Setting the maximum run time for scans

By default, a sensor can run a scan for an indefinite period of time, which prevents it from running other scans. You can limit the amount of time scans can run on sensors for a specific job, for a specific sensor, or globally for all sensors.

The following precedence rules apply to timeout settings:

  • Job timeout settings override any sensor-specific or global timeout settings.

  • Sensor timeout configured on the command line overrides a global timeout setting.

Configuring the maximum run time for a specific job

To configure the maximum run time of one minute for a specific job, run the following command:

scancentral -url <controller_url> start --scan-timeout 1

To configure the maximum run time of two minutes for a specific sensor, run the following:

scancentral -url <controller_url> worker --scan-timeout 2

Configuring the maximum run time for all sensors

To configure the maximum run time for all sensors:

  1. Open the <controller_install_dir>/tomcat/webapps/scancentral-ctrl/WEB-INF/classes/config.properties file in a text editor.

  2. Set the scan_timeout property value to the maximum number of minutes for scans to run on sensors.

  3. Save and close the config.properties file.