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:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 9:46 AM To: Scott Pate Cc: [email protected] 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
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