Launch VM Scan

POST/api/2.0/fo/scan/?action=launch

Launch a VM scan in the user's account.

Good to Know

The Launch Scan API is asynchronous. When you make a request to launch a scan using this API, the service will return a scan reference ID right away and the call will quit without waiting for the complete scan results.
When you launch a VM scan using the API, we check to see if the IPs in the scan target are available to the user making the scan request. To determine this, we check that each IP is in the subscription, in the VM license, and in the user’s assigned scope. If any IP in the target is not available to the user, then it will be skipped from the scan job.

For example, let’s say you specify the IP range 10.10.10.100-10.10.10.120, but IPs 10.10.10.115 and 10.10.10.120 are not available to you. In this case, we will launch the scan on 10.10.10.100-10.10.10.114, 10.10.10.116-10.10.10.119, and we’ll skip 10.10.10.115 and 10.10.10.120.
Using networks? Choose the Global Default Network to scan IPs on your network perimeter.

Click here to view parameters for launching VM scans.

Sample - Launch VM Scan (IP Address)Sample - Launch VM Scan (IP Address)

API Request

curl -u "username:password" -H "X-Requested-With:curl demo" -d "action=launch&scan_title=My+Vulnerability+Scan&target_from=tags&tag_set_by=name&tag_set_include=Windows&option_id=43165&iscanner_name=scanner1" "https://<qualys_base_url>/api/2.0/fo/scan/"

XML Output

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE SIMPLE_RETURN SYSTEM "https://<qualys_base_url>/api/2.0/simple_return.dtd">
<SIMPLE_RETURN>
  <RESPONSE>
    <DATETIME>2018-01-15T21:32:40Z</DATETIME>
    <TEXT>New vm scan launched</TEXT>
    <ITEM_LIST>
      <ITEM>
        <KEY>ID</KEY>
        <VALUE>136992</VALUE>
      </ITEM>
      <ITEM>
        <KEY>REFERENCE</KEY>
        <VALUE>scan/1358285558.36992</VALUE>
      </ITEM>
    </ITEM_LIST>
  </RESPONSE>
</SIMPLE_RETURN>

Sample - Launch Scan (FQDN and Asset Group)Sample - Launch Scan (FQDN and Asset Group)

API Request

curl -H "X-Requested-With: Curl" -u "USERNAME:PASSWORD" -X "POST" -d"action=launch&option_title=Initial+Options&fqdn=domain.qualys.com&iscanner_name=scanner_us&scan_title=My+Scan&asset_groups=My+AG""https://<qualys_base_url>/api/2.0/fo/scan/" > outputfile.txt

Sample - Launch Scan (FQDN only)Sample - Launch Scan (FQDN only)

API Request

curl -H "X-Requested-With: Curl" -u "USERNAME:PASSWD" -X "POST" -d "action=launch&option_title=Initial+Options&fqdn=domain.qualys.com &iscanner_name=scanner_us" "https://qualysapi.qualys.com/api/2.0/fo/scan/" > outputfile.txt

Sample - Launch VM Scan (Asset Tags)Sample - Launch VM Scan (Asset Tags)

API Request

curl -u 'username:password' -H 'X-Requested-With:curl demo' -d "action=launch&scan_title=My+Vulnerability+Scan&target_from=tags&tag_set_by=name&tag_set_include=Windows&option_id=43165&iscanner_name=scanner1" "https://<qualys_base_url>/api/2.0/fo/scan/"

Example - Launch VM Scan (All Scanners in Network)Example - Launch VM Scan (All Scanners in Network)

API Request

curl -u 'username:password' -H 'X-Requested-With:curl demo' -d "action=launch&scan_title=scan3&option_title=Initial+Options&ip_network_id=12807913&scanners_in_network=1&asset_groups=AG1-GDN" "https://<qualys_base_url>/api/2.0/fo/scan/"

DTD

<platform API server>/api/2.0/simple_return.dtd