, you may want to update the Tenable Agent version that Tenable Nessus Manager offers manually.

To update the offered Tenable Agent version manually:

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Sensors.

    The Linked Agents page appears. By default, Linked Agents is selected in the left navigation menu and the Linked Agents tab is active.

  2. In the left navigation bar, click Agent Updates.

    The Agent Updates page appears.

  3. In the upper-left corner of the page, click the Manual Software Updates button.

    The Update Provided Agent Version Now window appears.

    Note: The Manual Software Update button updates the offered Tenable Agent version based on the saved agent update plan. For example, if you set the plan to GA releases, save, and click the button, your offered Tenable Agent version updates to the latest GA version. The button does not show if you selected Disable agent version updates.

  4. Click the Continue button.

    Tenable Nessus Manager updates the version it offers to Tenable Agents from the Tenable Nessus feed.