Nightly Cleanup

The Tenable Security Center nightly cleanup is a scheduled task that operates at 0020 hours (12:20 AM) each night, which allows for the seamless processing of information to get updated without requiring user intervention. The primary goal of this process is to optimize system performance by performing various essential tasks, ensuring a smooth and efficient working environment.

Core Tasks of Nightly Cleanup

The nightly cleanup process involves several pivotal tasks aimed at maintaining the quality and efficiency of Tenable Security Center operations:

The nightly cleanup process is responsible for removing diverse types of data that have exceeded their expiration dates. This includes asset and scan data, as well as trending data that is no longer relevant. The removal of redundant data optimizes storage space and prevents the accumulation of irrelevant information, ensuring that the system operates with maximum efficiency.

In addition to data removal, the nightly cleanup process targets the removal of miscellaneous files on the system's backend. This includes logs and other files that may accumulate over time. The removal of these files contributes to freeing up disk space and further enhancing system performance.

To derive maximum benefit from the Tenable Security Center nightly cleanup, Tenable recommends organizations to adhere to the following best practices:

To mitigate potential performance impacts, schedule the vulnerability scans and other resource-intensive tasks after the nightly cleanup process is complete. This ensures that system resources are available for scan execution, minimizing any operational disruptions and optimizing scan efficiency.

Regularly monitor the available disk space to ensure that the nightly cleanup process is effectively freeing up storage resources. Maintaining an optimal level of free disk space is crucial for overall system performance and stability.

It is essential to recognize that the nightly cleanup job's execution time is set based on the system's time zone during installation. This means that if the system's time zone changes post-installation, the execution time remains unaffected. Organizations must keep this in mind while scheduling tasks to align with the nightly cleanup.