Nmap Notes for Beginners (Simple + Practical)
Nmap Notes for Beginners (Simple + Practical) What is Nmap? Nmap (Network Mapper) is a tool used for: • Finding live hosts (which systems are online) • Finding open ports • Detecting services and versions • Running scripts for extra recon using NSE (Nmap Scripting Engine) Used widely in VAPT (Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing) for recon. 1) Basic Nmap Scan Command: nmap 10.10.10.10 Why used: Scans the top 1000 common TCP ports of the target. 2) Host Discovery (Find live systems) -sn (Scan No ports) Command: nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24 Why used: Only checks which devices are alive/up, does NOT scan ports. Best use: First step in scanning a network. 3) Ping blocked? Force scan -Pn (Skip host discovery, assume host is alive) Command: nmap -Pn 10.10.10.10 Why used: Many servers block ping, so Nmap may say “Host seems down”. -Pn tells Nmap: don’t ping, just scan. 4) Port Scanning Scan one port: nm...