Top 30 Nmap Command Examples For Sys/Network Admins

Source: https://www.facebook.com/hackinsight
Introduction:
Nmap is short for Network Mapper. It is an open source security tool for network exploration,
security scanning and auditing. However, nmap command comes with lots of options that can
make the utility more robust and difficult to follow for new users.
The purpose of this post is to introduce a user to the nmap command line tool to scan a host
and/or network, so to find out the possible vulnerable points in the hosts. You will also learn how
to use Nmap for offensive and defensive purposes.
How to install Nmap - visit www.nmap.org

Let's have a look at the commands!

1: Scan a single host or an IP address (IPv4)

### Scan a single ip address ###
nmap 192.168.1.1
## Scan a host name ###
nmap server1.cyberciti.biz
## Scan a host name with more info###
nmap -v server1.cyberciti.biz
Sample outputs: (see the picture)

2: Scan multiple IP address or subnet (IPv4)

nmap 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.2 192.168.1.3
## works with same subnet i.e. 192.168.1.0/24
nmap 192.168.1.1,2,3
You can scan a range of IP address too:
nmap 192.168.1.1-20
You can scan a range of IP address using a wildcard:
1

nmap 192.168.1.*
Finally, you scan an entire subnet:
nmap 192.168.1.0/24

3: Read list of hosts/networks from a file (IPv4)

The -iL option allows you to read the list of target systems using a text file. This is useful to scan
a large number of hosts/networks. Create a text file as follows:
cat > /tmp/test.txt
Sample outputs:
server1.cyberciti.biz
192.168.1.0/24
192.168.1.1/24
10.1.2.3
localhost
The syntax is:
nmap -iL /tmp/test.txt

4: Excluding hosts/networks (IPv4)

When scanning a large number of hosts/networks you can exclude hosts from a scan:
nmap 192.168.1.0/24 --exclude 192.168.1.5
nmap 192.168.1.0/24 --exclude 192.168.1.5,192.168.1.254
OR exclude list from a file called /tmp/exclude.txt
nmap -iL /tmp/scanlist.txt --excludefile /tmp/exclude.txt

5: Turn on OS and version detection scanning script

(IPv4)
nmap -A 192.168.1.254
nmap -v -A 192.168.1.1
nmap -A -iL /tmp/scanlist.txt
2

6: Find out if a host/network is protected by a

firewall
nmap -sA 192.168.1.254
nmap -sA server1.cyberciti.biz

7: Scan a host when protected by the firewall

nmap -PN 192.168.1.1
nmap -PN server1.cyberciti.biz

8: Scan an IPv6 host/address

The -6 option enable IPv6 scanning. The syntax is:
nmap -6 IPv6-Address-Here
nmap -6 server1.cyberciti.biz
nmap -6 2607:f0d0:1002:51::4
nmap -v A -6 2607:f0d0:1002:51::4

9: Scan a network and find out which servers and

devices are up and running
This is known as host discovery or ping scan:
nmap -sP 192.168.1.0/24
Sample outputs:
Host 192.168.1.1 is up (0.00035s latency).
MAC Address: BC:AE:C5:C3:16:93 (Unknown)
Host 192.168.1.2 is up (0.0038s latency).
MAC Address: 74:44:01:40:57:FB (Unknown)
Host 192.168.1.5 is up.
Host nas03 (192.168.1.12) is up (0.0091s latency).
MAC Address: 00:11:32:11:15:FC (Synology Incorporated)
Nmap done: 256 IP addresses (4 hosts up) scanned in 2.80 second
3

10: How do I perform a fast scan?

nmap -F 192.168.1.1

11: Display the reason a port is in a particular state

nmap --reason 192.168.1.1
nmap --reason server1.cyberciti.biz

12: Only show open (or possibly open) ports

nmap --open 192.168.1.1
nmap --open server1.cyberciti.biz

13: Show all packets sent and received

nmap --packet-trace 192.168.1.1
nmap --packet-trace server1.cyberciti.biz

14: Show host interfaces and routes

This is useful for debugging (ip command or route command or netstat command like output
using nmap)
nmap --iflist
Sample outputs:
Starting Nmap 5.00 ( http://nmap.org/
) at 2012-11-27 02:01 IST
************************INTERFACES************************
DEV (SHORT) IP/MASK TYPE UP MAC
lo (lo) 127.0.0.1/8 loopback up
eth0 (eth0) 192.168.1.5/24 ethernet up B8:AC:6F:65:31:E5
vmnet1 (vmnet1) 192.168.121.1/24 ethernet up 00:50:56:C0:00:01
vmnet8 (vmnet8) 192.168.179.1/24 ethernet up 00:50:56:C0:00:08
ppp0 (ppp0) 10.1.19.69/32 point2point up
**************************ROUTES**************************
DST/MASK DEV GATEWAY
10.0.31.178/32 ppp0
209.133.67.35/32 eth0 192.168.1.2
192.168.1.0/0 eth0
192.168.121.0/0 vmnet1
192.168.179.0/0 vmnet8
4

169.254.0.0/0 eth0
10.0.0.0/0 ppp0
0.0.0.0/0 eth0 192.168.1.2

15: How do I scan specific ports?

map -p [port] hostName
## Scan port 80
nmap -p 80 192.168.1.1
## Scan TCP port 80
nmap -p T:80 192.168.1.1
## Scan UDP port 53
nmap -p U:53 192.168.1.1
## Scan two ports ##
nmap -p 80,443 192.168.1.1
## Scan port ranges ##
nmap -p 80-200 192.168.1.1
## Combine all options ##
nmap -p U:53,111,137,T:21-25,80,139,8080 192.168.1.1
nmap -p U:53,111,137,T:21-25,80,139,8080 server1.cyberciti.biz
nmap -v -sU -sT -p U:53,111,137,T:21-25,80,139,8080 192.168.1.254
## Scan all ports with * wildcard ##
nmap -p "*" 192.168.1.1
## Scan top ports i.e. scan $number most common ports ##
nmap --top-ports 5 192.168.1.1
nmap --top-ports 10 192.168.1.1
Sample outputs:
Starting Nmap 5.00 ( http://nmap.org/
) at 2012-11-27 01:23 IST
Interesting ports on 192.168.1.1:
PORT STATE SERVICE
21/tcp closed ftp
22/tcp open ssh
23/tcp closed telnet
25/tcp closed smtp
80/tcp open http
110/tcp closed pop3
5

139/tcp closed netbios-ssn

443/tcp closed https
445/tcp closed microsoft-ds
3389/tcp closed ms-term-serv
MAC Address: BC:AE:C5:C3:16:93 (Unknown)
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 0.51 seconds

16: The fastest way to scan all your

devices/computers for open ports ever
nmap -T5 192.168.1.0/24

17: How do I detect remote operating system?

You can identify a remote host apps and OS using the -O option:
nmap -O 192.168.1.1
nmap -O --osscan-guess 192.168.1.1
nmap -v -O --osscan-guess 192.168.1.1
Sample outputs:
Starting Nmap 5.00 ( http://nmap.org/
) at 2012-11-27 01:29 IST
NSE: Loaded 0 scripts for scanning.
Initiating ARP Ping Scan at 01:29
Scanning 192.168.1.1 [1 port]
Completed ARP Ping Scan at 01:29, 0.01s elapsed (1 total hosts)
Initiating Parallel DNS resolution of 1 host. at 01:29
Completed Parallel DNS resolution of 1 host. at 01:29, 0.22s elapsed
Initiating SYN Stealth Scan at 01:29
Scanning 192.168.1.1 [1000 ports]
Discovered open port 80/tcp on 192.168.1.1
Discovered open port 22/tcp on 192.168.1.1
Completed SYN Stealth Scan at 01:29, 0.16s elapsed (1000 total ports)
Initiating OS detection (try #1) against 192.168.1.1
Retrying OS detection (try #2) against 192.168.1.1
Retrying OS detection (try #3) against 192.168.1.1
Retrying OS detection (try #4) against 192.168.1.1
Retrying OS detection (try #5) against 192.168.1.1
Host 192.168.1.1 is up (0.00049s latency).
Interesting ports on 192.168.1.1:
Not shown: 998 closed ports
PORT STATE SERVICE
22/tcp open ssh
6

80/tcp open http

MAC Address: BC:AE:C5:C3:16:93 (Unknown)
Device type: WAP|general purpose|router|printer|broadband router
Running (JUST GUESSING) : Linksys Linux 2.4.X (95%), Linux 2.4.X|2.6.X (94%), MikroTik
RouterOS 3.X (92%), Lexmark embedded (90%), Enterasys embedded (89%), D-Link Linux
2.4.X (89%), Netgear Linux 2.4.X (89%)
Aggressive OS guesses: OpenWrt White Russian 0.9 (Linux 2.4.30) (95%), OpenWrt 0.9 - 7.09
(Linux 2.4.30 - 2.4.34) (94%), OpenWrt Kamikaze 7.09 (Linux 2.6.22) (94%), Linux 2.4.21 2.4.31 (likely embedded) (92%), Linux 2.6.15 - 2.6.23 (embedded) (92%), Linux 2.6.15 - 2.6.24
(92%), MikroTik RouterOS 3.0beta5 (92%), MikroTik RouterOS 3.17 (92%), Linux 2.6.24
(91%), Linux 2.6.22 (90%)
No exact OS matches for host (If you know what OS is running on it, see http://nmap.org/submit/
).
TCP/IP fingerprint:
OS:SCAN(V=5.00%D=11/27%OT=22%CT=1%CU=30609%PV=Y%DS=1%G=Y
%M=BCAEC5%TM=50B3CA
OS:4B%P=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)SEQ(SP=C8%GCD=1%ISR=CB%TI=Z%CI=Z%II=I
%TS=7
OS:)OPS(O1=M2300ST11NW2%O2=M2300ST11NW2%O3=M2300NNT11NW2%O4=M230
0ST11NW2%O5
OS:=M2300ST11NW2%O6=M2300ST11)WIN(W1=45E8%W2=45E8%W3=45E8%W4=45E8
%W5=45E8%W
OS:6=45E8)ECN(R=Y%DF=Y%T=40%W=4600%O=M2300NNSNW2%CC=N%Q=)T1(R=Y
%DF=Y%T=40%S
OS:=O%A=S+%F=AS%RD=0%Q=)T2(R=N)T3(R=N)T4(R=Y%DF=Y%T=40%W=0%S=A
%A=Z%F=R%O=%R
OS:D=0%Q=)T5(R=Y%DF=Y%T=40%W=0%S=Z%A=S+%F=AR%O=%RD=0%Q=)T6(R=Y
%DF=Y%T=40%W=
OS:0%S=A%A=Z%F=R%O=%RD=0%Q=)T7(R=N)U1(R=Y%DF=N
%T=40%IPL=164%UN=0%RIPL=G%RID
OS:=G%RIPCK=G%RUCK=G%RUD=G)IE(R=Y%DFI=N%T=40%CD=S)
Uptime guess: 12.990 days (since Wed Nov 14 01:44:40 2012)
Network Distance: 1 hop
TCP Sequence Prediction: Difficulty=200 (Good luck!)
IP ID Sequence Generation: All zeros
Read data files from: /usr/share/nmap
OS detection performed. Please report any incorrect results at http://nmap.org/submit/
.
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 12.38 seconds
Raw packets sent: 1126 (53.832KB) | Rcvd: 1066 (46.100KB)
See also: Fingerprinting a web-server and a dns server command line tools for more information.

18: How do I detect remote services (server /

daemon) version numbers?
nmap -sV 192.168.1.1
7

Sample outputs:
Starting Nmap 5.00 ( http://nmap.org/
) at 2012-11-27 01:34 IST
Interesting ports on 192.168.1.1:
Not shown: 998 closed ports
PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
22/tcp open ssh Dropbear sshd 0.52 (protocol 2.0)
80/tcp open http?
1 service unrecognized despite returning data.

19: Scan a host using TCP ACK (PA) and TCP Syn
(PS) ping
If firewall is blocking standard ICMP pings, try the following host discovery methods:
nmap -PS 192.168.1.1
nmap -PS 80,21,443 192.168.1.1
nmap -PA 192.168.1.1
nmap -PA 80,21,200-512 192.168.1.1

20: Scan a host using IP protocol ping

nmap -PO 192.168.1.1