Thanks Renaud,
I understand documentation is difficult, but I have to say it's
frustrating when certains features are added or removed with little or
no documentation. For instance, the KB. It has been my practice to use
the KB and it's functionality when re-running a scan, such as "don't
scan hosts already scanned", or "don't re-run port scanners"....I also
know that when you use the nasl command to run individual plugins, some
of them depend on information from the KB and they will not run if you
have not saved the KB. So when these options no longer exist in the new
client, it leaves me to wonder how this change affects the funtionality
of the scanner, and how that will impact my scans.
Also, with regard to "optimize tests", when this functionality is
removed, how does that affect the scan as well? Do I know that the
functionality of un-checking this box still extists? Where is this
documented?
I also noticed the addition of the "Probe services on every port" option
which to me sounds familiar to what "optimze tests" used to do. The
description for this option is that nessus will attempt to "match each
open port with the service that is running on that port". So does this
mean every port that was scanned, or every port that is open? and If I
don't have this checked, does this mean nessus will not try to identify
services on all ports? What services will it try to identify? What
exactly does "All" ports mean? All 65535 ports or just ports that are
specified in the port scanner, or just ports that are open?
I have learned through experience that documentation on nessus, while
helpful, does not address all, nor some of the more advanced features of
nessus. There are obviously many many options that can be set, and I
have taught myself through many hours of trial and error what exactly
each option does and how it affects the scan. Particularly when you are
dealing with multiple options that seem related. For instance, I
learned (alteast with the older nessus client) that if you disable "ping
host" in the general tab, but still leave "tcp ping" enabled in global
options, that nessus will still try to ping the host.
I do appreciate the product you guys have developed, but I find myself
starting from square one whenever a new version is released, especially
with limited documentation. We all know that nessus has gone from open
to closed source, and will soon only be available for a fee, and I
wonder when and if complete documentation will be available. At the
very least a changelog or FAQ for new releases.
________________________________
From: Renaud Deraison (lists) [mailto:deraison-lists@nessus.org]
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 9:46 AM
To: Scott Pate
Cc: nessus@list.nessus.org Board
Subject: Re: NessusClient 3.2
On Jun 10, 2008, at 4:41 PM, Scott Pate wrote:
Thanks Renaud,
Is there a changelog to show what is different with new
NessusClient/server? I have read the available documentation, but it's
not quite clear how the new changes affect the functionality (when
compared with the old options)
We document every change (see
http://blog.tenablesecurity.com/2008/05/nessus-321-rele.html for the
3.2.1 change log for instance).
However, when we create a new project from scratch (which gives us the
freedom to remove a lot of legacy), it's difficult to write a piece
explaining every bit of change compared to the previous thing doing
somewhat the same thing.
Usually, if something goes away (or is about to go away) we try to be
vocal about it. We also try to keep old features, but that does not mean
we recommend using them (the KB options are one example, some outdated
XML output is another one).
-- Renaud
_______________________________________________
Nessus mailing list
Nessus@list.nessus.org
http://mail.nessus.org/mailman/listinfo/nessus
