N-map on Windows: Installation and Usage Guide for Windows Users
Note: The audio version doesn't include code or commands. Those parts of the post can be seen in the text version. Available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and a range of other operating systems, Nmap is widely used to perform network scans, conduct security auditing, and find vulnerabilities in networks. As the project's official page explains, at the most basic level, Nmap allows you to quickly map the ports on your network, and do so without being detected. This functionality is accessed through a well-structured set of Nmap commands which will be familiar to anyone who has worked with command-line network tools before. Commands can also be built into Nmap scripts to extend your capabilities even further. Installing Nmap on Windows, and for that matter using it on Windows, is fairly straightforward. We'll show you how to download Nmap, and how to install it. We'll then take you through the most common use cases for Nmap, before showing you the official GUI alternative called Zenmap. Installing Nmap on Windows Installing Nmap on Windows is straightforward: The first step is to go to the official download page and download the latest stable version of Nmap. NOTE: There are typically a number of different versions of Nmap available–the latest stable version, in addition to early-release betas that will offer extra features at the cost of some stability. Download the version you feel most comfortable with, which for most beginners will be the latest stable version. Next, navigate to the location where the file is downloaded. If your Windows installation is fairly standard, this will be in your "Downloads" folder. You will see a file there called "Nmap-X.XX-setup", or similar. If you can't find the file, do a quick search for it. This file is an EXE ,an executable. In order to use it, you will have to run it with administrator privileges. To do that, right-click the file and then click "run as administrator." The installer will now run. A window will appear that will ask you to accept the end-user agreement. Click "I Agree" to do so. Next, the installer will ask you which components of Nmap you'd like to install. All of the components will be selected and installed by default. Unless you are experienced with the program and don't need some of these components, go ahead and accept the proposed installation. Then the installer will ask you where you want to install Nmap. It will default to C:\Program Files (x86)\Nmap, but you can change this if you would like to. The important thing is that you know where Nmap is installed, because (as we'll see shortly) you'll need that information in order to call it from the command line. Click "Install", and Nmap will start to install. This should be a pretty quick process, even on old hardware–Nmap is a small program, despite being so useful! You'll then get confirmation that Nmap is installed. If all went smoothly, you should now have a working version of Nmap on your computer. Depending on your level of experience, however, you might be a little confused at this point. By default, Nmap is a command-line tool, and as such it doesn’t have an icon that appears in your programs menu. If you are familiar with using the command line (or want to give it a go), you can proceed to the next section. If you want a graphical program (a GUI) for Nmap, take a look at the section on Zenmap below–this program will provide a more familiar interface for novice users. Running Nmap on Windows 10 - Usage Examples Using Nmap on the Windows command line As we've mentioned above, by default Nmap is used completely through the Windows command line, and this is how most people will use Nmap. If you are not familiar with this, you can either download Zenmap (see below) or even use Nmap as an introduction to the Windows command line–it makes a great place to learn. Here are the most common use cases for Nmap: 1. Detecting the version A simple use case for Nmap is to check the version of Windows (or any other OS) you ar...