Installing internal agents on Windows
Acunetix Premium+ Online lets you use internal agents to scan targets in your internal environment that are not publicly accessible from the internet or when you do not want to allow-list Acunetix cloud agents.
This article explains how to install the Acunetix internal agent in a Windows environment. You can also install internal agents using Docker Desktop. For more information, refer to:
Limitations for internal agents When the site is internal, and you prefer using internal agents for the scan, you cannot create a new Login Sequence Record (LSR) or Business Logic Record. However, you can import them. For further information about recording and downloading an LSR, refer to Using the Login Sequence Recorder. |
Prerequisites
System requirements
To run scans successfully, the agent requires sufficient system resources. The agent will only initiate a new scan if the following minimum resources are available:
- CPU: 2 free core CPU 64-bit processor
- Memory (RAM): 6 GB available
- Disk Space: 50 GB of free disk space
- Microsoft Windows 10 or 11 with the latest patches
- Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, or 2025
Access requirements
- Administrator privileges for command execution
- Acunetix System/Platform Administrator role
Whitelisting requirements
- Whitelisting guidelines for Acunetix Online - US region
- Whitelisting guidelines for Acunetix Online - EU region
- Whitelisting guidelines for Acunetix On-Premises
Resource Allocation Behavior
When the agent starts, it checks the available system resources and allocates scan slots accordingly. Each scan slot requires:
- 6 GB of available RAM
- 2 CPU cores
- 50 GB of free disk space
The agent will determine how many scans can run in parallel based on these requirements.
NOTE: If a machine has 15 GB RAM, 5 CPU cores, and 500 GB free disk space, the agent will allocate 2 scan slots. This means up to 2 scans can run simultaneously, while any additional scans will remain queued until a slot becomes available. The agent dynamically manages resources before and during scan execution. If system resources drop below the required threshold, new scans will not begin until sufficient resources are available. |
How to install an internal agent on Windows
- Log in to Acunetix.
- From the main menu, select Agents.
- Click Agent Installation Instructions.
- Select Windows.
- Enter a name for your internal agent.
- Create a folder where you will save the internal agent.
- Click Download Windows Agent. When the invicti-agent.exe file is downloaded, move it to the folder created in Step 6 above.
- Copy the command from Step 5 in the Agent Installation Instructions.
- As a user without administrative privileges, open Terminal and navigate to the folder where you saved the downloaded invicti-agent.exe file. Alternatively, right-click the folder with the file and select 'Open in Terminal.'
- Paste and execute the command copied in Step 8 above to register the internal agent with your Acunetix account.
- Copy the command from Step 6 in the Agent Installation Instructions.
- As a user with administrative privileges, open Terminal and navigate to the folder where you saved the downloaded invicti-agent.exe file. Alternatively, right-click the folder with the file and select 'Open in Terminal.'
- Paste and run the command copied in Step 11 above. This installs the agent as a service so that it is ready to start executing scans.
Your internal agent is now installed. You can view your internal agents in Acunetix by going to the Agents page.
You can now assign targets to the installed internal agent and commence testing your website.
Troubleshooting
To troubleshoot any issues, check the logs located in the logs folder within the agent installation directory you created.
If you encounter an error when starting the agent, try adding Local Service permission inside the agent folder. To do this, right-click on your agent folder and select Properties > Security > Edit > Add. Then type Local Service in the text field and click OK > Apply. Once completed, navigate to Services to start the agent service.
For further assistance, contact our Support team.
Uninstall the service
If you need to uninstall the service, run the following command as a user with administrative privileges:
.\invicti-agent.exe service -u --log-level=info --log-file |
