We are installing the tool on Kali, so we want to pick the version called: Once this is done, you will be redirected to theĭownload page for Nessus Essentials, which is the free version.

To install Nessus, we will have to visit their site and first register for an activation code at the following link:Įnter your name and email here to receive the code. Task 2:įirst, put the Kali VM temporarily on “Bridged Network”, as we will download Nessus tool from the internet. When login is required, you will enter “ msfadmin” as username and password.

Remember to put both machines on the same isolated host-only network to talk to each other. We will use both Kali Linux and Metasploitable VM for this lab. You can find a lot of material on this page on how to download and setup the Metasploitable VM. You can download the metasploitable iso file here: If you are unfamiliar with metasploitable, it is an intentionally vulnerable machine which can be loaded in VMware, the same as Kali Linux. You can use Kali Linux in a VM for this lab. The tool allows security professionals to perform high-speed asset discovery, target profiling, configuration auditing, malware detection, sensitive data discovery, and more. Nessus is a proprietary vulnerability scanner developed by Tenable Inc.

Learn how to run a comprehensive vulnerability scan with Nessus.

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