I just wanted to lend my support to this idea.  It would make things
much easier when doing automated scans.  

On Wed, Feb 06, 2002 at 03:30:48PM -0700, Pete Akre wrote:
[snip]
> The real issue is that as the plugins on the server change, the .nessusrc
> file generated manually (either by the GUI or the CLI if that was
> available) becomes very outdated very quickly. This means that for
> unattended scans (i.e., from cron daily) I would have to launch the GUI
> *every day* to re-generate a new .nessusrc file to incorporate that day's
> plugin changes.
[snip]
> I think an easier way to "fix" this problem would be to allow plugins to
> be specified by family in the .nessusrc file. For example, today it looks
> like:
[snip current config]
> begin(PLUGIN_SET)
>  Backdoors Family = yes
>  CGI abuses Family = yes
>  Denial of Service Family = no
>  Finger abuses Family = yes
> ... (continuing on with a line for every FAMILY instead of every plugin)
> end(PLUGIN_SET)
> 
> 
> Thus, a "yes" would indicate to use ALL the plugins in that family (even
> the "dangerous" ones), while a "no" would indicate to use NONE of the
> plugins in that family.

I would add two things: first, allow as a separte option the ability to
turn on/off dangerous plugins in all families.

Second, how about making the whole family knob a default for that
family.  Then allowing individual plugins to be turned on or off as
needed.

so setting "Backdoors Family" = yes, but "SubSeven Check" = no would
turn on all backdoor checks, except for SubSeven. (Note: I'm guessing at
the name, I don't have access to a nessus server at the moment).

This has the nice effect of making the configuration as simple as
possible, while still allowing more complex configurations to be
possible.

> 
> I'm still curious how other people are solving this issue. I can't believe
> (or maybe I'm just in denail :) that everyone is running the GUI *every
> day* to re-generate a new up-to-date .nessusrc file. :)

When I was running the stable branch, it seemed like nessus
automatically turned on new plugins (except dangerous ones) when it was run.

-- 
Devin Kowatch
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

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