Installing and Removing Nessus on Ubuntu

Quick reference notes for installing Nessus on Ubuntu via .deb package, and for cleanly removing it afterward.

Download

Grab the appropriate .deb package from the official Tenable downloads page:

https://www.tenable.com/downloads/nessus

Install

Install the downloaded package with dpkg:

dpkg -i Nessus-10.12.1-ubuntu1604_amd64.deb

Start the Nessus service:

systemctl start nessusd.service

Initial Access

Once the service is running, access the web UI at:

https://<host>:8834

From there, complete the setup wizard and activate your license (activation code from Tenable).

Uninstall / Cleanup

To fully remove Nessus and its residual files:

# 1. Stop the Nessus service
systemctl stop nessusd.service

# 2. Purge the package and remove remaining residual configuration files
dpkg --purge nessus

# 3. Explicitly delete residual configuration, plugin, and license directories left behind
rm -rf /opt/nessus /var/lib/nessus /var/log/nessus

This ensures no leftover config, plugin data, or license files remain before a fresh reinstall.

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Notes to self:

• Package version will change over time — always grab the latest .deb from the Tenable downloads page rather than reusing an old filename.
• Port 8834 needs to be reachable to access the setup wizard.
• dpkg --purge alone doesn’t always clear /opt/nessus and /var/lib/nessus — the manual rm -rf step is needed for a truly clean slate.