Hi, so I’m going to show you how to use nmap, the free port scanner, along with zenmap, the graphical front-end of nmap available at the same download page (the Windows self-installer includes everything). Ports are the little doors, so to speak, to your computer where different services run. Ports are numbered 1-65535 and certain port numbers are reserved for certain services, like http (webpages) at port 80 and https (secure webpages) at 443.
Below you need to enter the IP for the computer you want to scan (I entered the IP for the computer I am on: 127.0.0.1 (or “localhost”)). Then choose the type of scan you want under “Profile.” (I chose “Quick scan” for this demo.) Then click “Scan.”
Above you see the list of ports by number and the service running. Under “State” you will by default not see the state of that port on Windows. However, you can put these flags (options that start with “-“) to get better, more verbose results: “nmap -sT -T4 -A -v -Pn 127.0.0.1” My sample scan below.
Here the ports say “open” (green text) if they are responding completely.
One thought on “Basic Nmap Scanning”