Install Tenable Nessus on Windows

Caution: If you install a Tenable Nessus Agent, Tenable Nessus Manager, or Tenable Nessus scanner on a system with an existing Tenable Nessus Agent, Tenable Nessus Manager, or Tenable Nessus scanner running nessusd, the installation process terminates all other nessusd processes. You may lose scan data as a result.

Note: Tenable Nessus does not support using symbolic links for /opt/nessus/.

Note: You may be required to restart your computer to complete installation.

Download Nessus Package File

Download Tenable Nessus from the Tenable Downloads site.

Start Nessus Installation

  1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Nessus installer.
  2. Next, double-click the file name to start the installation process.

Complete the Windows InstallShield Wizard

  1. First, the Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen appears. Select Next to continue.
  2. On the License Agreement screen, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus software license and subscription agreement. 
  3. Select the I accept the terms of the license agreement option, and then click Next.
  4. On the Destination Folder screen, select the Next button to accept the default installation folder. Otherwise, select the Change button to install Nessus to a different folder.

    5. Note: If installed in a location other than C:, files from the Program Files\Tenable\Nessus and ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus folders reside in a single main folder such as D:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus).

  5. On the Ready to Install the Program screen, select the Install button.

The Installing Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen appears and a Status indication bar shows the installation progress. The process may take several minutes.

After the InstallShield Wizard completes, the Welcome to Nessus page loads in your default browser.

If the page does not load, do one of the following steps to open Tenable Nessus in your browser.

  • To access a remotely installed Nessus instance, go to https://<remote IP address>:8834 (for example, https://111.49.7.180:8834).

  • To access a locally installed Nessus instance, go to https://localhost:8834.

Perform the remaining Nessus installation steps in your web browser.