Saving the Results

Saving Nmap Scan Results#

When conducting scans with Nmap, it’s essential to save the results for future reference. These results can help us analyze and compare different scanning methods. Nmap supports saving output in three different formats, and even allows saving all of them at once.

Available Output Formats#

Format	Option	File Extension	Description
Normal	-oN-	-.nmap-	Human-readable format
Grepable	-oG	-.gnmap	Easily searchable by grep or scripts
XML	-oX	-.xml	Machine-readable format for tools and reports

To save all formats simultaneously, use the —oA- option followed by a base filename.

Example Command#

sudo nmap 10.129.2.28 -p- -oA target

This command will save the scan results in three formats: -target.nmap-, -target.gnmap-, and -target.xml-.

Explanation:

10.129.2.28: The target IP address
p-: Scans all 65535 TCP ports
oA target: Saves output in .nmap, .gnmap, and .xml formats, using “target” as the base name

Output Files#

After the scan completes, you’ll find three files in your current directory:

$ ls
target.nmap  target.gnmap  target.xml

Output Format Breakdown#

1. Normal Output (target.nmap)#

This format is human-friendly and good for quick review.

$ cat target.nmap
# Nmap 7.80 scan initiated Tue Jun 16 12:14:53 2020
Nmap scan report for 10.129.2.28
Host is up (0.053s latency).
Not shown: 65525 closed ports
PORT     STATE SERVICE
22/tcp   open  ssh
25/tcp   open  smtp
80/tcp   open  http
MAC Address: DE:AD:00:00:BE:EF (Intel Corporate)
# Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 10.22 seconds

2. Grepable Output (target.gnmap)#

Great for scripting and automation.

$ cat target.gnmap
# Nmap 7.80 scan initiated Tue Jun 16 12:14:53 2020
Host: 10.129.2.28 () Status: Up
Host: 10.129.2.28 () Ports: 22/open/tcp//ssh///, 25/open/tcp//smtp///, 80/open/tcp//http///
# Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 10.22 seconds

3. XML Output (target.xml)#

Ideal for advanced parsing and report generation.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE nmaprun>
<?xml-stylesheet href="file:///usr/local/bin/../share/nmap/nmap.xsl" type="text/xsl"?>
<nmaprun scanner="nmap" args="nmap -p- -oA target 10.129.2.28">
  <host starttime="...">
    <status state="up"/>
    <address addr="10.129.2.28" addrtype="ipv4"/>
    <address addr="DE:AD:00:00:BE:EF" addrtype="mac" vendor="Intel Corporate"/>
    <ports>
      <port protocol="tcp" portid="22"><state state="open"/><service name="ssh"/></port>
      <port protocol="tcp" portid="25"><state state="open"/><service name="smtp"/></port>
      <port protocol="tcp" portid="80"><state state="open"/><service name="http"/></port>
    </ports>
  </host>
</nmaprun>

Converting XML to HTML#

To make the XML output more readable for reports or presentations, convert it to HTML using the xsltproc tool:

xsltproc target.xml -o target.html